Baked Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon Maple Butter & Pecans

These baked sweet potatoes are the perfect side dish! They're topped with homemade cinnamon maple butter and toasted pecans. Only 10 minutes of hands-on time!

Why You'll Love it:

My 5-year-old and I are obsessed with sweet potatoes - mashed, baked, roasted. We love it all!

But these baked sweet potatoes are an absolute fave! When you bake sweet potatoes, they're flavor and sweetness intensifies. Top that with sweet cinnamon butter and nutty, crunchy pecans and it's pure magic!

The hardest part about this recipe is waiting for the sweet potatoes to bake, but with a little forethought, this recipe is basically hands-off and super easy.

(Psst.. for a quicker recipe, try these toaster oven sweet potatoes!)

Key Ingredients:

• Sweet potatoes - Sweet potatoes vary a lot in size. I try to find big ones so there's plenty of sweet potato per half!
• Butter - I prefer to buy unsalted, then add my own salt. This is purely preference. If you only have salted butter, that should work fine!
• Maple syrup - For that maple flavor. Maple syrup is a staple for us. It's versatile and can be used in baking, granola, vinaigrettes, and more. I buy a big container at Costco so I don't run out quickly.
• Powdered sugar - Thickens the butter a smidge and adds a nice sweetness! Feel free to omit this if you avoid processed sugar.
• Cinnamon - Cinnamon and maple are a match made in heaven. Feel free to double the amount for more cinnamon flavor.
• Kosher salt - A little bit of salt enhances flavor and overall sweetness.
• Pecans - Toasting pecans is key! It intensifies their aroma and makes them crunchier and nuttier. Don't skip it!

How to Bake Sweet Potatoes:

Before you start, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Bake the sweet potatoes:

• Line your sheet pan with aluminum foil. This keeps the pan clean, so at the end you can just crumple it up and throw it away. No need to clean the pan!
• Place the sweet potatoes in the corners so there's room in the middle of the pan for the pecans at the end.

• Carefully pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork to allow steam to release.
• Let the sweet potatoes roast for at least an hour. The middles will sweeten and get soft/creamy.

2. Make the cinnamon butter:

• In a medium bowl, combine the butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of kosher salt.
• Make sure the butter is soft so it mixes easily!
• Use a spoon to mix until everything you have cinnamon butter.

3. Toast the pecans:

• Once the sweet potatoes are done baking, dump the chopped pecans into the center of the pan.
• Place the pan back in the oven and let the pecans toast for 2 minutes. Don't forget about them or they will burn.

4. Assemble:

• Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to touch but still warm, cut them in half lengthwise.
• Arrange them skin-side down on the pan.
• Top each sweet potato with cinnamon butter and toasted pecans.

Expert Tips:

• It's important to bake the sweet potato long enough. If it's not fully cooked, it will have a bland, chalky texture. But don't let it go forever, because an overcooked sweet potato loses it's fluffy texture and gets liquidy.
• A fork should glide right through the sweet potato, but it shouldn't look shrunken down.
• Start with soft butter. Otherwise mixing the butter will be cumbersome instead of easy!
• Feel free to customize the cinnamon maple butter to your taste. If you like it sweeter, add more powdered sugar. If you like the cinnamon to hit you in the face, add more cinnamon.

Storage Tips:

• Store leftover baked sweet potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Reheat in the microwave until warm throughout.

How long does it take to bake a sweet potato?

The short answer is it depends on the size of the sweet potato! Large sweet potatoes take longer to bake. That being said, it's better to slightly overbake a sweet potato than to underbake it. An underbaked sweet potato tastes bland with a chalky texture.

A sweet potato is baked when a fork glides right through it without resistance. It should be soft but not shrunken. An overbaked sweet potato shrinks and gets too soft/watery in texture.

Sweet Potato Recipes:

• Roasted Green Beans & Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Kale Salad with Basil Honey Vinaigrette
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• 20 Sinfully Delicious Gluten Free Side Dishes
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Roasted Sweet Potato Slices with Candied Pecans