Pecan Topped Baked Sweet Potatoes CrockPot Recipe

Day 304. ssshh

Don't look now, but Thanksgiving is around the corner. 

Tomorrow is actually Halloween, but I decided to get a move on and test out this sweet potato dish while I had 4 fresh in the house. 

  This is good. 

The kids liked it, Adam liked it, and while it was sweet, it wasn't overly sweet. 


The Ingredients.

--4 peeled and sliced (1/4 inch thick) sweet potatoes --
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce --
1 cup nonfat evaporated milk (in a can in the baking aisle---I don't know how fresh transfers) --3/4 cup brown sugar -
-1 tsp vanilla extract 
--4 T butter -
-1 cup chopped pecans 
--2 cups crumbled pretzels (I used EnerG gluten free) 

  The Directions. 

  I used a 4 quart round crockpot, and it was a great size. 

If you have a bigger one, go ahead and use it, but the cooking time will be quicker. 

  Peel and slice the sweet potato and stagger-stack in your crockpot

Cover with the 3/4 cup of brown sugar. 

Open the can of cranberry jelly and squish it out all over the top of the sugar and potatoes. 

  Mix the 1 tsp of vanilla with the cup of milk, and pour over the entire top. 

  Slice the butter, and dot it on top. 

  Crumble the pretzels and mix them with the chopped pecans. 

Sprinkle over the top. 

  Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-6. 

This is done when the sweet potatoes have reached desired tendency. 

We like ours pretty squishy. 

  Unplug and uncover. 

Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting into. 

  The Verdict. 

  These are some good sweet potatoes. 

The pretzels completely disappeared and are probably not necessary. 

I guess they added a bit of salt, but otherwise the texture was only from the pecans. 

  I liked the mixture of the tartness of the cranberries with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. 

  I'd proudly serve these for Thanksgiving dinner. 

  I adapted this from the Halloween edition of Taste of Home, page 48. 

The original recipe asked for 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, and a WHOLE cup of butter. Woah.

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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at October 30, 2008

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What they say about this article

  1. are you planning a totally crockpot thanksgiving meal? that would be an awesome idea if so. could you give some recommendations or a preview of what you plan to make in your crockpots for thanksgiving dinner?
    -Abigail

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  2. That looks great! Maybe it could help me learn to like sweet potatoes. Maybe.

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  3. Those look super yummy :)

    Yeah, a whole cup of butter is probably not necessary... lol. Thanks again for your awesome blog!

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  4. Hi Mrs. B.,

    sort of. My parents are going to be out of town on TDay (they're going to HAWAII!) so we think we are hosting for other family. I do plan on cooking all TDay sides and main courses leading up to the day for you, and others, to try---but I'm not sure what will actually happen for our family ON actual Thanksgiving.

    we may do potluck. I'm not sure.

    xoxo
    steph

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  5. Anonymous10/30/2008

    Thank you!! We have a huge bucket full of sweet potatoes from our garden and I'm always in search of new recipes. :)

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  6. Anonymous10/30/2008

    I LOVE sweet potatoes, but I can't have much sugar, so I am usually left out of the casseroles. This sounds wonderful. I can sub in homemade (with Splenda) cranberry sauce and use a sugar substitute (or blend) for the brown sugar. I am so excited. I wonder if cranberry sauce can be made in the crockpot? I suppose it is easy enough on the stove anyway: cranberries+water+sugar. Boil. Done.

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    Replies
    1. the brown sugar sub is just the same as real brown sugar. im diabetic myself and i learn that because food says a subsitute for the real could be worse or full of chemicals.

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    2. brown sugar is actually better for a diabetic then the subsitute. read the sugar content for both

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  7. Stop by my blog to pick up your award! I love to see what you've created! Great Job!

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  8. I'm going to try this asap! Sounds great. Glad you made the final comment about the pretzels, as I haven't found any gluten-free, soy-free pretzels.

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  9. Anonymous10/30/2008

    I made a whole turkey breast in the crockpot a few weeks ago. I used the allrecipes recipe that said to put a packet of onion soup mix on it and just cook for many hours. While I love onion soup mix in my meatloaf and hamburgers, I didn't like it on the turkey. I have another turkey breast in the freezer that I will probably just rub with more traditional turkey spices and cook. Just a thought in case you are planning to try the turkey in the crock pot thing. Or maybe you have, it's hard to keep up!

    The sweet potatoes look awesome but alas, too many calories and I would be the only one who would like them. *sigh*

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  10. Mmmm, those sound delicious. I was looking for a crock sweet potato recipe two days ago; you're a little late. But next time!

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  11. That looks good! We make our holiday sweet potatoes with a can of pecan pie mix from a specialty store. That's it. We just dump it on top and cook. It's delicious and better than the marshmallow kind in my opinion.

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  12. Thank you! I am hosting Christmas this year and will probably try to use a lot of crock pots for our sides. This just may be one of those sides! Cannot wait to see what else you come up with!

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  13. I bet the cranberries add a distinct flavor to this dish. I'm putting this on my list of "maybes" for TG!

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  14. Anonymous10/30/2008

    Wahh!! This is the second recipe you've posted fairly recently using pecans. I'm allergic, but LOVE them, so I drool and curse them all at the same time.

    Any other suggestions for the topping?

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  15. Anonymous10/30/2008

    sweet potatoes are amazing. this dish is amazing!!! you are amazing!!!! haha

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  16. you tday suggestions would be awesome! thanks for the advance on upcoming recipes. i'm excited to check them out!

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  17. I use my crockpots for many Thanksgiving items. Stuffing works great, as well as my sweet potato casserole: I layer peeled, sliced sweet potatoes, apple slices, raisins, butter & brown sugar (just a little). Yum! I'm also going to try the pumpkin dip and green bean casserole.

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  18. Sounds great. Thanks for sharing.

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  19. I'm sure you've heard this before but at the end of the year you should consider publishing a cookbook of your 365 days! I'd buy it!

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  20. I DO NOT like marshmallows with my sweet potato dish. I think I'll be making this for thanksgiving this year! Thanks for sharing!

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  21. Stephanie, Those sweet potatoes sound good. I picked a load of green peppers up at the local family farm. I was thinking about Pepper Steak in the crock pot, what do you think? Looking forward to your T-day posts.

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  22. I just found your blog linked from http://savvysuzie.blogspot.com/ and I am a major fan already! I LOVE my crockpot, but it seems like I run out of ideas/guts to try new dishes. Like another reader, I think you should publish a book. I guess my biggest problem is emptying out the crockpot (since the meals usually have leftovers at my house) and washing it to get ready for the next day. Hmm... maybe I should invest in another crockpot... Thanks for the great recipes!

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  23. Totally off subject (although I've starred this one..it looks great) but I wanted to let you know...I tried your Applesauce Recipe and your Acorn Squash Recipe the other day...in the same pot!
    I've got a 6.5 quart so I 1 1/2 times the applesauce recipe (6 apples) and let it go on high for an hour..then added the acorn squash in a heat-safe bowl in the center of the applesauce. They were both ready after about 2.5 more hours on high and it smelled so good!

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  24. I don't even like sweet potatoes but this looks amazing!

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  25. Oh I am so trying this, but will also convert w/ the Splenda equiv. and the smart balance butter. Yummy! Thanks for sharing!

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  26. Woah, the looks super yummy.

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  27. Anonymous11/03/2008

    This recipe was wonderful. It is as good as my casserole that I made for Thanksgiving and it was much easier.
    Thanks for the awesome recipe.

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  28. I've got this in the crock *right now* (!) and now I have a question I wish I'd asked earlier:
    do we really need to peel the sweet potatoes?
    I did, because the recipe said "peeled," but I never peel ordinary potatoes and I don't know if peeling sweet potatoes serves a purpose other than "cosmetic."
    I am SO looking forward to supper tonight!!

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  29. Say, I have a mere two crock pots :-(, both of which will be filled on Thanksgiving Day. But I would like to try this recipe, also. When you mentioned the original in ToH, was it an oven or crock pot recipe? Also, what year was it in? I am not finding it in this year's.

    BTW, Your blog is great!

    Thanks, Mary

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  30. Hi Mary,

    it was this year's Halloween Edition. I don't seem to see it online.
    if you'd like you can email me directly and I can type it out for you.
    xox
    steph

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  31. Hi Steph,

    I was going to make this for our Thanksgiving crockpot dinner on Friday at work. We plan to have about 40 people, so I was going to double the recipe. I own two 6 quart crockpots and I cannot plug them up until 8 and the dinner is at 12:45. Do you think it would be better to split the recipe in half and put each in a 6 quart and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or put the entire doubled batch in the 6 quart and cook on high for the entire 4 hours? I want the potatoes to be squishy, like yours.

    Also, the cranberry sauce you have, is that the jelly type sauce, or something different? I've only seen the jelly type sauce in the grocery store.

    Thanks!

    April

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  32. Hi April,

    If you aren't going to use the crockpots for anything else, I'd suggest splitting the (doubled) recipe and putting half into each crockpot. Then you'll be sure it cooks throughout. If you are cooking on high for 4 hours, plan your day so the 4 hour mark is hit *before* your guests arrive, make sure it's cooked completely, then keep on warm, or cook longer if needed. I'd hate for your potatoes to be crunchy if they needed longer. Crockpot cooking is a range...

    The cranberry sauce had a jam-like consistency. It didn't gel. Adam and I liked it a lot, and so did my parents.

    have fun! feel free to email if you have any other questions.
    xox
    steph

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  33. I made these the other day because I had some sweet potatoes that had been given to me. I'm usually not a fan of sweet potatoes but these were great and my husband liked them too. Neither kid would touch them despite telling them numerous times that they tasted like sugar. My sweet potatoes were really big and instead of scaling back the recipe, I added it and cooked it in my 8 qt (other choice was 3 qt). Way too much since only the two of us ate them! Probably the amount I'll use next Thanksgiving when I'm already planning to make them!

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  34. I'm going to be making these tomorrow. I will be using 1 1/2 the recipe for a 6qt crock pot. I hope that will be ok. I'd rather double it, but all I have is a 6qt and a 4qt. And I need to travel with it; it will have to cook for 90 min of the full time in the car. So I'd rather only take one pot.
    Do you think that will be ok? I read your above reply about splitting a double recipe in 6 qt pots.
    Any suggestions?

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  35. Does anyone know how many people this recipe serves? I'm debating if I need to double it. I have about 15 people coming for Tday.

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  36. Hi Diane, if this is your only side dish, it will serve about 6 people. I make it as-is for 20 on Thanksgiving, since we also have stuffing, veggies, and mashed potato.

    I hope this helps!

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