Candied Yams

Candied yams might be the perfect holiday side dish: ultra-easy, super-quick, and who could say no to brown-sugar butter and spices completely enrobing these delicious yams?

Ingredients and Prep

First off, these are actually sweet potatoes, but we call them yams for some reason. Anyways, these have to get peeled and chopped; I’m using about three pounds. Peel, peel, peel—so we’re getting the skin off but we’re also removing some of this tougher, less-tasty outer covering. You’ll see that beautiful coral color coming through. Three pounds of yams—there you go. By the by, three pounds is about nine medium yams.

We’re gonna chop these into half-inch slices, but first let’s clean this up. There’s really no rhyme or reason for chopping these other than you want to have a uniform thickness; I’m using about half an inch as a guide. I also think the candied yams look much nicer when they’re beautiful little slices, removing just the very tips. This is a really simple dish that has a ton of flavor with minimal prep work, and it’s just like the perfect side for any holiday dinner—maybe Thanksgiving.

Make-Ahead Tips

When you’re making a big meal it’s so important to do all of your prep work ahead of time because you’re not stressed the day of—something my mom taught me. You can make this side dish like days in advance: just keep it either baked in the fridge and warm it up later, or do the prep work and then bake the day of—whatever you prefer. It’s also a really easy recipe if you want to farm it out to somebody else. Like, “Oh, can I bring anything?” Here—just here’s the recipe, have at it. It’s kind of foolproof, so anyone can do it—literally anybody.

Brown-Sugar Butter Glaze

Okay, we’re ready to set these aside and then just do our really simple brown-sugar butter glaze. These, by the way, are called “coins” on the blog—yam coins.

Now it’s time for the fun part. I’ve melted half a cup of butter (that’s 113 grams) in a smallish bowl, and to that I’m adding three-quarters of a cup of brown sugar. This is already going to be good—you can tell. To that mixture I’m adding half a teaspoon of cinnamon; it really brings out the sweet-potato flavor—they go hand in hand. Now we’re grating about half a teaspoon of nutmeg in. I always like to do this by hand with a rasp, but you can definitely use powdered nutmeg as well. A little pinch of salt never hurt anybody.

Could you do more stuff? Yes—there’s so many optional flavors you could use here. You could add a couple tablespoons of fresh orange juice, you could add the zest of an orange, you could add a couple tablespoons of bourbon or rum. Any of those flavors—even some vanilla—will just add a little bit more, and they all go well. There’s really like nothing wrong you could do here except, like, add anchovy paste or something, but who would do that?

Assembly and Baking

Mix this into a nice slurry. My slurry is nice and mixed up—it’s time to assemble our easy side. I’m using a regular casserole dish; I think it’s 9 by 13. I’m going to start by adding in one layer—there we go. I’m going to drizzle this over, but don’t worry about getting it perfect because we’re going to be tossing this after it starts baking. Add some more of your coins in, more of your delicious mixture, and then just do it one more time for good luck—one, two—there we go.

It’s time to cover it with foil. One thing you don’t want happening is for the yams to get dried out, so we’re gonna bake this for 25 minutes at 350 °F and then give them a stir. Cover it up—let’s pop it into the oven.

Twenty-five minutes later it’s time to give these a gentle toss. Let’s get them out of the oven—the smell is so good. They’re not at all done yet, but these need to get that delicious juice distributed. We’re gonna bake these uncovered for another 20 minutes or so. We want them to be super-tender and glossy, and yes, we will be spooning that delicious liquid on top one more time at least. Back into the oven.

Finishing Touch

When the weather turns and there’s a chill in the air, there is nothing better than cozy baking to warm the cockles of your heart—and your belly, too. When I come back from the barn and I smell these in the oven, it is amazing. We’re actually having this as part of our dinner tonight, but let’s take a bite together.

Now it’s time for a bite. I almost don’t have to chew—it’s melt-in-your-mouth. It’s like, “Oh, the butter, the brown sugar, those sweet potatoes—it’s amazing.” I really hope you get a chance to make this recipe.