Classic Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Crunch

This post is sponsored by McCormick® but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

We have reached my favorite time of year, lots of family time and good food. Today I wanted to share two amazing recipes for your holiday feasts. A classic Sweet Potato Casserole with a Pecan Crunch that is perfect for any holiday dinner and a newer favorite, Garlic, and Parsley Butter Mushrooms. The mushrooms have a very different flavor than your typical holiday favorites but are perfect for adding a whole new dimension to your get together.

We make all of our holiday meals with McCormick® spices. My mom cooked with McCormick® the whole time I was growing up and I have stuck with the tried and true flavor experts. I love McCormick® as a company as well as their products. Their values of equality and embracing energy efficiency make them a company I trust. Another thing I love about McCormick®? Their huge selections of spices and extracts. If I need a flavor, I just run to Walmart and they always seem to have it! They are perfect for scratch cooks and semi-homemade cooks alike.

You will need:

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

4 large sweet potatoes/Yams (with the orange skin)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 C. Half and Half
1/2 t. McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
1/2 t. McCormick® Pumpkin Pie Spice
3 T. brown sugar

Topping:

6 tablespoons of softened butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour (or for gluten-free, use a 1 to 1 flour blend)
1 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
1/2 – 1 cup pecans, depending on your tastes
mini marshmallows

Peel your sweet potatoes and chop them up into cubes. Put all of the cubes inside a large pot and cover completely with water. Boil the potatoes until a fork goes through easily. This takes about 8 minutes.

Add the other mashed potatoes ingredients and mash until smooth.

I always use a hand mixer because that is how my mom does it. It makes for ultra-creamy mashed sweet potatoes.

Grease a 9×13 glass pan and then spread your mashed sweet potatoes around the pan with a spatula.

Create your topping by mixing all of the topping ingredients except the marshmallows. You can always add more sugar or pecans, depending on how you like your Sweet Potato Casserole. I like a lot of pecans, I think it gives it a nice crunch.

After all of your topping ingredients are nicely combined, spread them over the top of your sweet potatoes.

Then cover with marshmallows. I never measure out the marshmallows, I go by my husband’s philosophy. If you can see the sweet potatoes, there aren’t enough marshmallows on top yet.

Put your sweet potato casserole in a 375-degree oven for 8 minutes.

The marshmallows should be a nice golden brown. If your marshmallows aren’t brown yet at 8 minutes, leave it for another minute or two, but make sure to watch them so they don’t burn.

Serve hot! My family loves to sprinkle pumpkin pie spice on each helping before serving it. It adds a fun extra flavor.

How do you make sweet potato casserole in your family?

Another one of my favorite sides is Garlic and Parsley butter mushrooms. There are a take on Julia Child’s classic butter mushrooms. I always made her classic recipe with Bouef Bourginion but over the years, this recipe has been added to our holiday plans with a new twist.

You will need:

1 pound of mushrooms
1 tablespoon of oil
half stick of butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Thyme
1 teaspoon McCormick® Parsley Flakes

Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan until the butter is frothy. Add the mushrooms and toast them until golden brown. I have found it is best to do this step with tongs so you can flip the individual mushrooms to brown both sides.