Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Sweet and savory Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes – no matter how they’re filled or topped, these delicious sweet potatoes will be the perfect side dish at your dinner or holiday meal.

If you like twice baked potatoes, and you also love sweet potatoes, you’ll definitely love this recipe. It’s one of our favorite sweet potato side dishes!

Twice baked sweet potatoes on a white plate

twice baked – two ways

Hi there, Lil’ Luna readers! It’s Samantha from Five Heart Home and I’m so happy to be stopping by today with one of my favorite fall foods!

Who else out there loves sweet potatoes? I enjoy cubing them up and roasting them year round, but as my thoughts are turning to Thanksgiving and all of the holiday meals on the horizon, I was excited about the opportunity to fancy them up a bit!

My mom always had sweet potato casserole on the Thanksgiving table when I was growing up, and it was inevitably topped with marshmallows. That dish was one of my favorite parts of the meal because — let’s be honest here — what kid doesn’t adore marshmallows?!

As I grew older and learned to cook, however, I typically traded in the marshmallow topping for a buttery, sugary, pecan streusel.But guess what? I still love them both!

So when I decided to whip up some Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes for y’all today and kept going back and forth on how to finish them off, I ultimately went with marshmallows on half of my sweet potatoes and pecan streusel on the other half.

Step by step process pictures of cutting, filling, and twice baking sweet potatoes

how to make twice baked sweet potatoes

This recipe is prepared like any other twice-baked potato.

Bake the sweet potatoes, slice off the tops, scoop out the flesh (making sure to leave a sturdy shell), transfer to a bowl, and mash and mix it with all kinds of good stuff: maple syrup, cinnamon and spices, vanilla, butter, and just a touch of cream cheese for extra creaminess.

Bake in advance. To save yourself some time, you can actually bake the first time a day or two in advance, then do the slicing, scooping, and twice baking on the day you’re planning on serving them.

You can also use an instant pot for easy first-time baking. Definitely use an oven for baking your sweet potatoes the second time though.

Use a piping bag. I like to scoop the mixture into a gallon-sized plastic baggie, snip off the corner, and pipe it back into the shells. I don’t do this step to get all fancy…I’ve just found it to be quicker, easier, and less messy than using a spoon to get all of the sweet potato filling back inside the shells.

Twice baked sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping and streusel topping

twice baked potato Toppings

And then it’s all about the topping!

MARSHMALLOW. In scenario A, cram as many marshmallows as you like on top of the filling. Mini marshmallows would work perfectly. If you only have jumbo ones on hand, cut them in half and stick them cut-side-down.

STREUSEL. If pecan streusel is more your thing, then I present to you scenario B. Simply cut together some butter, flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt, and pile it on top. Easy peasy!

SAVORY. Or you can bag both and do the savory twice baked sweet potato option with butter, salt, pepper, bacon, sour cream and cheese!

close up of twice baked sweet potato recipe

And that’s it! The perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table, or an anytime side dish that might just taste like dessert. Who’s going to argue with that? But more importantly, the big question remains…marshmallows or pecans??? 😉

For more sweet potato recipes, check out:

MORE COLLECTIONS: Side Dishes, Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe

5 from 11 votes
Sweet and savory Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes - no matter how they're filled or topped, these delicious sweet potatoes will be the perfect side dish at your dinner or holiday meal.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 379 kcal
Author Lil' Luna

Ingredients

  • 6 medium sweet potatoes
  • 6 tbsp maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 oz cream cheese room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Pecan Streusel

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
  • 6 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup pecans finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Marshmallow Topping

  • mini marshmallows or jumbo marshmallows cut in half

Instructions
 

  • Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Wash sweet potatoes, scrubbing off any dirt, and pat dry. Arrange potatoes on baking sheet and cook for 1 hour.
  • While the potatoes are baking, prepare pecan streusel by using a fork or pastry blender to cut together butter, brown sugar, pecans, flour, cinnamon, and salt until well blended. (You may also pulse the streusel together in a food processor, if that's easier.)
  • After an hour of cooking time, insert a fork into the center of each potato. If potatoes are not done, bake for 15 more minutes or until completely tender.
  • Using an oven mitt or kitchen towel to handle hot potatoes, slice a thin piece off the top of each sweet potato and discard. Scoop out the flesh from each sweet potato, leaving a ¼-inch layer intact to create a sturdy shell. Transfer the potato pulp to a bowl and mash well with maple syrup, butter, cream cheese, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger until smooth and well blended (I use an electric stand mixer for this step).
  • Scoop the sweet potato mixture into a gallon-sized plastic baggie and twist the top closed to create a piping bag. Cut a 1-inch piece off one corner of the bag and pipe the mixture into the sweet potato shells, evenly dividing it between them (alternatively, you may use a spoon to fill the shells).
  • Top each sweet potato with pecan streusel. Bake for 10 minutes. If desired, broil for an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned. If using marshmallows, bake for 7 to 10 minutes, watching closely until desired level of toastiness is reached.

Notes

If some of your potatoes are larger than others, you may have to pull the smaller ones out of the oven after an hour and bake the remainder for an additional 15 minutes.
Since the size and sweetness of sweet potatoes can vary, add the ingredients gradually and adjust the maple syrup and seasonings to taste. I typically start with 4 tablespoons maple syrup and ¼ teaspoon salt. I add additional maple syrup (1 tablespoon at a time) and more salt (¼ teaspoon at a time) until everything tastes just right.
The pecan streusel recipe above is enough to top 6 sweet potatoes. If you want to top some of your sweet potatoes with marshmallows, reduce the streusel recipe accordingly.

I’d love to have you stop by Five Heart Home sometime!

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Comments:

    1. I have not tried freezing them. You should be able to refrigerate & bake the next day. I wish I knew about how the freezing ones turn out.

  1. 5 stars
    We always make sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving but haven’t done them like this before! I’m going to remember this for this upcoming Thanksgiving! Thank you

  2. 5 stars
    This recipe, like regular twice baked potatoes, does take more time than other side dishes, but it’s well worth the effort especially on special days.

  3. 5 stars
    I’ve never been a huge sweet fan but over the years I ‘ve learned to like them. A great little side dish for your fall meals.