Without any added sugars at all, these vanilla bean whipped sweet potatoes are one of the best sweet potato dishes you will ever taste.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr10 minutesmins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8servings
Calories: 335kcal
Ingredients
3lbssweet potatoescleaned and left damp
1⅓cupsheavy cream
⅔vanilla beansplit lengthwise and seeds scraped
¼cupbuttersoftened to room temperature
½ - 1teaspoonkosher saltadjust to taste
⅛ - ¼teaspoonwhite pepperadjust to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until fork tender, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle with care.
Cut the potatoes in half and remove the skin. Place the potatoes in the bowl of a food processor.*
While the potatoes are cooling from the oven, pour the cream into a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the scrapings from the vanilla bean, as well as the vanilla bean pod itself. Bring to a simmer and heat for 5 minutes, scraping the sides and stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Use tongs to remove the vanilla bean or simply pour the cream mixture through a strainer over the potatoes in the food processor. Add the softened butter to the food processor.
Puree the mixture until completely smooth and thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Keep covered and warm until serving.
Notes
* The original directions are for a food processor, however, I have also made this using a hand potato masher and the blender, pureeing the potatoes in two separate batches. It worked great, but it is simpler with the food processor.During the holidays, I often make these the day before. I cool them completely and then cover the potatoes and place them in the refrigerator. A couple hours before serving them, set them on the counter to come closer to room temperature. Then, warm them in the oven at 350 degrees for about half an hour. Stir before serving.ALTERNATIVE to the pricey vanilla bean - I've successfully used vanilla bean paste for this recipe and I've also used vanilla extract. Vanilla beans are my first choice, followed by vanilla bean paste, lastly, I have used vanilla extract in a pinch.