Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

I never ate sweet potatoes when I was younger. I can remember going to my Grandma’s house for dinner and she would make sweet potatoes. The ones that had the pineapple mixed in with the sweet potatoes and the marshmallow baked on the top. I am sure some of you recognize these sweet potatoes.

I turned up my nose at the sweet potatoes my Grandma made. Now that I am older and wiser I love to eat sweet potatoes. Maybe not the ones with pineapple and marshmallows, but I do love the taste of just plain sweet potatoes. They are very healthy for you and the flavor is great.

While I was looking at one of the Kraft food & family Deliciously Simple. Every day Magazines we have at our house I found a recipe for twice-baked sweet potatoes. After reading the recipe I thought it would be a recipe that I might try. It is not as healthy as eating sweet potatoes with nothing on them, but I was sure that it would be flavorful.

Boy was I correct on flavorful. This recipe was delicious, to say the least. Mike, who does not touch sweet potatoes, actually liked these. I had made these sweet potatoes as a side dish to go along with some Italian sausage, but as I sat and ate them I thought I should have served it as a dessert. They were that tasty.

The cream cheese gave the sweet potatoes a creamy texture and an all-around good flavor. The touch of brown sugar and cinnamon gave a little bit more sweetness to the potato. The pecans gave it a little crunch.

I did modify the recipe on a couple of things though; it called for Neufchatel cheese and fat-free milk. I have never used Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat than cream cheese) before so I decided to use cream cheese. As for the milk instead of fat-free, I used 2 percent. So if you want a little less fat in your sweet potato I would recommend that you use the Neufchatel cheese and fat-free milk.

If you like sweet potatoes or even if you don’t like them you have to try this recipe. You will fall in love with the flavor of this twice-baked sweet potato.

Recipe: (Adapted from the Kraft food & family DELICIOUSLY SIMPLE. EVERDAY Magazine)
Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes (1 1/2 lb.)
2 oz. (1/4 of 8-ounce package) cream cheese (or Neufchatel cheese)
2 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup pecan pieces

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut potatoes lengthwise in half; place, cut-sides down, in foil-lined 15×10-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until tender.

Scoop out centers of potatoes into a bowl, leaving 1/4-inch thick shells. Add cream cheese, milk, sugar, and cinnamon to potatoes; mash until blended.

Spoon potato mixture into shells; top with nuts. Bake for 8 minutes or until potatoes are heated through and nuts are toasted.