(Recipe can be found on the site The Creekside Cook here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
Get ready for your taste buds to thank you with this Spicy Smashed Sweet Potatoes recipe. Here’s what you’ll need (and yes, you can play around with the spices so get creative): Garlic Powder, Freshly Cracked Pepper, Kosher Salt, 2 tablespoons of Butter (you’ll eventually melt it), 2 medium to large Sweet Potatoes, Brown Sugar, Olive Oil, Chipotle Chili Powder, Onion Powder, Paprika (this one was a sweet Hungarian one I had already), Chili Powder (the recipe calls for New Mexico chili powder, so I just used the regular stuff), and finally Ground Cumin.
Start off by bringing at least a 3-quart pot of water to a simmer.
I went ahead and prepared the spice mixture so it’d be ready for me later. In a small bowl I measured 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, 1/4 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder, 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 10 course grinds of black pepper.
Then mix the spices together.
Add 3 tablespoons of brown sugar to the mixture. Feel free to do it all at once…I just might have forgotten the brown sugar at first…but I plead the Fifth. 😉
Then peel the 2 sweet potatoes.
Now cut the potatoes into 1-inch to 1 1/2-inch slices. Next time I think I’ll go for 1-inch slices as I think they will cook better.
Now cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes until they are fairly tender. Don’t cook them to the point they fall apart on you, but I found mine could have cooked longer as they weren’t very “smashable”.
Then allow the potatoes to cool on a wire rack until the outside is completely dry. If you are rushed you can pat them dry with a paper towel, but they need to be totally dry for the outside to get crispy in the oven.
Once the potatoes are dry preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then move the sweet potatoes to a lined pan. You can use parchment paper or I hope by now you have a Silpat. If not, add it to your Christmas Wish List and thank me later! And use the bottom of a drinking glass to smash them.
In a small boil, I combined 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of melted butter and then used a pastry brush to brush the tops of the potatoes. Be sure you also flip them over so both sides are brushed with the oil/butter mixture.
Then sprinkle the spice mixture over each side of the sweet potatoes. It already smelled deliciously spicy!
Roast the potatoes for 15 minutes in the oven. Then flip them over carefully (I found tongs worked best for this task)…
…and finish baking for an additional 10 minutes so both sides are nice and crispy. Then serve these straight away! They are best served right out of the oven when they are still warm and the crust is still crispy. I did find for reheating that they can be put back in a oven and broiled for a few minutes to bring back some of the crispiness. Go get your spice on!
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 & ½ tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon New Mexico chili powder
½ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
â…› teaspoon granulated garlic
10 coarse grinds of black pepper
2 medium to large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation Instructions:
1. Set a 3 quart sauce pan of water with a teaspoon of kosher salt on a medium flame until it begins to simmer.
2. Oil a large baking sheet, or cover with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl, mix together all of the dry spices, and set aside
4. Peel the sweet potatoes, and cut into 1 & ½ inch thick slices.
5. When the water is simmering, add the potato slices and cook for around 10 minutes, until the slices are getting a little soft.
6. Remove the slices to a cooling rack. You can leave them on the rack until they cool off and the outsides are dry, or if you are in a hurry, blot all of the moisture from the surface of the slices. This is important – they have to be dry on the outside or they won’t get crispy.
7. Start the oven preheating to 400º
8. Lay the slices of sweet potato on the prepared pan, and use a water glass to gently compress each slice – you want them to flatten out and the edges should get kind of ruffly.
9. Mix the butter and oil together.
10. Using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon, spread a thin layer of the oil and butter mixture on each slice.
11. Sprinkle some of the spice mixture over each slice, and press onto the surface lightly so that it sticks to the potato slices.
12. Gently turn oven each slice, and repeat the oil/butter and dry spice application as you did on the first side.
13. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the bottom of the slices is getting caramelized and crispy.
14. Carefully flip over each slice and roast another 10 minutes or so, until both sides are crispy and the spice mixture has melted together and turned all nicely brown.
15. Serve immediately.
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