In spite of the serious lack of sweet potato recipes on this blog, I actually am a pretty huge fan of them.  I bake them up frequently in the fall and winter to take for lunch or to have as a healthier alternative to a regular white potato with dinner.  And when Thanksgiving rolls around, hold me back from the sweet potato casserole!  So this recipe, while pretty basic, is also right up my alley.

There’s nothing complicated about it – you just bake a few sweet potatoes, overcook brown some butter, and mix a little maple syrup into sour cream.  With a little nuttiness from the browned butter alongside the sweet and tangy maple sour cream, you’ve got the makings of quite the perfect cool weather side dish.  Or lunch served with a little salad or bowl of soup, perhaps?

Browned Butter Sweet Potatoes with Maple Sour Cream
source: maple sour cream adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium sweet potatoes, washed and dried
  • 3 tbsp salted butter
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (light works fine)
  • 1 tbsp pure maple syrup

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Poke each sweet potato several times with a fork.  Place the sweet potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake until soft and cooked through, 50-60 minutes.  Remove the potatoes from the oven to cool for a few minutes.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together sour cream and maple syrup; set aside.
  3. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it becomes browned, about 5 minutes.  Keep a close eye on the butter – it can burn quickly.
  4. Slice the sweet potatoes open lengthwise and lightly mash up the potato inside the skin with a fork.  Divide the browned butter between the potatoes and dollop the top of each with some of the maple sour cream.  Serve hot.