Maple Chipotle Sweet Potato Casserole

The topping of this casserole tastes like caramel.  The filling has a surprising, but yummy bite.  This dish is not too sweet, using only natural sugars, but still gives that old fashioned sweet potato casserole feeling.  This is the sweet potato recipe I'll be using for holidays from now on.  It's delicious.

Filling:

2 lbs sweet potatoes
2 T butter
1/2 Cup coconut milk
1 chipotle in adobo sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1-3 tablespoons orange juice (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:

2 T butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
14 cup coconut sugar
1 T orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups pecans

1 Preheat oven to 350

2.  Peal, chop and boil sweet potatoes until they are tender, about 10 minutes.

3. For the topping, melt butter in a large skillet and add everything but the pecans.  Heat until the mixtures starts to bubble and let cook for about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, add the pecans and stir to combine.

4.  Beat the cooked drained potatoes with the other filling ingredients until very smooth.  You can use an immersion blender, a stand mixer or just a potatoes masher and your husband's arm.  (hehe)

5.  Pour the filling into a 2 quart casserole dish, add the pecan mixure and bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Notes:  No one who ate this could taste the orange flavor but Ted, and he did not like it.  The rest of us loved it.  The orange juice is totally optional and barely noticeable unless you are just really sensitive to orange flavor.  I'd say to try it the first time.  You can omit it after that if you don't like it, but you might be surprised.  I was.