I love my clients for many reasons, but it's always a good day when they give me a family recipe that they love using for special occasions! They sit in my chair and talk it up so much that I just have to ask for it! I always preface my request by trying to be understanding in case it's a "secret" recipe, but they're usually more than willing to share the well-loved goodness.

So that being the case, I am sharing a recipe given to me by my client and her husband who were given it by his mother, who herself just found it somewhere and is so surprised that I'm determined to whip it out for every future holiday dinner. Seriously though, I’ve made it several times already and it's that good! I've even handed it over to a few clients myself!

I never used to love sweet potatoes or even sweet potato fries. Growing up, my mom would always include a canned yams addition to our holiday menus, spooning butter and brown sugar over them in a skillet, but they still seemed weird to me. Over the years, I would hear of sweet potato casserole and thought it sounded a little more appealing until I would see pictures of walnuts throughout and burnt marshmallow clouds strewn over top.

So back to that one day when my sweet client kept gushing over her mother-in-law's sweet potato casserole. She insisted she disliked the use of walnuts and marshmallows as well and that another family member would email me the recipe because she couldn't remember it! Be warned, it is amazingly delicious!

Goodbye walnuts and marshmallows! Hello brown sugar streusel goodness! Who knew?

This can easily be made the night before and refrigerated until time to heat it. The heating process will take a little longer if it is cold from the fridge, so plan accordingly. Where the recipe calls for 4 sweet potatoes, make them either big ones or use 5-6 smaller ones.

INGREDIENTS :

—3 cups mashed sweet potatoes

(about 4 medium sweet potatoes)

—1/2 cup sugar

—1/2 cup butter

—2 eggs, beaten

—2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (my favorite!)

—1/3 cup milk

TOPPING :

—1/3 cup melted butter

—1 cup brown sugar

—1/2 cup flour

  LET'S DO THIS :

1. Bake sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 1 to 1.5 hours (or until soft)

— Wash and then prick each sweet potato with a fork. Wrap each potato individually with foil. Because sweet potatoes can leak their natural sugars (which can sometimes escape their foil confinements), I like to place them all on a baking sheet to keep the bottom of my oven clean!

2. Once baked to completion, scoop out the inside of each potato and place in a mixing bowl. While the pulp is still hot, use an electric mixer to beat in the rest of the ingredients. I can't refrain from eating a few spoonfuls at this point!

 3. Place the mixture in 13x9 baking dish. 

4. Combine all of the ingredients for the topping and sprinkle over the sweet potatoes. The topping will be soft yet firm enough to actually sprinkle using your hands!

5. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. If the casserole has been previously refrigerated, bake until the top is bubbly and turning golden brown.

I told you! It even sounds so good before having made it! Everyone raves about it! You do not have to keep it in the holiday or special occasion recipe file, but because it is so rich and horribly bad for you, that's where it stays in this family! ;) I'm not about to call myself an expert and create for you a healthy version of this recipe, but if you're mindful of eating cleanly or you have dietary restrictions, feel free to doctor up this recipe and let me know how it turns out!

Either way, enjoy each and every spoonful!