Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes

 Courtesy of: Our Best Bites

*Note: Make a Half Batch for our Family of 6 in Pie Plate

Ingredients

Sweet Potatoes

• 2 29 oz cans sweet potatoes drained or 4 cups mashed fresh, 4 cooked sweet potatoes
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter very soft, or melted
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• ½ of a 14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milkabout 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping (If you're feeling extra you can double or 1.5x this part…)

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 ½ cups sweetened coconut flakes
• 6 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13" pan with cooking spray or a little butter.
• Add drained sweet potatoes to mixing bowl and mash with a fork. It's okay if it's not completely smooth.
• Add sugar, butter, eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla to bowl and mix with an electric mixer until creamy. It's okay for it to still have chunks of sweet potatoes. Add mixture to prepared pan and spread out evenly. 
• Mix topping ingredients together until everything is incorporated and sprinkle over sweet potatoes.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes until topping is golden brown. and potatoes are bubbly and hot. 

Notes

• If you’d like, you can add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the topping mix before baking. 
• MAKE AHEAD: Place potato mixture in pan, cover well, and store in fridge for 1-2 days before baking.  Place topping in a separate container, assemble right before cooking. 
• FREEZE AHEAD: Place potato mixture in pan and freeze before baking.  Mix topping and store in a separate container or zip top bag.  Thaw everything in fridge 1-2 days before baking and add topping before you place it in the oven. I’ve also tested assembling completely and placing the pan frozen into the oven.  You’ll want to cover for the first 30 minutes of cooking and then uncover and cook a little extra.  I prefer thawing first, but this also worked!
• STORE: store leftover, cooled sweet potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
• FYI, if you only want to make a half-batch, I like to put in an 8×8 pan or pie plate then those mini cans of sweetened condensed milk are the exact amount you need- just one mini can.