This recipe was passed onto me by my Aunt Barb and she told me she first remembers eating it at her aunt’s home for Thanksgiving when she was a little girl. So it’s been in our family for over 60 years! When something has been around for that long and people are still making it, you know it’s good! Not a single Thanksgiving goes by without this dish on our table.
Ingredients Needed
Sweet Potatoes
- Mashed sweet potatoes – Canned or freshly steamed/baked.
- Granulated sugar
- Butter – Use real butter.
- Eggs
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Vanilla
Topping
- Brown sugar
- Sweetened coconut flakes
- Butter
How to Make Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes
- You’ll mix up sweet potatoes, butter, a little sugar, vanilla, eggs (I know what you’re thinking: this is sounding like pie) and the secret ingredient, sweetened condensed milk. Spread that out in a casserole dish.
- Now the topping. OH THE TOPPING. In my family, we always double the topping. Three simple ingredients that are oh so amazing when they get all caramelized in the oven: Coconut, brown sugar, and butter.
- Sprinkle that on top. Seriously guys this whole recipe takes less than 10 minutes to whip up.
- Bake it for about 40 minutes and the potatoes puff up and the topping turns into heaven. They’re kiiiiinda amazing. Chances are if you try them once, they’ll become a tradition!
Storing and Other Tips
- 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 (which is actually what I’m doing in these photos) then those mini cans of sweetened condensed milk are the exact amount you need- just one mini can. I show a picture of the mini cans in this post. Also refer to that post if you make a full batch, and you’re wondering how to use the other half of that can of sweetened condensed milk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep! You can prep all the way through baking up to the day before and store, tightly covered, in the fridge until ready to bake. I like to store the topping in a separate container just to avoid the brown sugar “melting” into the potatoes. Note that baking time will need to be increased if the pan is coming from the fridge. I like to let mine sit out for 30 minutes or so before popping in the oven to let everything come a little closer to room temperature. I’ve also tested placing the topping on and freezing immediately before baking. I put them straight from the freezer into the oven and while I think they’re a little better thawed first, it worked just fine!
While I have never done it personally, I know they make sweetened condensed coconut milk, dairy free butter and egg substitutes that would probably work. Feel free to give it a try! If you do, come back and leave a comment on this post with how it turned out.
Yes! We love adding 1/2 cup or so chopped pecans to these sweet potatoes.
Candied Coconut Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes
- 2 29 oz cans sweet potatoes drained or 4 cups mashed fresh, 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 Milk about 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.
Questions & Reviews
I made these for Christmas Eve dinner at a friends house tonight–they were a huge hit! I actually subbed 1/2 c. coconut milk for the sweetened condensed milk, I only used 1/4 c. brown sugar in the potatoes and 1/2 c. in the topping (full butter though!) It was plenty sweet and everyone gobbled them up. (Except my friend’s kids who wouldn’t try them to find out they were yummy!)
Thanks for the great recipe. I looked here first because I knew I could get a keeper instead of a flop.
These are sooooo delicious. Everyone at Thanksgiving dinner loved them. I’ll be making them again this week and hoarding them all to myself. I listened to Kate though, and lessened the amount of sugar. The condensed milk makes it sweet enough that you really don’t need much sugar. I probably did about 1/4 a cup. These will definitely be a new staple at Thanksgiving. Thanks!!
I just made these and they’re in the oven right now. My topping didn’t turn out crumbly and I’m wondering why. Any ideas? I probably didn’t measure correctly.
In my 3 years married, this is going to be the first Thanksgiving dinner that I’m actually going to attempt to make. Thanks for the recipes. I love candy, butter, sugar, butter, sugar, and deliciousness, so I think this recipe is perfect for me.
I just started to blog and I first want to tell ya. I love your blog.
I seriously will be making this awesome looking dish for Thanksgiving. THanks so much love the pictures it looks so YUMMY 🙂
I signed up for our work thanksgiving potluck a few days ago and planned on making these, now I don’t have to dig up the recipe, thanks Sara. And if anyone is wondering, no -our potluck is not on thanksgiving day, I do work a lot, but my work is not that cruel. For thanksgiving I will actually be in ‘my most favorite city on earth!”. (First person to name the city and best bites reference wins 1,000,000,000 best bites points!!!)
I started drooling the moment I read this recipe and immediately emailed my mom and asked if I could be in charge of the sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner this year. I can not wait to try them! And I agree with Kate- fresh is better.
Oh, and Kate, they certainly aren’t lacking in sweetness, so I’m sure you’re right that they still have plenty if you cut it back! I’ll have to try it sometime, but not on Thanksgiving 🙂 lol.
There is no way I am not going to try this. Add coconut to anything and I am game! It does seem like a pie recipe to me. Pie for the main course… I’m not going to complain 🙂
Britanie- have I ever let you down?? lol. I promise these sweet potatoes will NOT be ignored!