Learn how to make the BEST candied yams which are baked in the most wonderful buttery cinnamon-and-sugar sauce! If you're looking for an EASY Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish recipe, look no further than this EASY holiday recipe with almost no active prep time.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr10 minutesmins
Course: Sides, Salads & Vegetables
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best candied yams recipe, candied yams, candied yams from scratch, easy candied yams, homemade candied yams, how to make candied yams, recipe for candied yams
Servings: 8
Calories: 694kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
2poundssweet potatoes or yamspeeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds* (I suggest sweet potatoes rather than yams but please read the blog post)
½cupunsalted butter
1cuplight brown sugarpacked
½cupgranulated sugar
½cuporange or pineapple juice
3tablespoonsreal maple syrup
1 to 3tablespoonsbourbonoptional
½teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonground cinnamonor more to taste
¼teaspoonground cloves
¼teaspoonground nutmeg
½cuptoasted pecansoptional**
3 to 4cupsmini marshmallowsoptional**
Sageoptional for garnishing
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 2-quart baking dish, 9x13-inch pan, or similar with cooking spray. Tip - For easier cleanup, line with a sheet of heavy duty nonstick foil and spray the foil.
Peel and slice the sweet potatoes, making sure that the slices are no larger than 1/2-inch wide. If cubing them, make sure they're no bigger than 1/2-inch dice; set aside.
To a small saute pan, add the butter, sugars, juice, optional bourbon, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and heat over medium-low heat to melt the butter; stir nearly constantly.
After the butter has melted, slowly and evenly pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes.
Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour, or until sweet potatoes are very soft and tender. If they're at all hard, there's no harm in baking longer, 10 to 15 minutes, or whatever they need.
If you plan to add nuts and/or marshmallows, see my detailed directions below**. You add them at the very end after baking for 1 hour. If using both, sprinkle the nuts first, then the marshmallows, and bake for 3 to 5 minutes uncovered, or just until the marshmallows begin to turn lightly golden brown or. melt a bit. Make sure to keep a very close eye on them so they don't burn!
Optionally garnish with sage before serving.
Recipe can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. When you plan to serve the candied yams and need to reheat them, transfer them along with all the lovely sauce back into a baking dish. Let it sit at room temp for about an hour, cover tightly with foil, and reheat in a 350F oven until warmed through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
**I suggest the following:
Adding Pecans (or Walnuts) - Add about 1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans at the very end of baking time. Do this by first adding the nuts a dry skillet, and toasting them until they smell nice and nutty, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then, remove the foil from the candied yams at the 1 hour mark, evenly sprinkle the toasted pecans or walnuts, and bake for about 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can simply sprinkle on the toasted pecans after baking, and treating them like they're a garnish.
Tip: If you are adding both pecans and marshmallows, first sprinkle the pecans over the yams, and then the marshmallows.
Adding Marshmallows - Add about 3 to 4 cups mini marshmallows at the very end of the baking time. Remove the foil at the 1 hour mark, evenly sprinkle the marshmallows, and bake for about 5 minutes, or until they are just toasting up and melting a bit.
Tip: Keep a very close eye on them because marshmallows can burn in seconds!