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 found this recipe last year, and decided to give it a try for Thanksgiving it did not disappoint! I’m not a fan of marshmallows, and the streusel toppings are ok on sweetpotato casserole so wanted to find something different this was it. Me and my family loved it so I’m making it again this year.
Oh my gosh. I am eating this right now and it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I cut down on the sweetened condensed milk and butter a little bit and it’s still extremely rich and delicious. The crunch from the coconut topping is to DIE for! Thank you so much!!!
A favorite at our house!
This is my family’s new favorite! I made it for Thanksgiving, and had to make it again for Christmas. I cooked my own sweet potatoes instead of using canned, but it was still super easy and so delicious!
Huge hit at both Thanksgiving dinners we had. Thank you 😊
The sweet potato lovers in my family loved these today, but we realized that we have a LOT for leftovers. Wondering if they’d be good frozen until Christmas? Then crisped back up in the oven? Super yummy. Thank you. 👌
I’m guessing they’d be just fine frozen for a few weeks!
This was delicious! I left out the butter and sugar completely from the sweet potatoes and only included it in the topping as written. It was a favorite dish by many this Thanksgiving. My daughter loved it so much, she asked if she could have this for her next birthday cake.
Everyone definitely needs to try this recipe I followed recipe exactly except I cut the sugar doubled to 12 tbs total and added crushed pecans to the coconut topping mixture doubled that also…..I think I cut that sugar (the brown down to 12 tbsps also. ..Everyone including the yam haters absolutely loved this recipe!
I make these every year. I have a few non coconut eaters in the extended fam but i love them anyway so I make half of it with mini marshmallows instead of coconut (mixed with the rest of the topping ingredients) and everyone walks away fatter and happier 🙂