MAPLE CANDIED SWEET POTATOES

PREPARATION TIME: 1hr 45 mins

SERVING: 8

INGREDIENTS;

1/2 cup Organic Butter

4 or 5 large fresh Yams/Sweet Potatoes

1/2 cup 100% Maple Syrup

2 tbsp Dark Brown Sugar

1 tsp.Cinnamon 

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/4 tsp. Freshly Grated Nutmeg

1/2 tsp. Freshly Grated Ginger Root

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1/4 cup Crushed Raw Pecans 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Peel yams or sweet potatoes (either may be used). Cut into 1 inch cubes or wedges.  

Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish generously.

Arrange yams in baking dish.

In a saucepan, melt butter, pecans and stir sugar until dissolved over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup water and spices.

Bring to a boil, add maple syrup; reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Pour butter mixture over the yams, turning them over to coat well. Cover the yams tightly with aluminum foil and bake on center rack in oven, basting the potatoes with the butter syrup once or twice during the baking for about 45 minutes or until fork tender.

When the potatoes are done, remove foil. Bake on the upper third of the oven at 475°F until the syrup has thickened and the potatoes are just beginning to caramelize (about 20 minutes - but watch carefully and do not allow them to burn; if they are browning too quickly reduce oven temperature).

Cooks Note: If adding mini-marshmallows, spread them evenly over the top of the potatoes at this time, and broil for 5-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Baste with additional butter before serving.

Variation: Use honey or Karo syrup instead of the maple syrup; add 1/4 cup frozen orange concentrate. Omit cinnamon; use vanilla.

BENEFITS OF EATING SWEET POTATOES:

• Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes may be one of nature's unsurpassed sources of beta-carotene. Several recent studies have shown the superior ability of sweet potatoes to raise our blood levels of vitamin 
• A. They are also a very good source of vitamin C, manganese, copper, pantothenic acid, and vitamin B6. Additionally, they are a good source of potassium, dietary fiber, niacin, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and phosphorus.
• It can be helpful to include some fat in your sweet potato-containing meals if you want to enjoy the full beta-carotene benefits of this root vegetable. Recent research has shown that a minimum of 3-5 grams of fat per meal significantly increases our uptake of beta-carotene from sweet potatoes. 
• Recent studies show excellent preservation of sweet potato anthocyanins with steaming, and several studies comparing boiling to roasting have shown better blood sugar effects (including the achievement of a lower glycemic index, or GI value) with boiling. The impact of steaming is particularly interesting, since only two minutes of steaming have been show to deactivate peroxidase enzymes that might otherwise be able to break down anthocyanins found in the sweet potatoe.
• In fact, with these peroxidase enzymes deactivated, natural anthocyanin extracts from sweet potato used for food coloring may be even more stable than synthetic food colorings. 
• This benefit isn't limited to the food's appearance since the anthocyanins have great health benefits as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Royal Healing Natural Health Center

Dr. Ezzy

832-913-5022