« Southern Corn Bread | Recipe Home | Apple Cranberry Pie »

Print Options

Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping Recipe

Filed under Comfort Food, Side Dish, Thanksgiving, Vegetable, Vegetarian

Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping

Half recipe pictured.

The holiday season is around the corner and we are already trying out recipes in preparation. This one comes from an old issue (December 1998) of Bon Appétit magazine. Smothering yams this way, in brown sugar and maple syrup, almost turns this dish into a dessert - not for everyday perhaps, but just the thing for a holiday treat.

What's the difference between sweet potatoes and yams? This site has some good information about sweet potatoes and yams. It looks as if what we buy in our local store is almost always a variety of sweet potato and not a true yam at all.

Print Options

Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping Recipe

Ingredients

4 lbs of yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes), peeled, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
8 Tbsp (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add yams. Cook until water returns to a simmer, about 4 minutes. Drain; rinse in cold water.

2 Arrange yams in baking dish, overlapping pieces. Sprinkle with salt. Pour maple syrup over yams. Dot with 3 Tbsp of butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until yams are almost tender, about 25 minutes.

3 Mix flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Add remaining 5 Tbsp of butter. Rub in with fingers until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Mix in pecans.

4 Sprinkle pecan mixture over yams. Bake yams until tender, about 20 minutes.

Serves 12.

Never Miss A Recipe!

Enter your email address to subscribe to Simply Recipes: (more details)

Posted by Elise on Nov 14, 2005 and indexed Pecans, Sweet Potatoes, Thanksgiving, Yam

  • Print (no photos)
  • Print (with photos)
  • Share on Facebook

Comments

This looks delicious, Elise. I like the fact that you can make it ahead. I don't think I would have thought to do that!

Posted by: Nic on October 21, 2005 1:27 PM

Wow, that is an indulgent dish! But you're right - perfect for the holidays.

Posted by: Beth - The Zen Foodist on October 21, 2005 7:00 PM

My family and I were doing a pre-Thanksgiving taste test last Saturday of some dishes that may or may not make the cut for this year's Thanksgiving feast. These sweet potatoes were on the menu Saturday and they were a big hit. My sister went back for a 3rd helping and my husband said they were the best sweet potatoes he's ever had. We had to use the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (yams?) since those were the only ones available in our supermarket, but they were great anyway. It looks like these are the sweet potatoes that will grace our table this holiday. Thank you so much!

Posted by: Anne Karakash on October 24, 2005 6:47 AM

I find that fresh season pecans (not the previous season ones that they sell in stores) work best in cooking.

Posted by: Odette on November 12, 2005 6:01 PM

Hi Nic - I love make ahead dishes for Thanksgiving. With all the guests running around and the turkey to cook, better to get as much done before hand as possible.

Hi Beth - Yep. This dish is really more like a dessert, isn't it? Maybe adding sugar is the only way to get some people to eat their veggies.

Hi Anne - I'm so glad your family liked it!

Hi Odette - I'm picking up loads of pecans that fall on to the sidewalk from a neighbor's tree. Any advice on the best way to crack them without breaking the nuts into a hundred pieces? Much harder to do than walnuts.

Posted by: elise [TypeKey Profile Page] on November 12, 2005 11:08 PM

This is a very nice recipe. The sweetness of brown sugar nicely complements the sweet yams...pecans when buttered and roasted simply taste yummy!!! Colorful and loaded with Vit A too!!!

Posted by: Niru on August 21, 2006 10:02 AM

This was a big hit yesterday at Thanksgiving - thanks!

Posted by: The Anonymous Mama on November 24, 2006 4:28 AM

I tried this recipe for the Thanksgiving party at work and it was a huge hit. All of my employees (females) were eagerly awaiting what I would bring to the party and sure enough they are requesting this dish for our Christmas party. Easy instructions for a novice and a guy, Thanks.

Posted by: Chris Adamoli on December 12, 2006 6:21 AM

I just wanted to tell you again how much I love your blog. I read it every day and love it! I've made so many amazing things and always get rave reviews. This year I am in charge of yams for my boyfriend's family Thanksgiving and asked my sister for her recipe (which has become a family favorite). She gave me the ingredients, but no real measurments or directions. After much giggling and name calling (I told her that she was acting just like our mother-- no recipe needed because you just know how to make it :)) she set off on the internet to find the Bon Appetit recipe that she learned all those years ago. Lo and behold, this morning she sends me a link to your website. I should have known that one of my favorite Thanksgiving treats would be posted on your website! Thanks for all the great food and happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by: thanksgiving treat on November 21, 2007 6:27 AM

I made these for Thanksgiving dinner and they were a huge hit with my future in-laws; I thought the recipe was fabulous! They weren't too sweet and the pecans added a perfect texture. My mother-in-law to be said that from now on, I was in charge of making the sweet potatoes every year.

Posted by: Mercedes on November 24, 2007 3:59 PM

Post a comment

(Your comment may need to be approved before it will appear on the site. Thanks for waiting. First time commenting? Please review the Comment Policy.)

Link to this recipe

Bookmark this page using the following link: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001518mapleglazed_yams_with_pecan_topping.php

Do you have a website? You can place a link to this page by copying and pasting the code below.

<a href="http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001518mapleglazed_yams_with_pecan_topping.php">Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping</a>