Deliciously Vegan Candied Yam Potato Skins — a holiday staple veganized and given a unique twist. Potato skins can be fun, so why not fuse them with an all-time Thanksgiving favorite?!
I’m not going to lie; candied yams weren’t a thing at my family’s dinner table. I’d never even heard of them until the age of 10. It was my first Thanksgiving at my dad’s house a year after my parents divorced, and to tell you the truth, I thought they were terrible!
My father wasn’t the best of cooks. He had a couple of things he made, which were really good, like his Firehouse Taco Salad (that I recently veganized). He also made really good chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. Dang, how I wish I had those recipes so I could veganize them too. Thanksgiving at his house, however, was never too exciting.
I know, I know, Thanksgiving isn’t really about food, but we all relate the holiday to eating a delicious meal. Anyhow, those candied yams… I’d never heard of them, and he used canned yams. Canned yams, that’s a thing?!
I know now candied yams are a huge Thanksgiving dish for a lot of people, and I know that many folks do use canned yams to make this dish. I also believe that some, perhaps many, of these recipes with the canned yams are incredibly delicious. However, they are not vegan (at least not the traditional ones), and the ones I had, as my first experience, were not tasty.
All this being said, a few years back when my husband wanted to make candied yams (a tradition in his home) at Thanksgiving, I wasn’t thrilled. You know what though? I really enjoyed them! So much that now I’m making my own variation.
I’ve been into doing fun things with potatoes lately. This all started with my recipe for Twice Baked Beet Potatoes which I created early last year. This recipe is super BOMB and it’s gotten me addicted to stuffing things into potatoes!
That being said, I was pondering what to stuff into potatoes next, and with the holidays coming, it made me think of that beloved candied yam dish. I thought, “Hmmm… that would be pretty good altered into twice-baked potatoes or even potato skins.” I couldn’t decide which sounded best, so of course, I had to try them both!
My first time experimenting I made two different variations of twice-baked candied yams and two different versions of candied yam potato skins. That way, I can give you the best of the best! Myself, my husband, and my son were the taste-testers, and this variation was the winning recipe!
My only deal with suggesting the potato skins was I figured then people would wonder what they were supposed to do with the scooped out potato. I mean, what a waste, right?! WRONG! Oh my goodness, I love having cooked sweet potato leftovers in my fridge. Aside, from the obvious, add them to mashed sweet potatoes as another holiday side-dish, these mashed up baked yams are delicious inside veggie sandwiches, wraps, and on top of toast!
I’d previously stopped going through my step-by-step directions in these intros because I was worried it was a little too redundant with my recipe included down below. However, I was recently asked if my recipe had detailed descriptions included and was made to think perhaps it is appreciated. That being said, I will start it up again, but try not to get too wordy.
The sweet potatoes are first baked, pretty easy, right? You can choose to rub them with oil and sea salt or leave them as are, but whatever you do, do not wrap them in foil. You want the peels to get crispy and they won’t at all if wrapped in foil.
Also, to keep the skins dry and not moist, set the potatoes right on your oven rach rather on a baking sheet. I do suggest also leaving a foil-wrapped baking sheet on a rack below to catch the drippings (the dropped juices will leave a mess on the bottom of the oven, and smoke up your kitchen — trust me, I learned the hard way!).
When your potatoes are soft, turn the heat up on your oven. While it’s preheating, slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the center of both sides. You can use a spoon to do this, or I like to use a tomato corer. Just make sure to leave a layer of potato on the skins. Leave at least a quarter of an inch, I like to leave about half of an inch. The yam halves are now brushed with the most delicious butter-spice-sugar mixture (vegan butter, of course, and coconut sugar) and baked for 5 minutes on each side, on top of a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Next is the best part. For the final step, the sweet potato skins get stuffed with a mixture of vegan marshmallows (I use Trader Joe’s Mini Marshmallows) and pecan pieces. Before adding them back to the oven, you brush them again with that yummy butter mixture and bake for five to ten more minutes. Voilá, not too hard at all, and incredibly delicious!
I really hope you enjoy these! I made them again tonight and am using all my self-control to not go and grab a third helping. LOL! Let me know what you think. Leave a comment below, or tag me in a pic of yours on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.
Deliciously Vegan Candied Yam Potato Skins
Ingredients
- 2 lbs yams (orange sweet potatoes) I pick out four small ones
- drizzle olive oil or I use an oil spritzer
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp sea salt plus more for sprinkling
- pinch ground clove
- pinch ground nutmeg
- pinch ground ginger
- drop pure vanilla extract less than 1/8 tsp
- 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups vegan marshmallows I use Trader Joe's Mini Marshmallows
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Clean the yams and pat them dry. Pierce them a few times with a fork. Drizzle or spritz a little olive oil over the yams and rub it equally over all of them. Sprinkle the yams with sea salt.
- Once the oven has preheated, place the yams directly on the center oven rack (do not wrap in foil). Place a baking sheet on an additional oven rack placed in the bottom of the oven, to catch the yams' drippings (line the baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up). Baking the yams will take about 45 minutes to one hour and 15 minutes, depending on the size of your yams.
- Melt the butter (you can use the microwave or heat it in a pan on the stove). Whisk in the coconut sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla.
- When the yams are done baking, increase the oven temperature to 450°F. Cut the yams in half lengthwise. Either by using a small spoon or a tomato corer, scoop out the inside of each yam, leaving a healthy layer of potato over the potato skins (leave at least one-fourth of an inch, I leave about a half of an inch). You can save the scooped out potato for a later use.
- Brush each side of the potato skins with the butter mixture and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet (you can use the one you previously covered with foil to catch the yam drippings). Place the baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake for five minutes on each side.
- Mix together the pecans and marshmallows. If your marshmallows are big and your yams are small, you may want to chop the marshmallows in smaller pieces. Once the yams have baked for five minutes on each side, remove them from the oven. Fill each potato skin with the marshmallows and pecans. Brush the tops with more of the butter mixture.
- Return the potato skins to the oven and bake for another five to 10 minutes, until the tops have browned.