This Ain’t Grandma’s Sweet Potato Casserole

I don’t know why but I kept singing this song in my head as I baked this dish:

‘Grandma’s casserole got run over by a reindeer…’

Of course, to the famous Christmas tune of ‘Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer’

Last week when I asked you to send in your favourite Thanksgiving recipes that you wanted veganized, a certain email from Julianna spoke to me:

Hey Angela,
This is a famous recipe that has been in our family for generations. Our family calls it the Senator Russell after some Senator in Georgia a long time ago. It’s very Southern and delicious.
As the token vegetarian (and most days vegan except for honey and occasional greek yogurt) in my Southern family I would love a way to make this so that I could enjoy it as well.

I knew that I had to try out my first vegan sweet potato casserole. My mom has been making sweet potato casserole ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper and it is a treat that I always enjoyed! I was determined to make a vegan sweet potato casserole that would taste delicious.

Out of respect for Julianna’s family, I am not going to post their recipe on here, but I will tell you some ingredients that I chose to do without: eggs, white sugar, butter, evaporated milk, brown sugar, white flour. I couldn’t have selected a better recipe to make healthier too!

My first attempt was a huge and utter epic failure. It tasted good, but the texture was not up to par. Too much liquid. But I knew that could be easily resolved.

Last night, I jumped into my car at 10pm and booted it to the grocery store to buy more sweet potatoes. From 10:30-midnight, I was working on attempt #2. How is that for dedication?!

This morning I popped the casserole into the oven…and voila, my friends. Magic happened. Second time is a charm. Not to mention I got to photograph in natural light which is always superior!

This Ain’t Grandma’s Sweet Potato Casserole (Vegan)

Ingredients:

• 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cooked
• 2 tablespoons margarine (I used Earth Balance)
• 1/8 cup almond milk (or soy, hemp, etc)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar)
• 1/3 cup spelt flour
• 3/4 cups chopped pecans (I didn`t have- optional)
• 1-2 T chia seeds

     
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish with canola oil. I wipe a bit on with a paper towel. Peel and then boil sweet potatoes until tender.  Mash the sweet potatoes with the margarine until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla, maple syrup, sea salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pour into casserole dish. Next, mix the topping ingredients together until well-combined. Sprinkle topping mixture over the casserole and bake for approx. 50 minutes, checking it every so often.

Makes 10 servings at approximately 215 calories per serving (without pecans)

Notes:

1) I adapted this recipe from the fabulous Susan over at Fat Free Vegan blog.

2) I searched far and wide for vegan marshmallows in my neck of the woods but I did not find any. As you may know, marshmallows are not vegan (Gelatin is derived from animal hides and bones). If you choose to add some you may sprinkle some mini marshmallows over top of the casserole during the last 15 minute or so of baking.

3) If you want a crunchier topping, you can broil the casserole for a few minutes on medium at the end of baking. This will caramelize the crust. However, please note that the crust will flatten and the appearance will not be as nice. I tried it, it looked sad in the pictures, so I re-did the crust!

How did it taste?

JACKPOT!!

This sweet potato casserole is a big winner in my books! Both the sweet potato mixture and the sweet spelt topping was utterly divine. I did not miss the marshmallow topping, in fact I liked this one better.

I cut down the sugar by over half. I really DID NOT miss the 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 T of maple syrup that I cut out. It was still very sweet. I actually can’t imagine having it any sweeter than it already was. It was ‘just right’ in my opinion and isn’t going to give you a tummy ache.

I also removed the pecans because I didn’t have any. I actually mixed in some chia seeds into the topping! The best thing about this dish is that you can adapt it to however you’d like it!

My goal for this casserole was to create a dish that felt like a special occasion dish, but still wholesome and delicious at the same time. I feel like I achieved this goal.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted a recipe for me to veganize- I wish I had time to make all of them! Be sure to check out my delicious Vegan Pecan Pumpkin Pie recipe too if you are looking for a healthy Thanksgiving dessert! For your convenience, there is now a Pumpkin Pie icon on the right sidebar so you can quickly locate it.

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Charity:

1) Please help Jill raise $500 in one day for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. She is raising money in honour of her father-in-law who is currently battling lymphoma.

2) Project Feed Me: Week 6 and Week 7 items are up!

Glo Bakery:

1) Due to popular demand, I have extended the Healthy Holiday Lovers Glo Bar pack sale until this Friday! Click here for more info.

2) The new holiday Glo bar- Present- will be 25% off until Today at 4pm. Get them at this awesome price while you can!

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson