Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes

One of my favorite things to do is go out to dinner. Don't get me wrong, if this blog doesn't prove it enough, I also looooove to cook and bake. But there is just something magical (yes, magical) about sitting down to a dinner I didn't slave over, eating it with pretty music playing (or football on the TV above my head), and then the dishes flying off the table to a special place where someone other than me washes them. Magical.

But sometimes I get something at a restaurant that I immediately think, "If I don't get to eat this every day of my life, I might go crazy." For instance, Panera Bread's broccoli cheese soup. Or any of the cheesecakes from Cheesecake Factory. I even dissected and wrote down the ingredients to a yummy corn and avocado salsa from CPK a couple months ago.

One of those things also includes the loaded baked sweet potato from Texas Roadhouse. In all honesty, though, theirs is a yam, not a sweet potato. Or they've somehow found a way to turn their sweet potatoes orange on the inside. Sweet potatoes are actually more of a golden yellow, but they are still divine. Yes, they are. And I love myself a whole bunch of them come November and December.

I knew they had a butter sauce and some marshmallows on top, and brown sugar played a role, but I wasn't sure exactly what else, so I googled it and found a blog where she actually also googled it and found that *honey* was the missing ingredient. And letmetellyou it is out of this world. The mixture turns into a buttery, carmely sauce that takes these potatoes over the top.

Even though the title says "sweet potato" feel free to use yams too! They are just as yummy, I swear! In fact, the website I got this recipe from used yams even though she called them sweet potatoes.

Your typical sweet potato. Baked for 45 minutes or until fork tender.

But them open like you would any other potato. Or make your significant other do that part :)

My hubby even sliced the insides a little to give it a "mashed" appearance.

Make your sauce. Butter, honey and brown sugar together are am-ah-zing. Your sauce is done when it's a nice light brown and bubbles are forming around the edge.

Add a small amount of marshmallows. Or more than a small amount. But you will add more, so not too much.

Pour on your sauce. Let it settle and see if you need to add more. Trust me, the more the merrier. Really.

Add on a little more marshmallows and broil for seriously 30 seconds. Don't burn them or they'll be hard and yuck. Just nice and toasty brown.

Seriously, the potato was bigger than the chicken. And it was so good!

Loaded Baked Sweet Potato

submitted by Carissa, from Sugar Mama Baking Co.

6-8 sweet potatoes, about the size of a baked potato
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
8 TBSP butter (1 stick)
a bag of small marshmallows

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.Bake sweet potatoes for 30-45minutes, until fork tender.

While baking, melt butter in a saucepan on stove. Whisk in honey and brown sugar for about 3-5 minutes until it becomes a nice caramel sauce.

When baked potatoes are done, pull them out of the oven, open them like a baked potato, put a couple marshmallows on them, pour some of the honey-caramel sauce on top of the marshmallows, then put more marshmallows on top.  Set the oven to broil and broil the potatoes for 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted–but not burned. Remove from oven and serve.
Yum.