Smoked Sweet Potatoes With Candied Pecans and Bourbon Caramel

A note on smoked sides and smoked sweet potatoes! Why would you smoke your sides when you could easily do them in your oven? If you are new here you might be asking this question but let us enlighten you! Smoke is the unsung here in your dishes, the secret ingredient that amplifies flavor in everything! And this is also why people are addicted to their Big Green Eggs- because once you get addicted to adding smoke flavor to everything, all dishes made inside are kind of a let down. And so, we present to you a whole slew of dishes created on the BIG GREEN EGG for our Big Green Egg Users. If you haven’t checked it out yet, we have a whole introduction to the Big Green Egg for those that are new to the Egg Eggsperience and need help getting started. And if you don’t have an Egg, dont’ worry, we have recipes created for any kind of grill!

And now back to SMOKED SWEET POTATOES!

A healthy base with a sweet twist—that is my kind of dessert! Something satisfying to eat that does not feel like you are being lied to because it’s healthy. With my recipe for Smoked Sweet Potatoes With Candied Pecans and Bourbon Caramel on the Big Green Egg, all those boxes are checked. Think of it as a personal sweet potato pie, but topped with crunchy homemade candied pecans and gooey caramel (also homemade!) with a hint of your favorite bourbon.

Steps to Make these SMOKED SWEET Potatoes, a personal Dessert Sweet Potato

1. SMOKE the Sweet Potatoes
2. Make homemade smoked pecans – you can easily skip this step if you are short on time. Trader Joes has a ton of economically prices smoked pecans and pralines that will work for this recipe.
3. Make Bourbon Caramel – again, this caramel is awesome BUT if you don’t want to do this step, you can also use Fat Toad Farm, they make amazing caramel!

I love roasting sweet potatoes out of foil so they can get the full smoky flavor of cooking it on the Big Green Egg, but don’t love the mess, so I always bake them in some type of dish/pan. In this recipe we infuse herbs into our butter for a slightly savory twist to bring some relief to the sweetness of the over all dish.

These candied pecans are dessert on their own but on these smoked sweet potatoes paired with bourbon caramel they are OH SO GOOD!

Plus, and extra caramel from this recipe can be stored in an airtight container for two weeks. I’m sure you can come up with a reason to use it again! But if you want to take some shortcuts with this recipe, I definitely recommend Trader Joes’ candied pecans and Torani caramel.

Ingredients for these Smoked Sweet Potatoes, aka Personal Dessert Sweet Potatoes:

If you want to entice your sweet tooth, we love smoked desserts over here at GrillGirl.com. Be sure to check out our SMOKED DESSERTS section where we give you tons of delectable smoked dessert recipes to add to your grilling recipe arsenal. Some of our favorites are our Bourbon Smoked Pecan Pie, our Smoked Bourbon Apple and Salted Caramel Pie, and our Smoked Pumpkin Cheesecake! 

Smoked Sweet Potatoes With Candied Pecans and Bourbon Caramel on the Big Green Egg

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• Author: Taylor Shulman Carroll
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings/1 potato per person 1x

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Description

These smoked sweet potatoes can replace that old school sweet potato casserole because it will hit all those dessert notes with added benefit of smoke flavor from the grill!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 sweet potatoes (try and select ones of similar size)
• 1/4 cup melted butter*
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 2 tsp salt
• Cast iron skillet, Dutch oven, or heat safe baking dish

*You may use olive oil, or melted coconut oil if you prefer. Or, use melted fat such as beef tallow for a savory contrast to this sweet dish and really make it pop!

Bourbon Caramel

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup butter
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. bourbon
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• ½ tsp black pepper

Candied Pecans

• ½ lb. halved pecans
• 2 egg whites
• 1.5 tbsp. water
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup white granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ginger
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. allspice
• Optional: 1 tsp. cayenne

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Instructions

Sweet Potatoes

1. Wash the exterior of the sweet potatoes to remove any dirt and pat them dry.
2. Using a fork, poke holes in the potato.
3. Melt the butter in a sauce pan with the herbs to infuse the flavor, then remove the herbs from the pan.
4. Baste the potatoes.
5. Stabilize the Big Green Egg at 400 F, indirect.
6. Place the potatoes on the grill in a baking dish, this will reduce the mess and bake until fork tender, about 1 hour, basting with the butter mix every 15 minutes.
7. Once complete, cut them open and top with candied pecans and caramel.

Candied Pecans

1. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with the water until frothy.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and spices.
3. Toss the pecans in the egg white mix until they’re coated, then pour in the dry ingredients and toss until evenly distributed.
4. Smoke at 250 F indirect, stirring every 15 minutes until they’re golden brown, 45 minutes to an hour.
5. Allow them to cool completely for the shell to harden and enjoy

Caramel

1. Place the butter and sugar in a heavy bottom sauce pot over medium high heat and allow the ingredients to boil together until it reaches a dark amber color.
2. Reduce the heat and whisk in the heavy cream and continue to cook for about 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon and spices.
4. Enjoy!

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Dessert, Side Dishes, Smoked Sweet Potatoes
• Method: Smoke Roast Bake
• Cuisine: American, Southern