Bourbon Brown Butter Sweet Potato Casserole

Preheat the oven to 400°F and set out a small baking sheet. 

Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork or butter knife a few times on each side. Arrange the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet. Roast the sweet potatoes for 50-55 minutes until softened. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the potatoes cool slightly until they’re easily handled.

Once cool, peel the skin from the sweet potatoes and add to a mixing bowl.  Mash the sweet potatoes roughly and set aside.

Add the cubed bacon to a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Fry the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. 

Transfer the fried bacon to a paper towel lined plate and safely discard any remaining bacon grease. 

In a small mixing bowl, add the fried bacon, brown sugar, all purpose flour, raw pecans, melted butter, and chopped fresh sage. Mix until the ingredients are incorporated and no streaks of flour or pools of melted butter are left. Place the mixing bowl in the fridge to set up while you mix the sweet potato base.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and set out a 9x13 casserole dish.

In a clean frying pan, add the butter for the sweet potatoes and melt it over medium heat. Let the butter bubble and brown, stirring once or twice, until it browns and smells nutty. About 4-5 minutes. Set the butter aside, off of the heat, to cool for a minute.

Mix the mashed sweet potatoes with the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, eggs, bourbon, and heavy cream. Carefully pour in the browned butter and mix once more.

Transfer the sweet potatoes into the casserole dish and spread into an even layer. Take the bacon pecan topping out of the refrigerator and crumble on top of the sweet potatoes in the casserole dish.

Bake the sweet potato casserole for 35-40 minutes, until the topping is crisp and the edges of the casserole are bubbling. Remove the casserole from the oven and set it aside for 10 minutes to cool and set before serving. Enjoy!