Sweet Potato Bake -- A Healthier Way

Maybe you are used to the marshmallow covered sweet potato "pie" served so often served at Thanksgiving, maybe you like your sweet potatoes baked and topped with sweet cinnamon butter.  These sweet potatoes are usually whipped with cream or butter and then topped with sugar or marshmallows and baked.  The result, a dish that could pass for dessert disguised as a side dish. 

This dish is still sweet, but due to the sweet potatoes natural sweetness and apple cider, rather than a lot of extra sugar.  I love them combined with apples and cranberries.  I also prefer them in chunks rather than whipped.  These are really easy and can be made for ten people just as easily as for one person.  You can bake up each person's serving in individual ramekins or bake it all in one big dish, whichever is easier.  The below recipe serves two.  I like to use an apple like Gala or Honeycrisp for this dish.

Come back tomorrow for a savory sweet potato dish!

Sweet Potato Bake

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and cubed
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup apple cider
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Chop sweet potatoes and apples into approximately 1/2" cubes.  Divide potatoes and apples evenly among to two ramekins, divide cranberries among baking dishes.  Add half of the cider to each ramekin.  Combine spices in a small dish and sprinkle over potato mixture.  Toss to combine. 

Bake approximately one hour, stirring every twenty minutes until cider has cooked down to a glaze and potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.