Brown Butter Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Hello PinkWhen readers! Justine from Cooking and Beer here. Happy March! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m totally ready for Spring. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a good snow day, but with just a couple of weeks left until the start of Spring, I’m craving some foods that celebrate the season! With Easter right around the corner, I’ve been dabbling in all foods that celebrate the holiday. This recipe for brown butter twice baked sweet potatoes with goat’s cheese and avocado cream is just one of the many reasons to celebrate!

I’m always looking for fun new side dishes to incorporate with dinner. I don’t always go all out, but I always try to make them as interesting as possible.

Brown Butter Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

My better half and I eat a lot of potatoes, as he is definitely a meat and potatoes type of person. This is totally ok though. It makes putting fun spins on dinner all the more exciting!

While most of these potato dishes consist of the plain russet or golden Yukon, I cook with red potatoes often, and sweet potatoes even more!

Sweet potatoes are such a fun and healthy way to spice up a weeknight side dish. I will often bake them a day or two in advance, so that there is just a step or two left when dinner rolls around. I will eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner if I have enough of them on hand!

This recipe for brown butter twice baked sweet potatoes is super simple. Sweet potatoes are baked off in the oven until tender. Once they are tender and delicious-smelling, I release them from their cage and let them cool while I prepare the other components of the dish.

To a bowl goes the flesh from the sweet potato, brown butter, goat’s cheese, parsley, bacon and a dash of salt and pepper. After the ingredients have been mashed to perfection, mound them back into the sweet potato skins. Bake them off once again, and that’s all there is to it! Sprinkle on any remaining bacon, parsley, and goat’s cheese. Then drizzle on the best part of the whole dish: the avocado cream. The avocado cream is just a simple combination of avocados, buttermilk and sour cream. It’s a great way to use up any avocados that are just on the verge of becoming overripe!

Brown Butter Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Goat’s Cheese and Avocado Cream

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 medium-sized sweet potatoes

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

4 strips of bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped

6 ounces goat’s cheese, crumbled

salt and black pepper

2 very ripe avocados, pitted and skins removed

1/2 cup sour cream (plain Greek yogurt may be substituted)

2 tablespoons buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Poke your sweet potatoes with a fork and place them directly on the rack of your oven. Place a piece of foil on the rack below to reduce mess. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45-50 minutes or until tender. Times may vary depending on how hot your oven gets.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and let stand at room temperature until they are cool enough to handle, about 20-30 minutes. Leave the oven on.

While your potatoes are cooling, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, stirring frequently, until brown bits begin to form on the bottom of the pan, about 5-6 minutes. Pay close attention as the butter can quickly go from brown to burnt in a matter of seconds. Once you see the brown bits forming and a nutty aroma fills the air, pull the butter from the heat immediately. Set aside.

Cut the tops off of the sweet potatoes, lengthwise. Scoop the sweet potato flesh into a medium bowl, leaving the skins in tact. To the bowl, add the brown butter, 2 tablespoons of the fresh parsley, 3/4 of the chopped bacon, and 4 ounces of the goat’s cheese. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste and mash the ingredients together until combined. Scoop the filling back into the sweet potatoes.

Place the potatoes on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil or parchment paper. Place them back in the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

While your potatoes are baking for a second time, prepare your avocado cream. In the bowl of your food processor or blender, combine the avocados, sour cream and buttermilk. Add a dash of salt and pepper and pulse until completely smooth and creamy.

Once your potatoes have baked, remove from oven. Sprinkle on the remaining parsley, bacon and goat’s cheese. Drizzle with avocado cream and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe for brown butter twice baked sweet potatoes! Have a happy Thursday everyone, and I’ll see you next month!

xoxo – Justine