As Thanksgiving sneaks up on us, I find myself missing the Thanksgivings I had as a kid. Thanksgiving meant the house was filled with wonderful smells and a day off of school. It was a day to relax and play with my toys and watch movies as a family while my mom cooked. It was, quite honestly, one of my favorite days of the year.

So I looked forward to sharing that with my own family. Then it hit me. Thanksgiving was no longer this relaxing thing. Instead of spending the day vegging out around the house I had to cook. Then I had to clean. Thanksgiving became a lot of work. And you know how I like to keep things simple so I can enjoy big events. Waking up before the sun came up and cooking/cleaning for the entire day was not going to cut it.

This simple coconut sweet potato casserole was always on our Thanksgiving table growing up and as a mom, it has saved Thanksgiving for me. This dish can be made the day before and reheats beautifully so you can serve it as part of your Thanksgiving  meal without missing out on time with your family.

This is absolutely NOT low-fat. But it’s delicious. I’d actually rather eat this than most pies.

Ingredients

For the Filling:

• 1 pound of sweet potatoes (fresh is wonderful but if you want to simplify things canned works beautifully)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup shredded coconut (if you can, look for coconut without added sweeteners)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick melted butter
• 2 Tablespoons vanilla
• 1/2 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

For the Topping:

• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup pecans

Preparation

Combine all the ingredients for the filling and mix well. Pour your sweet potato mixture into a greased 9×9 pan.

Combine the butter, sugar, flour, and water in a separate bowl to make a crumb topping. The first time I did this, I mixed it until it became a paste.

Apparently I’m clueless. You don’t want to do that.

Use your fingers to gently work the dry ingredients together with the butter. It is possible to do this with less butter if you want to cut back on that a bit. Add in your pecans. I’ve done this with walnuts before too and that works just fine.

When you have your crumb topping, sprinkle it over the top of your sweet potato mixture.

Bake it uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This is delicious and the best part is you can make it the day before and reheat it on Thanksgiving day to give yourself more time to actually enjoy the holiday!