It’s the holiday season! And with that comes all the family gatherings and so much food.
But if you have food allergies and sensitivities like we do in our family, that can cause a bit of stress, especially when the kids are involved.
I can figure things out for myself, eat around all the things I can’t eat, and simply avoid desserts.
But do you want to take a guess at what happens when you tell a 3-year-old she can’t have dessert?
It’s not great!
So because of that, I always try to think ahead and offer to bring dishes that my little family of sensitive tummies can eat (and ones that they WILL eat, too)!
And sweet potatoes are always a safe bet with us!
So I created a healthy-ish sweet potato casserole recipe that worked for our family and just so happened to be a hit (thankfully — it doesn’t always go that way)!
THE HEALTHY-ISH SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE THAT’S SURE TO BE A HIT AT EVERY FAMILY GATHERING
So let’s dive into the recipe now, shall we?
INGREDIENTS
- 6-7 large sweet potatoes
- 3 apples (I used Fuji)
- 1/4 cup apple sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1/5 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- sprinkle of sea salt
- 1/2 cup chopped dates
- 1/2 cup chopped raw pecans
DIRECTIONS
- Bake sweet potatoes and apples in oven at 375 degrees for about an hour or until tender enough to mash.
- Peel potatoes and peel and core apples, then mash together with the remaining ingredients aside from the dates and pecans.
- Spread mixture into a 13×9 baking dish and top with dates and pecans.
- Bake at 350 degrees until warm and set, about 45 minutes.
- For the remaining minute or two, switch to broil to allow dates to caramelize, watching closely to ensure they don’t burn.
- Serve warm!
I used the Chopped Medjool Dates from Trader Joe’s to save myself some time chopping them, and they were delicious! But if you go that route, I suggest getting two containers because if you’re like me, you will end up eating half of a container while you’re prepping.
This casserole was a hit for those with food sensitivities and those without, and I’ll definitely make it again!
Do you think you’ll give this recipe a try? Let me know in the comments!