Truth: I really love food. And I love cooking it for other people to enjoy. I think over the course of my 20s and 30s it’s like therapy. Seriously, I went through some personal turmoil in my mid 20’s and I think I baked my way through about 4 cookbooks in 1 summer. In all honesty, I’ve had a history of a love/hate relationship with food and grew up fearing it. I’ll save those details for another time and not in my first ever post that is supposed to put you in the holiday spirit! But my point is, I’ve come to point in my life where I just want to share delicious food with everyone I can. And if I can get more people to eat plant powered food, even better! Enter: vegan sweet potato casserole.
I thought long and hard about what I wanted my first ever post to be on the blog. I could have gone a million different ways with it. And being the Type A/perfectionist personality that I am, I was worried about making the wrong decision. Soooo I wavered back and forth and getting past my well-known pattern of indecision, it came to me. My favorite vegan sweet potato casserole. Mostly because I had just made it recently and it was fresh on my mind but also because it seems to be a crowd pleaser at our Thanksgiving dinner (which we host at our house each year)!
So I introduce you to the best ever vegan sweet potato casserole.
I fully understand that there is a serious debate going on surrounding sweet potato casserole. Mostly in regards to the marshmallows vs. no marshmallows topping. I have to say, and you might hate me after this, but I’ve never been a fan of the marshmallow topping. It’s just too dang sweet for me. There, I said it!
Which is why I love this one so much. I love that it’s just the right amount of sweet, and I do love me some pecans. And in Hopeful and Wholesome fashion, there are some superfoods thrown in to give it some extra nutritional oomph.
It really is a simple recipe, no crazy ingredients, and easily assembled.
This vegan sweet potato casserole all starts with the sweet potatoes. Your method of cooking here is totally your choice. Roasting is going to make for a little sweeter sweet potatoes (since the roasting brings out the natural sweetness) while boiling is a quicker method.
While your potatoes are cooking you can assemble the pecan topping and set it aside.
This. This is the best part. And this is where those superfoods I mentioned come in to play. (In case you don’t know what superfoods are, I’m talking the most nutritionally dense foods that power your body.)Some of these superfoods include:
- Oats
- Flaxseed
- Almond flour
- Coconut oil
- Maple Syrup (not lying!)
Flaxseed adds those Omega fatty acids that are great for your heart, your skin and your brain, while almond flour (literally ground up almonds) is fiber, Vitamin E and magnesium and a bunch of other great vitamins and minerals. Coconut oil is full of MCT’s (medium chain triglycerides) which are a great energy course and beneficial to your brain. Oats are full of healthy fiber. And believe it or not, that deliciously sweet maple syrup has trace minerals too, including manganese, riboflavin, zinc, magnum and potassium. And actually has a lower glycemic level than most other sweeteners!
If none of this sounds the least bit interesting or appealing to you, and you could really care less about my superfoods, just know this… this stuff is friggin’ delicious! Serve it warm, eat it leftover, eat it for breakfast.
It’s. Just. That. Good.