Step 1
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Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, and washing your potatoes.
I thought I'd show you a reference picture of the potatoes I used since saying "small to medium" might be taken differently from everyone. |
Step 2
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Hopefully this will help, considering that almost everyone knows the size of an iPhone!
Line a baking pan with aluminum foil, and poke around on your potatoes with a fork. |
Step 3
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Pop these guys into the preheated oven for about 45 minutes to an hour.
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Step 4
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When they're finished, you should be able to squeeze the sides and actually feel the potato squeezing.
It's up to you how you choose to cook your bacon slices, but here's my little tip.
I've started baking my bacon in the oven on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and it's so easy! |
Step 5
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As you can see, besides the fact that I accidentally baked four extra slices (yeah that's right, I thought I might need to sample a little bacon to make sure it was safe for my family to eat!) the bacon sheet baked right along with the potatoes.
I usually cook bacon at 400 degrees for anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes depending on the thickness.
Once your potatoes have cooled enough for you to handle them without yelping, slice them in half lengthwise. |
Step 6
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Carefully scoop the insides right into the bowl of your mixer. |
Step 7
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It doesn't have to be perfect, but try not to poke through the skins. Also try to leave enough in them to give you a fairly sturdy vessel for your fancied up insides. |
Step 8
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Add one tablespoon of the butter, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream in with the potato innards. |
Step 9
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Now beat the ever lovin' sweet potato out of it! |
Step 10
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Seriously though, I beat mine on high for about two minutes... scraping down the sides once.
Lay your sweet potato shells on a parchment lined baking sheet, and refill with their new and improved insides. |
Step 11
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Make sure your oven is reset to 400 degrees, and prepare the yummy topping for the potatoes.
I wanted to show you that when I say 1/4 cup chopped candied pecans I measured out a heaping 1/4 cup first, |
Step 12
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and then chopped them up. |
Step 13
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Add the chopped pecans, butter bits, bacon bits, sugar, and flour into a bowl. |
Step 14
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Give it all a good toss, |
Step 15
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and evenly distribute amongst your taters. |
Step 16
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Try to make sure that everyone gets a little of everything the topping has to offer, and bake for 10 minutes.
When the timer goes off, pull them out of the oven and check for spots where the sugar still looks like sugar. Dot these with small bits of butter. |
Step 17
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Bake another 5 minutes, and prepare to fall in love!
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Step 18
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These are insanely good, so I'd say bake more than you think you need! |
Step 19
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I ate two easily, and I don't regret a single bite! |