Soul Food Candied Yams (Printable Page)

Sweet potatoes simmered in a silky brown sugar syrup with cinnamon and nutmeg for southern comfort.

# What You'll Need:

→ Vegetables

01 - 4 large yams or sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds

→ Syrup & Sweeteners

02 - 1 cup packed light brown sugar
03 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
04 - 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
05 - 1/4 cup water
06 - 1/4 cup orange juice

→ Spices

07 - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
08 - 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
09 - 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
10 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
11 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

# Step-by-Step Guide:

01 - Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
02 - Arrange the sliced yams in a single, even layer in a large baking dish measuring 9x13 inches.
03 - In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, water, and orange juice. Stir until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, approximately 3-4 minutes.
04 - Remove the saucepan from heat. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and vanilla extract until well combined.
05 - Pour the hot syrup evenly over the yams in the baking dish, ensuring all slices are thoroughly coated.
06 - Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
07 - Remove the foil, baste the yams with the syrup, and continue baking uncovered for an additional 20 minutes, or until the yams are tender and the syrup is thick and glossy.
08 - Let cool for 10 minutes before serving to allow the syrup to thicken further.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The buttery brown sugar syrup gets thick and glossy in the oven, caramelizing into something completely addictive that tastes nothing like health food.
  • It requires almost no skills—just slicing and stirring—but tastes like you've been perfecting it for decades.
  • The warm spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) make your kitchen smell so good that people think you've been cooking all day.
02 -
  • Don't skip the resting time—I learned this by serving too eagerly and watching the syrup run off the yams like it was trying to escape; that 10 minutes makes it thicken enough to actually stay put.
  • If your yams are very large or very small, adjust your baking time accordingly because even slices bake evenly, but uneven ones will leave you with some mushy and some still firm.
03 -
  • If your brown sugar is hardened, soften it in the microwave for 15 seconds before measuring—lumpy brown sugar won't dissolve smoothly into the syrup.
  • The orange juice is genuinely optional, but it's the secret weapon that keeps this from tasting aggressively sweet; if you don't have fresh juice, even a teaspoon of zest mixed with the water does the job.
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