Baked Maple Cinnamon Apples & Sweet Potatoes

Hi friends, and Happy Friday!

Before I dive into today’s recipe, first thing’s first: I’ve always wanted to write a book. I’ve been a writer my whole life, and perhaps I’ll be in the right place someday to write a cookbook, healthy living book, or something unrelated… BUT, this week marks my first contribution to a book: an e-cookbook called Simply Savvy Healthy that came out earlier this week! It features tons of nutritious & delicious plant-based recipes (including one from me!), and you can check it out on Amazon here. The price is just $2.99 until November 25th, and then it’ll go up a few bucks.

American readers, can you believe that next week is Thanksgiving? I feel like November is just flying by! Whether hosting a gathering yourself, spending the holiday at a family party, or without any fancy plans yet, I’m sure that some of you already have your Thanksgiving dishes already picked out, but for those of you who are more last minute (like mwah), I have a side dish idea worth making as part of your holiday celebration.

Actually, this recipe is really just autumn and winter-tastic in general.

My grandma loved the holidays, and I’ve been thinking about her so much lately. Over Halloween, my sister, cousin, and I were laughing talking about how my grandma used to dress up every year when we were kids and come trick-or-treating at our houses. We wouldn’t know it was her at first because she always wore creepy masks (and she was 5 feet tall and petite so in costume she pretty much looked like a kid), or one year, a Bill Clinton mask (her political crush for many years):

“Bill Clinton” with my cousin, circa 1999

Last Halloween she even toilet papered my aunt’s house! My grandma was just a little kid at heart, and she loved being festive. I know that it’s going to be strange to be in my hometown celebrating Christmas – her (and my) favorite holiday by far – without her, but I know that the ladies in my family want to keep some “signature grandma” things alive over the holidays. When you’re talking about a little old Italian lady, traditions obviously equate to food much of the time.

There’s her infamous cheesecake. Eggplant parmigiana. This homemade bread she always made that I’ve requested the recipe for. In her later years, my grandma would start cooking literally weeks ahead of time. She would make homemade desserts and dishes and freeze them, take them out the day before the occasion, and I don’t think anyone ever even knew the difference. It was pretty funny because her cheesecake would be half-eaten by the time the holiday rolled around! Everyone would take slivers of it in the days leading up to the holiday. My grandma also loved this weird wheat pie, and she always ate most of it on her own prior to Christmas.

In talking to my mom about what dishes she’s making for Thanksgiving, the topic of this “signature grandma” candied sweet potato and apple dish came up. And wouldn’t you know, I found out that this dish that I loved growing up that my grandma made every year…. was made with just canned sweet potatoes, apple pie filling, cinnamon and brown sugar.

She obviously had some cooking shortcuts, and I can’t blame her since she made at least 27 different dishes each holiday. But I wanted to make bake apples & sweet potatoes to bring to my Friendsgiving party this year, only I wanted to make it with fresh apple and sweet potato. Sorry gram, but I pick fresh over canned any day!

This 4-ingredient recipe is one that takes me back to my hometown – to my grandma’s massive kitchen, where my whole family would gather to eat and laugh together nearly every holiday of my entire life.

This recipe’s an ode to you, my sweet angel.

Baked Maple Cinnamon Apples & Sweet Potatoes

Foodie Loves Fitness

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 50 mins

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 medium Granny Smith apples
• 3 large sweet potatoes around 350 g each
• 1/2 cup maple syrup plus 2 TBSP
• 1 1/2 TSP cinnamon
• 1/4 TSP nutmeg
• 1/8 TSP salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Peel the apples and sweet potatoes. Chop the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and thinly slice the apples.
• Transfer the apples and potatoes to a large bowl. Pour the 1/2 cup maple syrup over top. Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into the bowl. Toss well to thoroughly combine.
• Coat a 8x11 baking dish with cooking spray. Transfer the apple mixture into the dish.
• Cover with foil, and bake for 40 minutes. (The apples will cook faster than the sweet potatoes, but the foil prevents them from burning at all.)
• Remove foil and drizzle the remaining maple syrup on top. Bake until the potatoes are tender, another 5-10 minutes.
• Serve while it's still hot!

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

What recipes & foods remind you of the holidays and family?

*Have you entered my giveaway for soy protein powder, kale powder, psyllium seek husk, and Emergen C drink packets? It ends next Wednesday and is super easy to enter to win!  

**Disclaimer: The Amazon cookbook link is an affiliate link, meaning that I get a profit if you purchase the book via this post. As always, I appreciate your support!