Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

I want to appologise for not posting as often as I used to (and as often as I would like). Baby Girl has been particularly demanding lately, and even as I'm typing this I'm doing it with her between me and the keyboard - with her climbing all over me and the computer. So, I'm sorry. And as soon as I can find a way to post more I will. Ok. enough explinations about my personal life, lets get on with the food!
    I just got a bunch of potatoes the other day (they were on sale for $.99/10 lb bag) so I'll be spending a good chunk of today making my Garden Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes, and freezing them for later. It dawned on me that I haven't posted my twice baked sweet potatoes yet. I made these a couple weeks back and they were a big hit. They are sweet and savory at the same time. It's almost like eating a creamy sweet potato pie with a salty crust. Divine.
  They are a cinch to make too! I only made 5 medium to potatoes (because that's what I had on hand), but the recipe could easily be adjusted to make more or less if you need it to.

Start by roasting the sweet potatoes, just like you were making baked potatoes. That means: pricking them all over with a fork, rubbing the outsides with oil and salt and roasting @ 400F for about 1 hour, or until fork tender. When they are roasted, they will look like this:

Cut each potato down the center, vertically, only cutting through the top skin. Gently open the incision and scoop out the insides, leaving a little edge to hold the skins together.

When it's all scooped out it will look like this:

Put the insides into a medium to large bowl.

Add brown sugar, cream cheese and butter.

Mash them together a bit and then grate in some fresh nutmeg.

Add some ground cinnamon,

and ginger,

and a little salt and pepper . Then mash it all together until well combined. It doesn't look very pretty, but it tastes amazing!

Spoon the filling into each potato skin until filled.

When they are all filled, they go back into the oven for about 20 minutes just to get a little brown on top and hot all the way through.

This is what they'll look like when they are finished:

Serve and eat! If you wanted some textural contrast, some chopped pecans on top would be a nice touch. :)

Here's the recipe:
adapted from Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
 

oil and salt

5-6 sweet potatoes, even in size (medium to large) and scrubbed

3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

toasted, chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and rub the potatoes with a little oil. Salt them liberally. Place sweet potatoes on sheet tray or in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until soft. Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle.
Cut the top skin of the potatoes vertically, and remove the flesh to a medium sized mixing bowl. Keep about 1/4 inch of potato with the skin, to help the skin hold its shape.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the sweet potato flesh and mash until incorporated completely. Taste to see if you need to adjust your seasoning. Add the filling back to the potato skins and place back onto the sheet tray or baking dish. Turn the oven to 350F and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Top with toasted, chopped pecans if desired.