Sweet Potato Oven Fries

I tried growing sweet potatoes this year, all the leaves that were growing on top of the dirt made me think they were doing well. After 120 days in the ground, I decided it was time to dig some up and see what was down there. Lots of roots, that’s about it. I was bummed.

I have been making sweet potato fries for years and had found a way that yielded pretty good results, but it involved carefully slicing into sticks and arranging on a baking sheet in a single layer with no two sticks touching. It was a high maintenance side dish that never was quite as crisp as I'd like. I admit to buying frozen packages of pre cut and fried sweet potatoes from Trader Joe’s for convenience. They use cheap oils and give me a tummy ache.

This recipe evolved from regular potato oven fries when I decided to give sweet potatoes a try. PERFECTION. It helps to shop for potatoes with good shape and like in size. You know when a recipe calls for sucanat, you can substitute brown sugar, right? Probably works better because it will dissolve in the oil. I choose to avoid white and brown sugars where ever possible so I always list my alternative sweetener in my recipes.

3 lbs sweet potatoes or baking potatoes
1 tablespoon sucanat
1 dash cayenne
1 teaspoon homemade taco spice mix or chili powder
2 tablespoons corn starch
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, it helps to use convection. Wash and cut potatoes (no need to peel) into wedges of equal size. Combine sucanat, cayenne, taco seasoning, cornstarch and coconut oil (it will be clumpy, that’s okay), toss the wedges in mixture. Lay wedges on sheet pans in a single layer and bake for 20 minutes. Turn over with a spatula and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve. We usually do a “fry sauce” (mayo and ketchup) with a little horseradish. I am ready for a change. Please post a link or a recipe in the comments section for me to try.

links; Whole Foods for the Holiday's