Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Balls

Name: Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Balls
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4-6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 4 large sweet potatoes; 157.80 ml packed brown sugar; 29.58 ml orange juice; 4.92 ml orange zest; 2.46 ml grated fresh nutmeg; 473.18 ml shredded coconut, sweetened; 118.29 ml granulated sugar; 4.92 ml ground cinnamon; marshmallows, 1 large marshmallow per potato ball

Submitted by MilanzMom

"These are a great alternative to traditional sweet potatoes for the holidays. I saw her make them on her Thanksgiving special and they are very easy."

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Ready In:: 25mins
Ingredients:: 9
Serves:: 4

ingredients

4 large sweet potatoes
157.80 ml packed brown sugar
29.58 ml orange juice
4.92 ml orange zest
2.46 ml grated fresh nutmeg
473.18 ml shredded coconut, sweetened
118.29 ml granulated sugar
4.92 ml ground cinnamon
marshmallows, 1 large marshmallow per potato ball

directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake the potatoes until tender, then peel and mash them.
Stir in the brown sugar, orange juice, zest and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, toss the coconut with the sugar and cinnamon.
Press mashed potatoes around each marshmallow, creating a 2 to 3-inch diameter ball.
Roll the balls in the coconut mixture. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Watch carefully for the last few minutes of cooking; the expanding marshmallows can cause the potato balls to burst open.

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Reviews

I am planning on making these for the first time this Thanksgiving. I saw that it feeds 4-6... anyone know about how many balls this makes? I have to make for a large family gathering.

alisamarie07
Sweet potato balls were a big thing in the 1960s-1970s, but later seemed to disappear from the scene. I'm glad Paula brought them back with this tweaked up recipe. Back in the day, ladies rolled the balls in graham cracker crumbs, coconut, or chopped nuts. It's a personal choice. Thanks for posting this recipe. It's going on my Thanksgiving menu.

Mountainbaby
For years I have put a variety of sweet potato dishes on the Thanksgiving menu. My daughter saw Paula making these and thought we ought to give them a try. We semi-pureed them in the food processor (gave them a nice texture, but may have made them a bit thin to work with). After struggling with encasing the marshmallow we came up with a great idea--fill a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop part way with sweet potato mixture, press in marshmallow and then spoon more sweet potato mixture over top to cover; tip into coconut mixture and roll to cover. It work great! Everyone loved these! Nice and light--even good at room temperature or cold.

Sharlene~W
These were great! I'm not usually a fan of sweet potatoes but I loved these. I saw Paula's Thanksgiving show and wanted to make some for Thanksgiving but I couldn't find the recipe on Food Network. I'm so glad you posted them! The only thing I may change would be adding a little less O.J. They were a little too runny to form into a good ball. The O.J. added good flavor but I may try just 1 tbsp next time. Thanks for posting!

Babs7
Made these for Thanksgiving;"delicious" but too sweet....need to cut the sugars a bit! Enjoy...easy to make. Watch them the last few minutes so they do not pop open...as soon as you see a hint of oozing marshmallow....remove them from the oven and serve them. Mmmm so good.

garykmeharian