Sweet Potatoes à la Mode with Salted Maple Pecans
Sweet potatoes for dessert? Oh yes—and once you add creamy vanilla ice cream and salted maple pecans, there’s simply no turning back! These baked Sweet Potatoes à la Mode are wonderfully unexpected, with fluffy, spiced centers, a cool scoop of vanilla and crunchy, caramelized nuts in every spoonful.
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I love using naturally sweet produce as the starting point for dessert. Sweet potatoes are especially brilliant because roasting intensifies their sweetness while creating a soft, creamy texture—plus, they bring fiber, beta-carotene and energizing carbohydrates to the table. Here, buttery pecans add heart-healthy fats and irresistible crunch, while a scoop of vanilla ice cream delivers the full à la mode experience.
And this isn’t my first sweet potato spin! For more ways to enjoy this versatile spud, try my elegant Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée, layered Sweet Potato Parfait or individually portioned Single-Serve Sweet Potato Casseroles. You can even carry the theme into breakfast with my Cinnamon Sweet Potato Quinoa Pancakes.
The first time I served these to my family, there were a few curious looks around the table—Are we really putting ice cream on a potato? But the second those chilly, creamy scoops began melting into the warm, cinnamon-spiced centers, everyone dug right in. And those sticky, salty-sweet pecans? Let’s just say I now make a few extra because they have a funny way of disappearing from the pan.
The sweet potato filling gets its cozy flavor from cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. If you don’t feel like measuring five separate spices, feel free to substitute pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice. It’s an easy shortcut that still delivers all those warm, autumnal notes.
Why this spud is such a sweet surprise
- It’s wonderfully simple. The oven does most of the work, and the sweet potatoes are served right in their skins—no crust, complicated assembly or special bakeware required.
- Every temperature and texture comes to play. Warm and fluffy meets cool and creamy, while the toasted pecans bring a crisp, candy-like finish.
- It puts produce at the center of dessert. Naturally sweet roasted potatoes create a fiber-rich foundation that feels both comforting and satisfying.
Be sure to add the ice cream while the sweet potatoes are still warm so it melts into all those spiced nooks and crannies. Then finish with plenty of salted maple pecans—and prepare to totally rethink dessert potatoes!
A sweet swap for leftover spuds
Have extra cooked sweet potato? Don’t let it go to waste! Mash the flesh until completely smooth, then use it as a one-for-one replacement for pumpkin purée in my Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, cozy Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake or rich and gooey 2-Ingredient Chocolate Fudge Cakes. Sweet potato brings similar moisture, natural sweetness and velvety texture, so it slips seamlessly into all three treats. Consider it one spud with a very impressive résumé!
The more à la mode, the merrier! When you’re craving a fruity variation, try my Grilled Pineapple à la Mode or Peach Melba next. Both pair warm, juicy fruit with cool, creamy goodness—dessert bliss!
Sweet Potatoes à la Mode with Salted Maple Pecans
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potatoes:
- 2 sweet potatoes, about 10 ounces each
- ½ cup pecan halves
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt, like fleur de sel or kosher salt
- 4 teaspoons butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pint light vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
For the Sweet Potato Spice Blend (makes ~1½ tablespoons):*
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground clove
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scrub the sweet potatoes and pat them dry with paper towels. Then prick each of them with a fork multiple times to create little holes for steam to escape. Add them to the baking sheet and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely soft and the juices start to slightly drip onto the pan.
- While the potatoes are baking, make the spice blend and salted maple pecans.
To make the spice blend:
- In a small bowl, stir together all of the spice ingredients and set aside for later.
To make the salted maple pecans:
- Lay the pecans on a small baking sheet and place in the oven (with the potatoes) for about 8 minutes, or until slightly browned and fragrant. Remove the pan from the oven, allow them to slightly cool and roughly them chop up. Then add them to a small bowl along with the maple syrup and ½ teaspoon flaked sea salt or kosher salt and mix until well combined.
- Line the same small baking sheet with parchment paper and mist the paper with nonstick oil spray so the pecans don’t stick. Add the maple-and-salt-coated pecans to the sheet, spread them in an even layer, and return them to the oven for an additional 8 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from the oven and allow the nuts to cool and harden.
- When the potatoes are done cooking, splice them each in half lengthwise. Then, using a fork, scrape and fluff the insides, being careful to leave the outside skin intact. Add 1 teaspoon butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon spice blend to each potato half and continue to carefully mix and mash until combined.
- Transfer to a serving dish and top each sweet potato half with a scoop of ice cream, a pinch of spice blend and 2 tablespoons of salted maple pecans.
