Slow Cooker Mashed Sweet Potatoes

 One of the trickiest things about tackling a Thanksgiving dinner is oven time management. The turkey is taking up ALL of your oven space, and you only have so many burners on your stove. So how do you get everything else done? Well, the easiest thing to do is to remove the oven/stove from the equation altogether! Use your slow cooker!
 Seriously, your slow cooker is your BFF when it comes to preparing your holiday feast. It not only frees up your oven, but it also frees up your time because it's a total do-ahead! You can prep your potatoes a day or two in advance, and then on Thanksgiving morning, just turn 'em on! Just a quick mash before you serve, and then you can keep them warm, right in your slow cooker. Easy!
 This recipe is from The Magical Slow Cooker, and it's absolutely perfect.  If you know me, you know how much I absolutely LOVE using slow cookers, so much so that I literally have a collection of them. Actually, I think I may need an intervention (is seven too many?). But here's the thing... I use ALL of them! They're all different sizes, so I can use different sizes for different things!! For this recipe, I didn't need to use the biggest one, because I only had a handful of guests. But if you're feeding a crowd, go ahead and fill up your biggest crock pot! This recipe is so good, it will all still work! You can also tweak it and add whatever flavors you'd like.
 This one is DEFINITELY a keeper.
And if you don't own a slow cooker, this recipe is the perfect excuse to buy one! or seven!



6 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (this was about 7 cups, measured)
1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup water or apple juice

Add these items at the end:

1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tbs. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt


 Add the peeled and diced sweet potatoes to the slow cooker (5-quart or larger). Slice the butter and place on top. Pour over the water. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time. When the cooking time is done, add the maple syrup, heavy cream, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat until smooth OR use a potato masher and mash by hand. Serve with additional butter if desired.




Tips:
Yes, that's all the water it needs. Just 1/4 cup. I promise it will work!
I actually went longer than 4 hours, and it was fine!
When you're adding your flavors at the end, you do you! If you like a lot of something, add a lot! Tbh, I didn't even measure anything. I just added a few glugs of pure maple syrup (not pancake syrup), and then tasted it to see if I wanted more.
If you'd like it to be much sweeter, add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar!
I like the flavor of orange with sweet potatoes, so you could add a little grated orange zest, or even just a couple tablespoons of orange marmalade. YUM.
Is it too dry? Add a little extra heavy cream and/or butter. And definitely don't forget to add the salt! Season it the way YOU like it!