Ingredients

4 cups mashed sweet potatoes (about 3 jumbo sweet potatoes)
1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, soften
2 eggs, beaten
⅓ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the topping

2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
⅔ cup ( 11 tablespoons) salted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups self-rising flour
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans, divided

Instructions

Wash potatoes thoroughly and place in a large pot. Cover the potatoes with water and boil until fork-tender. Remove peelings and place in a mixing bowl.
Using an electric mixer, beat sweet potatoes on high speed. Reduce speed and slowly add sugar. Beat well. Add butter; beat well. Add beaten eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. (About 3 to 4 minutes.)
Pour into a greased or buttered 13 x 9 x 2-inch casserole dish. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F. without the topping for 12 minutes and then remove from the oven and spread brown sugar pecan topping evenly over sweet potatoes. Return to the oven and continue baking for about 15 or 20 minutes longer or until the casserole is hot and bubbly. Top with the remaining chopped pecans immediately after taking the casserole out of the oven. Garnish with a few whole pecan halves for garnish if desired. Enjoy!
Top make the topping: Mix together brown sugar, flour, butter and ½ cup of the chopped pecans. I mix the topping with my hands. I actually squeeze the ingredients together with my fingers! It should resemble wet moist clumps.

Notes

Do ahead tip/freezer: The casserole can be made 1day ahead before baking and kept in the refrigerator. Uncooked casserole can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking. Add 5 minutes to baking time. If freezing, before baking, don’t put the topping on casserole. Follow the instructions for baking in the above recipe. If you freeze with the topping on, cover with foil during baking. Half-way through rehearing, uncover and continue reheating without foil. The foil keeps the topping from burning and uncovering will allow the topping to crisp back up.