🍠 Sweet Potato Bake with Homemade Maple Marshmallows

This is the Thanksgiving dish you don’t have to feel conflicted about — because it’s actually pro-metabolic at its core. Our great-grandparents made meals built around lean protein, tubers, real sugar, low fat, and whole-food carbs long before “metabolic health” was even a term.

A plate of turkey breast, low-fat pan gravy, sourdough stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie is shockingly close to the exact macro pattern that supports thyroid function, stable blood sugar, liver glycogen, and warm hands. This sweet potato bake fits right into that ancestral blueprint — whipped, silky potatoes sweetened with mineral-rich maple syrup and topped with gut-friendly homemade gelatin marshmallows. It’s nostalgic, festive, and metabolically aligned without sacrificing flavor or tradition.

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Base

• 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed (about 3 lbs)

• 2–3 Tbsp butter (optional but recommended)

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 1/4 cup orange juice

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp salt

• Optional: 1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Homemade Maple Marshmallows

(Fluffy, clean, gut-friendly gelatin marshmallows)

• 1 cup maple syrup

• 1/2 cup water, divided

• 3 Tbsp grass-fed gelatin

• 1 tsp vanilla

• Pinch of salt

Note: Commercial clean marshmallows are rare. The only borderline options with decent ingredients use tapioca syrup + gelatin (e.g., some paleo brands), but they still add weird stabilizers. Making your own is genuinely the cleanest.

Instructions

1. Make the Sweet Potato Base

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Boil sweet potatoes until soft (10–12 minutes), then drain.

3. Add:

   • Butter

   • Maple syrup

   • Orange juice

   • Vanilla

   • Salt

   • Optional spices

4. Mash or whip with a hand mixer until smooth and silky.

5. Spread into a casserole dish.

2. Make the Marshmallows

1. In a mixing bowl, add:
   3 Tbsp gelatin + 1/4 cup water.
   Let it bloom.

2. In a saucepan, heat:

   • 1 cup maple syrup

   • 1/4 cup water

   • Pinch of salt
     Bring to a boil, then cook until 240°F (soft-ball stage).

3. Slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatin while mixing on high.

4. Beat 8–10 minutes until thick, glossy, marshmallowy.

5. Spread on a lightly oiled parchment sheet and let set 2 hours.

6. Cut into cubes.

(You can also pipe the marshmallow directly onto the casserole if you want it extra rustic.)

3. Assemble & Bake

1. Add marshmallows on top of the sweet potato base.

2. Bake at 375°F for 12–15 minutes until golden on top.

3. If you like a toasted finish, broil for 20–30 seconds at the end.

Macros (approx., per serving of 8)

This depends on marshmallow size, but roughly:

• Fat: 3–4g

• Protein: 4–5g (from gelatin)

• Carbs: 40–45g

• Calories: ~210–230