Sweet potato casserole, including the marshmallows, stuffed into the center of baked pastry dough with a sweet pecan streusel topping. You do not want to overlook this one.
Can I start this post by telling you about my morning? I’ll even throw in some photos of the recipe while I’m story-telling, just to keep things relevant. 
By the time you read this, I will be talking about yesterday morning, which is today as I’m typing. Anyway, to give you some background, my family is currently traveling. Right now, Ben and I are in Baltimore for a theology conference while the kids are staying with their grandparents near Annapolis. I came along for Ben’s conference because there are two dinners I need to attend in celebration of a good friend, but other than that, I’m on my own for three days straight while Ben mingles with his academic cronies.
There’s not a lot around our hotel, and it’s a tad bit nippy to be walking around everywhere. But, I did just that. I walked and I walked and I walked to find a coffee shop so I could use their free Internet and get some work done. First one I found? A Starbucks with no available seating and a line out the door. Next up, a few blocks down, was a Barnes & Noble that I was pretty excited about. I headed in to find a dark and dreary bookstore…bummer-ville.
So I bundled back up and walked across the street to a Panera. It was bright, a little stinky, but not busy at all so I ordered my Pumpkin Muffin and Vanilla Latte then found a seat. A few minutes into my Pumpkin Muffin, a homeless man came up to me and asked if I would buy him coffee. I said I would, so I grabbed my things and headed with him to the cashier.
Then “will you buy me coffee?” turned into “will you buy me coffee and a donut” and after saying yes to that, he then said “will you buy me coffee and a breakfast sandwich?” haha. Ok, what was I to do? I was glad he wasn’t asking me for money instead, so of course I’ll buy him breakfast.
After purchasing the man’s breakfast and giving him his receipt so he could claim his sandwich, I finally arrived back to my table and got out my computer, only to find that the internet at Panera was not working!
So I finished my muffin then headed back to the dark and dreary Barnes & Noble with my Panera coffee. I managed to find a table by a window to give me some light. :)
And that is where I am now. One and a half hours later… #firstworldproblems
I won’t even tell you about all of the texts and emails Nana and Papa were sending me in the meantime about the kids…
Now that my novel is done, let’s talk about these donuts! I made these a few days before we left on our trip, and I plan to make them again during the holidays. They are scrumptious! Seriously. Do you like Sweet Potato Casserole? If you do, you will LOVE these. You will also love how easy they are to make since all you do is stuff the sweet potato casserole in between pre-made pastry dough and then bake them.
I was going to suggest you make these for Thanksgiving morning breakfast, but I have a better idea! Instead, you should just use the leftover Sweet Potato Casserole from Thanksgiving dinner and make these for Black Friday breakfast! Aren’t I clever?
In case you don’t have leftovers to use, I’ll include directions to make the filling. ;)
Baked donuts made using store-bought puff pastry sheets and filled with sweet potato pie.
- 1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry
- 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon orange juice
- 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
Remove puff pastry sheets from packaging and let thaw on counter top for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the sweet potatoes and boil until fork tender, about 10-15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot, away from the heat. Mash in the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and orange juice. Continue to blend together until the mixture is smooth and well combined. Set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, gently roll one sheet of the pastry dough into a 10x10-inch square. Using a 3-inch round biscuit cutter or round glass, cut 9 circles into the dough; discard scraps. Place the rounds on a large parchment lined baking sheet.
Place 4-5 marshmallows in the center of each of the circles,
then scoop about 2 Tablespoons of the sweet potato mixture onto the top of the marshmallows.
(A medium sized cookie scoop is perfect for this step.)
Use your fingers to form the potatoes around the marshmallows so the marshmallows are no longer visible.
Gently roll out the second sheet of pastry dough into a 10x10-inch square. Cut out nine more rounds of dough and place each one over top of the nine sweet potato mounds on the baking pan.
Use a fork to pinch together the edges of the pastry dough rounds to seal. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven.
Crush the chopped pecans in a zipper bag, using a rolling pin. Transfer to a shallow dish and mix with the 1 Tablespoon brown sugar. Pour the maple syrup into a separate bowl. When the baked donuts are cool enough to handle, but still warm, dip the top of each donut into the maple syrup then sprinkle with the pecan mixture. Serve warm.
Notes
You will probably only use about half of the sweet potato pie filling, but you can save the rest for a second batch or do what we did and eat it as a side dish for dinner the next day. Or, you can also just use leftover sweet potato casserole from your holiday dinner as your filling!
