Sweet Potato Latkes

I made these for Chanukah dinner, but I'm only getting around to posting them now.  We're having staffing issues at work, and I'm very glad it's the slow season.  Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to keep up.

There are a lot of firsts for me with this recipe.  I've never used sweet potatoes or puréed vegetable in a latke, and I've never baked them before.  With everything going on for an admittedly excessive meal, I found this to be the easiest way to make them.

I got out a bag of pre-steamed sweet potatoes from the freezer, leftovers from the canning session.  It was 2 pounds, so a double recipe of what I'm posting for four servings.  In a surprise twist, the skins were super easy to remove after defrosting, almost as easy as tomatoes.  I was thrilled.  You don't have to go through all that.  You can absolutely open one of the large cans if you don't have the wherewithal to do this from raw potatoes.

*1 lb sweet potatoes or one 30 oz can, drained
1/2 small onion, diced, about 1 C
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tb flour (matzoh cake meal or potato starch for Passover)
oil for frying

1.  Scrub potatoes well.  Place in a large pot in a steamer basket or sieve over 1" of water.  Cover, bring to a low boil, and cook until thoroughly tender, at least 30 minutes depending on size.

2.  Once cool, peel potatoes.  Either with a masher or food processor, break down into a chunky purée.  Stir together with diced onion, cinnamon, salt, egg, and flour.  Allow to sit 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375º.

3.  Smear a rimmed baking sheet with about 2-3 Tb of neutral oil.  You can use olive oil if you want, since this isn't deep frying and the oven won't overheat it.

4.  Spoon or scoop potato batter onto the baking sheet.  I used the 3 Tb cookie scoop and liked the size.  1/4 C would also bake well.  I wouldn't go larger, since they are soft when you flip them later.

5.  Bake until the undersides are crisp and easy to scrape off the pan with a pancake turner, about 20 minutes.  Flip and cook other side until done, 15-20 minutes more.  They're sweet enough that I wouldn't serve them with applesauce, but you could have sour cream with them if you choose.

Makes 8-10

Difficulty rating  :)