Savory Sweet Potato Fries

I recently had some A-mazing sweet potato fries at Recess, a local restaurant in Gainesville.  I've had them a few times before in other settings and enjoyed them, but these were sprinkled with what tasted like a combination of cinnamon and brown sugar.

I know, I know.....coating them in such delicious things kind of takes the healthy factor out and basically negates the whole point of using sweet potatoes versus baked potatoes.  But I promise that if you just could have tasted them you wouldn't have cared either.

I wanted to re-create these little guys, but I knew I wanted to bake them versus frying them.  These fries turned out to be easy to prepare, and they have both a sweet and savory component.  The sweet potatoes let you count them as a veggie, while the brown sugar and cinnamon makes you feel like you're indulging a little.

The only changes I would make next time would be that I would make the fries slightly bigger and I would have spaced them further apart on the baking sheet.  When they get too crowded they end up soggy instead of crisp.

Savory Sweet Potato Fries CCK Original, Inspired by Recess
(Printable Recipe)

2 medium/large sweet potatoes, chopped into fries

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

dash of pepper

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

*The above quantities are definitely adjustable.  It's not like baking where you need the correct proportions or the texture will change.  Don't want your fries to be as sweet?  Cut down on the brown sugar or omit it completely!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cover large baking sheet with tin foil (for easier clean up) and spray with Pam.

Place chopped sweet potato fries in large zip loc bag.  Pour in all remaining ingredients and shake to coat.

Spread fries over baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Quickly remove fries from oven and flip to cook other side.  Return pan to oven and cook fries for additional 10 minutes or until fries are crispy.

*Tips:

~Don't crowd the fries.  Doing so makes them soggy versus crispy.

~Don't use too much olive oil.  This will also make them soggy.  Adjust the amount of oil based on the size of your sweet potatoes and the resulting fries.  Remember, you can always add more oil, but you can't take it away once you've added it.
~Spray the tin foil covered baking sheet with Pam PLEASE!  If you don't you won't be able to flip the fries because they will get stuck.