Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I had a sudden craving for sweet potato fries the other day.

And what do you do when you have a craving? You satisfy it.

What did I do? Yes I did... I baked.

I did not have any papers on that day so there was no school. Happiness. So, since I had a craving and it was a stressful period of exams for me, the need to de-stress came naturally right? Thus, I decided to bake the fries else I don't know where to buy them too.

I was a little too ambitious for my own good so the end product didn't came out very good, both in taste and appearance. I was feeling adventurous and wanted to experiment with the recipe. You can't really blame me for it because it's exactly when bakers take the risk to experiment that fantastic recipes are born right?

I made 2 different batches so I tried adding sugar into one batch and maple syrup into the other. There was a small bottle of mixed spices leftover from Christmas baking so I decided to use it, and because I'm still very much inexperienced at cooking or baking so I didn't know how to estimate the amount of spices to add in, in the end I added too much.

I wanted to experiment with different cuts of the potatoes but decided it was too troublesome so I just cut it as I deemed fit, but unfortunately I cut it too thin so it was neither here nor there. Neither crispy or fat and fleshy.

It was another round of not very successful baking. I was disappointed with myself for being too ambitious to do try out many things at once, the recipe was my first time trying it out too. But I suppose thats how people grow and learn - they make mistakes first.

I may give this recipe another go another time since I'm more certain now of how I should go about baking the fries now.

* Please note that I used 1 big and 1 small sweet potato for one batch. Thus, I use 3/4 tbsp of sugar and maple syrup respectively, with 1 ½ of vegetable oil, 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of spices.

* The preheating of the baking sheet and increasing of oven temperature to achieve crispy fries also didn't work for me.

** I would suggest oiling your baking sheet to prevent your fries from sticking on the baking sheet and cutting the fries into thicker strips because the fat and fleshy fries will taste more satisfying.

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
(Adapted From Simply Recipes)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

The baking times are approximate; it depends on how thick you cut the wedges or rounds of sweet potatoes. Try to cut them evenly so they all cook at about the same rate. For best browning results bake only one sheet at a time. Why the sugar? To help with the caramelization and to intensify the sweetness of the fries, but you can easily leave it out if you want.

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds sweet potatoes, about 3 large ones
1/4 cup olive or other vegetable oil
1-2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1-2 Tbsp spice or spice combination of your choice: chipotle powder, smoked paprika, Chinese five-spice, pumpkin pie spice, garam masala, Cajun seasoning, etc.

METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 450°F. (For more crispiness, preheat your oven to 500°F.)

2 Peel the sweet potatoes and cut off the ends. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then, if they are very long, in half crosswise. Cut each piece into wedges. Alternately, you can slice the peeled sweet potato into disks either with a mandoline or a sharp knife.

3 Put the sweet potatoes into a large bowl and add the oil. Mix well to combine. Sprinkle with salt, sugar and spices of your choice. Use your hands to mix well, so all pieces are coated with oil and spices.

4 Spread the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a baking sheet; the oil they are coated with should keep them from sticking to the pan. If you are trying to cut fat, reduce the oil to 2 Tbsp and use a non-stick coating on the baking sheet. (Note: a commenter has recommended putting them on a wire cooling rack on top of a baking sheet, so that the oven air circulates around the sweet potato pieces and you don't have to turn them in the next step. Another commenter recommends preheating the baking sheet, to help the fries get crisp.)

5 Bake for a total of 25 to 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn over all of the sweet potato pieces. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until they are well browned. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: Serves 4-6 as a side dish.