Sweet Potato Casserole Dessert Dip
A creamy sweet potato casserole dessert dip whipped with cream cheese, brown sugar, and warm spice, then topped with toasted marshmallows or a buttery pecan streusel. Serve warm with graham crackers or ginger snaps.
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
For the Dip
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 ½ cups cooked sweet potato mashed smooth
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg freshly grated if possible
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Marshmallow Topping (choose one)
- 1 ½ cups mini marshmallows or 7 oz marshmallow cream
Pecan Streusel Topping (choose one)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- ½ cup pecans chopped
For Serving
- graham crackers or ginger snaps
Instructions
Cook the Sweet Potato
- Roast whole sweet potatoes at 400F for 45 to 55 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance. Cool slightly, peel, and mash until smooth. For a faster version, cube and warmth the sweet potato for 8 to 10 minutes until fork-tender, then mash.
Make the Dip
- Beat the softened cream cheese and brown sugar together until completely smooth with no white streaks.
- Add the mashed sweet potato, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Beat on medium for 1 to 2 minutes, until the color is even and the texture is silky. If the sweet potato was stringy, run an immersion blender through the bowl for 15 seconds.
- Scrape the base into a small baking dish or mini pie dish and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
Top and Warm
- For the marshmallow version, cover the surface with mini marshmallows in an even layer that reaches the edge of the dish.
- For the pecan streusel version, stir the brown sugar into the melted butter, fold in the chopped pecans, and spread the mixture over the base.
- Bake at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the dip is hot in the center and the topping has color. For marshmallows only, you can skip the bake and toast the top with a kitchen torch or 60 to 90 seconds under the broiler, watching it constantly.
- Serve warm with graham crackers or ginger snaps.
Notes
- Make ahead: Mix the base, spread it in the serving dish, cover, and refrigerate up to 2 days. Add the topping just before baking.
- Canned sweet potato: Drain and rinse well, then taste before adding the full ½ cup brown sugar. Canned sweet potatoes are packed in syrup.
- Leftover casserole: Substitute leftover sweet potato casserole filling for the mashed sweet potato and cut the brown sugar to 2 tablespoons.
- Storage: Cover and refrigerate leftovers up to 4 days. Reheat at 300F for 10 minutes or in 20-second microwave bursts. Freezing is not recommended, since cream cheese goes grainy after thawing.