For Sweet Potatoes Bursting With Flavor, Cinnamon Butter Is Key

Sweet potatoes are one of the most versatile vegetables around, not to mention they're packed with energy-rich carbs and important vitamins like beta carotene, ascorbic acid, and potassium. These starchy tubers are sure to make your mouth water, whether they're roasted, baked, steamed, cut into french fries, or used in soups or stir-fries. Not only are they delicious as a main or side dish, but they also make for delectable desserts. If you're looking for a sweet potato treat that's much easier to make than sweet potato pie, try using cinnamon butter.

Cinnamon butter instantly turns a cooked sweet potato into dessert. It's got all of the right rich, warm, and sugary notes to bring out the veggie's hearty yet sweet flavors. Even better, all you need to whip up a batch is butter, cinnamon, and honey. You don't even have to mix all the ingredients before applying them to the sweet potatoes, if you use it to glaze the potatoes before cooking them.

Any kind of sweet potato preparation will pair well with cinnamon butter. This condiment is perfect for glazing chopped sweet potatoes before you slide them into the oven to roast. You could also toss raw sweet potato fries in the butter before cooking them in the oven or air fryer. Or, if you're going to go all out and deep-fry the fries, you can use melted cinnamon butter to coat them once they're out of the oil and still hot and crispy.

Cinnamon butter is also perfect for whole, baked sweet potatoes. Other delicious options include drizzling the cinnamon butter over steamed chunks of sweet potatoes. For a more savory preparation that's suitable for dinner rather than dessert, use the butter in a pureed sweet potato soup recipe. Since the butter is already sweet, you can leave out brown sugar or any other sweeteners called for in your soup recipe.

The way you're going to use your cinnamon butter will determine whether you need to combine all of the ingredients together first, or just use them as a deconstructed glaze. It's fine to dump melted butter and then powdered cinnamon (plus optional sugar or honey) over uncooked sweet potato chunks or fries, then tossing to coat. However, if you're applying the butter to already-cooked sweet potatoes, mix the melted butter, cinnamon, and sweetener together first before using.

To make cinnamon butter, simply mix softened or melted butter together with honey and a few dashes of cinnamon. You might want to add sugar and salt to taste as well — it's purely a matter of preference. It can also be a good idea to make cinnamon butter as a type of compound butter to be stored in the fridge, which will make it easy to use with dishes like baked sweet potatoes, where you might solid pat of butter to put on top. After mixing the ingredients, let the butter cool so that it hardens and store it in the refrigerator. It can be kept in the fridge for up to a month. And by making multiple servings, you'll always have some ready for your next sweet potato craving.