Fresh sweet potatoes make it better and they are so easy to peel if you put them in boiling water for a couple minutes.

Peeling real sweet potatoes or Yams isn't that difficult just boil them in the skins and they come right off without difficulty ! They are so much better than canned ones. I won't even touch the canned they taste terrible to me and I can taste if they are canned first bite. Worth the extra time to have the real ones.

I've been making this recipe now for YEARS!!! It is now a classic at our holiday dinners. BUT a word of advice...
DO NOT keep ANY of the juice. I allow the yams to drain overnight, and do not add ANY of it back in. It still has more than enough juice in the yams themselves to make a nice sauce. If you add ANY of the juice back in, it is so soupy that it's hard to even get it to the table without spilling. (It also thins the candy sauce so it's more like water). Don't worry the yams will NOT burn or scorch. The moisture left in the yams themselves will cook out and will give you a nice sauce to pour back over the yams once they are done cooking! ENJOY, Angie did a great job with this recipe!

Thanks for handing over the sweet potatoes, the pecan pie and a Jack in the box!

I cut recipe in half. Finally found "red hots" at Walmart. This is delicious. I did find the sweet potato juice (even though only 1/2 of can) - was a little too much. The Red Hots - gave a great distinctive taste. Loved it Will use recipe again. This definitely is a holiday treat.