• Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 375°F oven until fork tender, about 30 to 35 minutes. When they are finished cooking slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl.
• Add the brown sugar, 1 cup milk, you can use half and half for a richer texture, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of salt.
• Add the pumpkin spice, if using.
• With a potato masher, mash them up just enough, you don’t want to be perfectly smooth. Otherwise, I think the texture is too much like baby food. Your choice.
• Note: I used a hand mixer, on low speed, in spurts so as not to puree the sweet potatoes too much.

For the Streusel:

• In a separate bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup pecans, chopped, that means measure a cup of pecans, then chop them, 3/4 cup flour, and 3/4 stick of melted butter. With a fork, mix until thoroughly combined

  Note: You can easily make this a day or two ahead.

Make the Casserole:

• Spread the sweet potato mixture into a regular baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top. (I used individual ramekins.)

  If adding the marshmallow creme, add it before the topping. You could use miniature marshmallows, but I really liked the creaminess of the marshmallow creme. You could leave the marshmallow out, altogether, and this is still a delicious recipe.
• Bake in a 400°F oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.