Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole

We make this for Thanksgiving - but we made it the other day for Father's Day - so I updated the picture and our current method.

Crust
1 cup brown sugar 

1/3 cup flour 

1/3 cup butter, melted. Combine brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. Set aside.
*1 cup chopped pecans (OMIT for allergies - to be added as wanted before service)

Sweet Potato Mixture
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes 

1 cup sugar 

½ teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
8x8 pan or oval glass casserole dish

Microwave the sweet potatoes one at a time in the microwave for 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Peel the sweet potatoes when they are cool enough. I usually just do this with my hands.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a medium-size casserole dish with butter.
Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla and butter in a large mixing bowl in the order listed. Beat thoroughly with a hand mixer 4 minutes to increase the fluffiness of the sweet potato mixture.

Pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. (At this point, dish can be covered and refrigerated.)

After baked off. Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture and return to oven for 10 minutes. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.
The brown sugar crust should be slightly browned and crunchy. Add pecan's if desired.