It's no secret that I get happier as the weather gets colder. Two weekends spent hiking in the Berkshires air kicked off my favorite season, filled with friends and lots of food.

Sharing food with others is why I love to cook.

Thanksgiving is really the only holiday I get excited about cooking for—my mom and I plan the menu weeks in advance, wondering how we can tweak a dish from the previous year to make it better (healthier) or what should stay exactly the same.

This time of year, not only are we gearing up for our family Thanksgiving dinners, but Friendsgiving dinners as well. More often than not, Friendsgiving is potluck-style, giving you the chance to either showcase your mom's famous sweet potato casserole, or show how great you are at pointing at a babka from across the bakery counter.

Chances are you've had some variation of sweet potatoes with marshmallows growing up. Perhaps you tried to scoop up only the toasted marshmallow topping. This dessert-as-sidedish conjures up extreme nostalgic feelings and in the spirit of the impending holiday, the #howtoadultcookbook ladies are here to give you a sweet twist to this classic Thanksgiving item.

Here's what you'll need to make Mini Sweet Potato Casseroles - makes 10-12 muffin-sized casseroles:

• 4 large, or 5-6 medium-sized sweet potatoes—boiled, peeled & mashed
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• mini marshmallows (for topping)
• chopped pecans (for topping)

Place sweet potatoes in a large pot of water—water should be covering sweet potatoes fully, with 1-2 inches of water above potatoes. Bring water to boil and boil sweet potatoes for 30 minutes. Remove sweet potatoes from pot, and place in large mixing bowl to cool (about 20 minutes).

Preheat oven to 350F.

While still semi-warm, peel sweet potatoes, discarding the skin and placing peeled sweet potatoes back in the large mixing bowl. Mash sweet potatoes until smooth.

Add coconut oil, maple syrup, nutmeg, ground ginger, cinnamon, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined (the coconut oil will melt from warm potatoes).

In muffin tins lined with cupcake liners, fill each liner completely with sweet potato filling. Make a little hole in the middle of each for toppings.

Bake for 15 minutes until mini sweet potato casseroles are hot and slightly browned on top. Remove from oven to sprinkle each with a few mini marshmallows and chopped pecans—cover the top of each mini casserole almost fully (you should still be able to see potato underneath). Place back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes until marshmallows are slightly browned on top.

Remove from oven to serve each mini casserole as an individual portion.

Tip: Be careful, they'll still be quite soft so you may need to use a spoon to remove them from muffin tins.