Sweet potatoes are almost as popular as regular spuds due to their many health benefits and versatility in both sweet and savory dishes. If you want to forgo sweet potato pies, fries, and more and just enjoy the sweet simplicity and full nutritional benefits of these tubers, try baking them — but not in the oven.

The best and easiest way to "bake" a sweet potato is in a slow cooker. This technique draws out the natural sugars in the potatoes for an extra-sweet result, and to try it, you just have to clean your potatoes, poke holes in the skins, place them in a slow cooker in a single layer, and let them cook on high for about eight hours.

Sweet potatoes baked in the slow cooker are a great canvas for toppings, but if you want to keep things healthy, stick with salt, pepper, and either plain butter or some cozy cinnamon or pumpkin spice butter. On the other hand, you can go in the opposite direction and try toppings like sausage, honey/maple syrup, or cashews.