Party Food: Sweet Potato Crescent Bites

It's been a long while, but it's a new year, so I figured I'd share here... We had a gathering recently, and I made these delicious treats (from www.delish.com)--well, I modified them so that they're vegan deliciousness! 
They really turned out great (and they were a party hit!), but I do have additional modifications, which I state below... Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Crescent Bites

INGREDIENTS
Cooking spray
2 

medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean

1/4 c. 

packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. 

almond milk (or your preferred dairy free substitute)

1/2 tsp. 

ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. 

pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. 

kosher salt

1 

(8-oz.) refrigerated Crescent sheet (or rolls, but the sheet doesn't have perforation)

3/4 c. 

mini marshmallows; I skipped them (small town woes), but some chopped up Dandies would probably melt and add the same feel and sugar.

24 

whole pecans

Maple syrup, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray; I used liners because I wanted them to be handheld for my guests. Pierce sweet potatoes 3 to 4 times with a fork. 

1. Cook potatoes: Place potato on microwave-safe plate and microwave 15 minutes. If your potatoes aren't fork tender after 15 minutes, continue microwaving in 30 second increments. When potatoes are cooked through, scrape filling into a large bowl and discard skin. 

1. Note: We boiled the potatoes, because our microwave was out of commission the night we made them. Boiling worked just fine; just remove the skin before boiling.

1. Using a potato masher or fork, mash sweet potatoes until smooth. Add brown sugar, milk substitute, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and whisk to combine.

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out crescent sheet. Note: pinch together seams if using the rolls, rather than a sheet. 

1. This is the hardest part of this process in my opinion: Cut into 24 squares and place in muffin tin cups. Do use the mini tin! We made a test batch in regular tins, and the pastry dough didn't get quite as crispy in the bottom (my suspicion: too much sweet potato filling).

1. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of sweet potato mixture into each crescent square, then top with mini marshmallows and bake until crescent pastry is golden, about 15 minutes. 

1. Add a pecan to the center of each bite and bake 5 minutes more. 

1. If using, brush pecans with maple syrup before serving This is kinda key for making them sweeter...before the maple syrup, there's not much sweetness in these bites.