Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cover a large sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
Clean 3 pounds of sweet potatoes (or yams), and poke each one once or twice with a fork. Arrange sweet potatoes on the covered sheet pan.
Bake sweet potatoes, uncovered, at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, for 1 hour.
Peel the wrinkled skins off of your sweet potatoes. This should be pretty easy to do with your hands, using a fork or knife for assistance when you need it
Place sweet potatoes, coconut milk, cane juice crystals, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor.
Blend sweet potato mixture in food processor on high until it is fairly smooth.
In a 9 inch x 12 inch baking dish, spread out your sweet potato mixture evenly, and set aside.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then finely chop about 1 cup of pecans (makes about 2/3 cup once chopped).
In a medium-sized bowl, combine pecans, flour, quick oats, cane juice crystals, cinnamon, salt, and vegan butter.
Once combined, pecan mixture should be slightly crumbly, but should hold together when pressed between your fingers. If it seems too dry, you can add a teaspoon of water or vegan butter until the texture appears the same as in the picture below.
Sprinkle pecan mixture evenly across the top of sweet potatoes in casserole dish. Return your casserole to the oven, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 26-30 minutes, or until the pecan topping is a crispy golden brown.