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Sweet Potato Pie is a traditional Southern dessert made with a filling of mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, spices, eggs and either milk or cream. It has a custard-like texture that’s similar to pumpkin pie, but creamier. This recipe doesn’t contain nutmeg but it can easily be added. Something about me, I hate nutmeg. I personally think it ruins desserts so you won’t find it in any of my pies.
This sweet potato pie recipe calls for a pre-made pie crust. I love using the refrigerated ones that roll out. Be sure to let it sit out on the counter for thirty minutes before unrolling or it will split. Once unrolled and in the pie plate, fold any excess crust hanging over the edge over on itself and crimp the edge with a fork. In my humble opinion that’s the only way to make a pre-made crust edge look decent. Put the pie plate in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill with the sweet potato mixture. It’s always best to have cold crust going into the oven so it browns slower. Have a pie edge cover nearby to place on the crust if it’s browning too quickly. For this particular recipe, I cover mine for the final twenty minutes of baking.
The filling is pretty traditional and utilizes baked sweet potatoes, one pound to be exact. That’s equivalent to one very large sweet potato. Always weigh your potatoes with a kitchen scale if you forgot to at the store. You don’t want to shortchange your recipe of the main ingredient. Brown sugar is used instead of granulated to add depth of flavor from the molasses in the brown sugar. Half and half is used for richness rather than milk. Finally the pie is seasoned with cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Other ingredients include eggs and salted butter. Both traditional sweet potato pie ingredients. Just be sure the eggs and butter is at room temperature. You can also melt the butter.
Getting the filling consistency smooth takes some time with a handheld mixer. That’s why I prefer using a food processor. It pulverizes the meat of the sweet potato and ensure no lumps or strings. If you use a handheld mixer just know you’ll beat on high for 3-4 minutes. Don’t worry if your filling looks a little curdled. That will work itself out in the oven.
The pie is best served at room temperature. This is a non-negotiable. I tried it warm, at room temperature and cold out of the refrigerator. The winner is hands-down the room temperature pie. It doesn’t matter if it reached room temperature from the oven or out of the refrigerator. If you want to make ahead and store in the refrigerator just be sure to set it out hours before serving.
Sweet Potato Pie
Equipment
- 9 inch pie plate
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust
- 1 lb sweet potatoes cooked and peeled
- 8 tbsp salted butter softened or melted
- 1 1/3 c brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c half & half
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Poke 1 lb of sweet potatoes with holes and bake for 1 hour until soft.
- While the potatoes bake prepare your pie crust. Roll out pre-packaged pie crust in a 9 inch pie plate, crimp the edges with a fork and put back in the refrigerator until it's time to fill.
- Remove sweet potatoes from the oven and peel the skin off. Lower temperature of the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add cooked sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, eggs, half & half, cinnamon, salt and vanilla to a bowl or food processor and mix until smooth. This will take several minutes if using a hand mixer.
- Pour mixture into the pie crust.
- Bake for one hour. Cover the edges of the crust for the final 20 minutes if it's browning too much.
- Remove from the oven and allow to fully cool to room temperature before serving; 3-4 hours. You can also place in the refrigerator overnight but be sure to let it get to room temperature before serving.