Sweet Potato Pie

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was in charge of a few pies for Thanksgiving, and since my research team isn't a big fan of pumpkin pie (I know, I know, I don't know what is wrong with him either!) we made sweet potato pie instead.   Which is HILARIOUS, because sweet potato pie tastes just like pumpkin pie.  :)   Moving on...

Actually, there are a few things about sweet potato pie that are better than pumpkin.  For example, if you want to make it from the actual vegetable, and not from a can, sweet potatoes are much easier to deal with than pumpkin.  No carving with a massive knife, no seeds, no stringies, no pumpkin splattered all over your computer... well, I suppose that could happen with sweet potato, it just hasn't happened to me... yet! 

I've made sweet potato pie in the past and this is my favorite recipe so far. 

I looked up a recipe on allrecipes.com and then also made some of the changes suggested in the comments.  It turned out so good.  Here is the recipe with the suggested additions/changes:

1 pound of sweet potatoes
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnimon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground chives
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon flour
1 pie crust

Directions

1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools. 

 

I didn't quite follow the directions exactly (you know me!), but I wanted to put them up here for next time I need this recipe!

So, one of the funny things about this recipe is the 1 pound of potatoes requirement.  I don't have a scale in my kitchen, do you?  Am I the only one who doesn't, and if so, how did I miss that? 

Well, I checked a few other recipes and found 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes, and also 3 medium sweet potatoes.  I happened to have 3 medium sweet potatoes, so that is what I boiled.  But when I mashed them up it seemed like WAY more than 2 cups, so I didn't use it all.  I didn't measure it though (of course...), which I really should have done considering that I ended up with two pies worth of sweet potato pie filling. 

 

Anyways, I didn't want to wait 40-50 minutes for the potatoes to bake, so I peeled, cut up, and boiled them.  Honestly, it probably still took 40 minutes...  then I really did follow the recipe, I swear.

 

Like I said, I ended up with two pies, luckily I had two pre-made crusts in the freezer!  I thought that it would turn out fine since a few of the comments on the recipe said that it was really sweet.  So I figured that if I had too much sweet potato it would turn out perfectly.   

And they did.  I don't have any pictures, but if you just imagine a pumpkin pie, it looks exactly the same.  :)

In the future I think I will use 4 cups of mashed sweet potato for this exact recipe and plan on making two pies out of it.   I also will increase the amount of spices a little bit.   

 

It was so good!  Every time I make sweet potato pie I say that I am never making pumpkin pie again!