I grew up eating sweet potato pie during the holidays. I mean, the WHOLE holiday season. Either we or another family member always had sweet potato pie in their house from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. Sweet potato pie is known as a southern dessert. It was likely created and made a staple by slaves and passed down generations. Even though I grew up in Boston, I didn’t really know that most people at pumpkin pie. I don’t think I ate pumpkin pie until I was over 30 years old!
I’ve always loved sweet potato pie. My best friend and I used to eat it for breakfast when we were teens, because we said it was a whole meal since it had vegetables, eggs, and milk! Now, my son loves it too. We’re both a little picky about our sweet potato pie. There are definitely different textures and tastes, so not everybody’s sweet potato pie tastes the same.
I’m no expert sweet potato pie baker – I had so many relatives who made it so well, why should I? After some of the best bakers in my family passed away, I would buy frozen pie if I wanted some in the house. (It wasn’t that bad!) This year, my son was asking for sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving. His favorite is his grandmother’s, but my mother-in-law decided to go out of town this year and wasn’t making a pie. That gave me the motivation I needed to perfect my sweet potato pie! I looked up a lot of recipes, and asked a lot of people. Most people made their by taste, so really couldn’t share a recipe. After about 5 pies, I’ve come up with a recipe that I (and my family) love!
And, my son and I had a slice of pie for breakfast Sunday morning!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sweet potatoes (about 2 medium)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 prepared pie crust
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- To soften sweet potatoes, place sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet in oven for one hour.
- When potatoes are cool enough to touch, remove skin and mash sweet potatoes a fork.
- Using a mixer, mix sweet potatoes with butter. Add eggs, sugars, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and flour. Mix until smooth.
- Poor filling into pie crust (I usually have some left over).
- Bake for 1 hour.
- Let cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm or keep refrigerated until eating.