Are you ready for a dessert recipe that is sure to please the crowd as well as your sweet tooth? This sweet potato pie recipe is loaded with mouth-watering flavor, but it uses the healthiest of ingredients to make this classic soul food a guilt-free delight (just make sure you stick to one piece at time). Wait to you see how good this is for.
Have you tried homemade sweet potato pie before? If not, you’re really in for a treat. If you’re already a huge fan of pumpkin pie and other pumpkin recipes, then there is no doubt you are going to absolutely adore this easy sweet potato pie recipe.
Sweet potato pie tends to pop up on dinner tables around the holidays, especially Thanksgiving, but it’s really a dessert that can be enjoyed anytime of the year. If you find you really enjoy this recipe, then there are these healthy sweet potato recipes you can try as well.
What Is Soul Food?
Sweet potato pie has its roots in the Southern U.S., where soul food finds its origin as well. “Soul food” is often used to describe any type of African-American cooking, but according to experts, this cuisine is truly a product of the “interior Deep South,” also known as “the Cotton Belt.” This region of the country consists of the areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia that aren’t near the water.
Compared to other southern cooking, soul food is usually more robust when it comes to seasonings and flavors. Using “soul” rather than “southern” to describe this cuisine actually stems from African-American musicians incorporating more of a gospel, soulful sound into jazz music in the later years of the 1940s. “Soul” became a word to put in front of many areas of African-American culture including soul music, soul brother, soul sister and soul food.
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Sweet Potato Pie Ingredients
Of course, the star of this dessert is the nutrient-dense sweet potato, which is loaded with vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, manganese, fiber and more. One slice provides 3,350 IU of vitamin A, which is 144 percent of your Daily Value.
Healthy fats arrive via grass-fed butter, eggs and coconut milk. The omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids found in butter help your brain function properly and improve skin health.
Eggs are packed with protein and a full amino acid profile, and contrary to decades of popular belief, they also don’t raise bad cholesterol levels. Coconut oil top the charts as one of the healthiest cooking oil options. It’s rich in medium-chain fatty acids, which are easy for your body to digest.
Natural sweetness comes via maple syrup. It contains higher levels of beneficial nutrients, antioxidants and enzymes compared to white table sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
More flavor is delivered from the vanilla and nutmeg, which helps give some of the holiday taste.
The macros are outstanding. At 188 calories per slice, each one contains 14 grams of carbs, 14 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein.
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie
How to bake a sweet potato pie from scratch is really not as hard as you may expect. Sweet potato recipes can vary slightly, but the majority of the time a sweet potato pie is a crust filled with sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, sugar and spices.
For a healthier twist on the classic southern sweet potato pie, we made a few changes for this sweet potato pie recipe. For starters, we replaced the cow’s milk with coconut milk. We also traded in the common sweetening ingredient of processed white sugar for maple syrup. Last but not least, the typical gluten-rich pie crust for a gluten-free version.
Sometimes people like to assume that anything with “pie” in the recipe name can’t be healthy, but when ingredients are chosen wisely even dessert in moderation can become a way to add more nutrients and health benefits to your diet. This sweet potato pie recipe is made from whole food ingredients that make it a much better alternative to high sugar, overly processed dessert options.
First, you’ll need to preheat your oven to 350 F.
Next, in a large bowl, mix all of the filling ingredients (everything minus the crust) with a hand mixer.
Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Put the mixture into the pan-baked crust.
For the crust, follow our instructions for this gluten-free pie crust. Or you can buy a pre-made pie crust that is gluten-free or not.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the pie is set.
Serve as a dessert or even a snack. Consider topping with whipped coconut cream, which you can make yourself or buy.
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Other Sweet Potato Recipes
Looking for more sweet potato recipes to try out? Here are some to get you started:
Description
A classic Soul Food dessert, sweet potato pie comes from the South (U.S.) and is one of the tastiest Fall desserts you can make. It’s also very healthy for you, including high levels of vitamin A.
Crust
Filling
- 2 sweet potatoes, baked
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup full-fat coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, mix the filling mixture with a hand mixer and allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add mixture on top of par-baked crust and cook for 45 minutes, or until pie is set.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (62 g)
- Calories: 188
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 230 mg (15% DV)
- Fat: 13.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.6 g
- Trans Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.7 g
- Fiber: 0.9 g
- Protein: 2.4 g
- Cholesterol: 48 mg
Keywords: sweet potato pie, gluten-free sweet potato pie