Usually I am very traditional when choosing the menu for Thanksgiving dinner, but since I had made a few pumpkin and apple desserts throughout the Fall season, I wanted to try something a little different for Thanksgiving dessert. This Sweet Potato Pecan Pie was a little different than the pumpkin and apple pies that I usually make, but still felt like Fall and Thanksgiving. And, it was Delicious!!
The night before I wanted to make the pie, I baked 4 sweet potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour. You can check to see if the sweet potatoes have baked long enough by giving them a little squeeze (use a potholder – they’re hot). If they are soft, then they have baked long enough. Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely. Once cool, slice the sweet potatoes in half and scoop out the middle. I like to freeze the sweet potato skins to make baked potato skins at a later point. It can be hard to judge how many sweet potatoes to bake in order to get 2 1/2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. 4 large ones worked for this recipe. I figured that 4 was probably too much and expected to have some left-over that I would freeze to use for something else, but 4 turned out to be just right. So, if you’re not sure, bake extra and freeze what is left.
To put the pie together, I started out by making a pie crust for the bottom using my basic pie crust recipe. I tucked the prepared crust into the fridge while I made the sweet potato filling.
In a large bowl, mix the sweet potato, eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Whisk until nice and smooth.
Pour this into the prepared crust and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
While this is cooking, put together the pecan topping by mixing the butter, pecans, brown sugar, flour, allspice, and cinnamon. Mix it until it is crumbly.
When the 30 minutes is up, take the pie out and sprinkle this pecan mixture all over the top.
Return the pie to the oven and bake another 35-40 minutes.
Let cool and serve room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9 " pie shell ready to bake
- 2 1/2 cups mashed sweet potato
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
Pecan topping
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- (Can be done the day or night before) Bake approx 4 large sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
- Allow to cool and scoop out the flesh to yield 2 1/2 cups.
- Prepare pie crust and refrigerate while preparing the filling.
- Mix sweet potato, milk, eggs, sugar, and spices.
- Whisk until smooth.
- Pour into prepared crust.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
- While this is cooking, prepare the pecan topping.
- Mix the butter, pecans, brown sugar, flour, and spices until crumbly.
- When the pie has baked for the 30 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle on the topping.
- Bake another 35-40 minutes.
- Serve at room temperature and refrigerate any leftovers.