Pie, Anyone?
I never met a pie I didn’t like.
As the holidays approach, shoppers are swarming to the grocery store in search of those special, holiday fixin’s. After all, what Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without pumpkin pie for dessert?
But what happens if your local supermarket runs out of your favorite pumpkin pie filling? Will you have no pie? Will you have no friends? No! You will have no fear, because I have a recipe for you that’s even better than pumpkin pie!
Better than pumpkin pie?!? You bet’cha! The best pumpkin pie I ever ate wasn’t a pumpkin pie at all. It was made with sweet potatoes, and I have been hooked ever since. They’re incredibly easy to make, especially if you use frozen pie crusts. If you make your own crust, I recommend freezing it before adding the filling. The crust won’t burn as easily, but I usually cover the rim with aluminum foil anyway.
Bake your sweet potatoes the day before, and they’ll be easier to work with. Rinse them under cold water, wrap them in aluminum foil, and bake them like you’d bake a regular potato. Toss them in the fridge overnight, or until they’re cool enough to handle. Slice them down the center, and use a spoon to scoop the potato directly into your measuring cup, mashing them as you go.
Ingredients:
3 C cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1 1/4 C brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 C granulated sugar
1/2 C butter, softened
1/2 C evaporated milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 pie shells, 9 inch, unbaked
Cream butter and sugar together. Mix in eggs. Add the potatoes, vanilla, salt, spices, and evaporated milk, and mix until well blended. Pour into prepared pie shells, and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
If your grocer carries Pumpkin Pie Spice, this can be substituted for the separate ingredients using the quantities provided on the container. Pumpkin pie spice is a mix of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger. I’ve also made this recipe using 1/4 C butter (that’s all I had, okay?) and it was just as tasty. This recipe completely fills two 9 inch deep dish pie crusts, right up to the rim. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a skinny pie.
If the store is out of everything, all is not lost. Did you know that pumpkins are winter squash? I’ll bet a nice butternut squash would also make a tasty pie! We grow our own sweet potatoes, so I haven’t tried this recipe with canned yams, but those would probably work fine too, provided you drain any liquids before mashing, and if there are any left on the shelf!
Allow your pie to cool at least two hours before serving. Warm pie melts Cool Whip.
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Oh man, I love sweet potato pie! I agree, it’s better than pumpkin. Did you know the folks down here in GA just call it “potato pie?”
If you aren’t inclined to bake the potatoes for some reason, you can steam them instead. Peeling them raw is easy, then cut into chunks, steam, and puree. Maybe messier, but if your oven’s full…
Meg, I am the world’s laziest cook. If I can get away with only one dirty item, I’ll figure out how, and pretty darn quick.
Baked sweet potatoes almost fall out of their skin after being refrigerated overnight. Discovered quite accidentally, BTW.
Plain ole’ potato pie? I guess it’s obvious I was raised in a northern state. Northerners make potato pancakes from Idaho spuds, but I’d never heard of sweet potato pie until I moved south of the Mason-Dixon line. Cornbread stuffing is another reason to move south.
That…looks soooo good! Thanks for posting this Lisa, a new recipe to try this week-end!
Never had cornbread stuffing either, just plain old cornbread (which I find quite tasty). I don’t suppose you’d have a recipe for that too?
Sadly, I don’t have a recipe for the stuffing- yet. It seems that serious cooks never share their secret recipes! I’ll have to do some experimenting first, but if I come up with a winner, I’ll be sure to post it.
I baked my sweet potatoes yesterday, and they spent the night in the fridge. I’m off to the kitchen today, mashing and baking. Hopefully, I’ll have some left for tomorrow. My husband loves these things.