I have no idea what came over me when I decided I needed to make this sweet potato pecan pie. It’s not even my kind of dessert, really. I blame it on the Fall, which is when I tend to randomly get obsessed with foods I don’t normally like, and am suddenly hell-bent on recreating them.
sweet potato pecan pie
When the idea of sweet potato pecan pie hit me like a ton of bricks last week, I immediately got online and started researching recipes. Holy. Sugar. Batman.
One of the recipes I looked at had:
1/2 cup cane syrup in the sweet potato filling
and
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup in the topping.
My teeth hurt just thinking about it.
And no, the above isn’t from a Paula Dean recipe, in case you’re wondering. When scrolling through recipe searches, there are some that I just don’t open, based on the “chefs” that wrote them. Paula is on that list. She gets no love from me.
My version of this recipe is still nowhere near sweetener free; that just won’t happen with this type of pie. But since sweet potatoes are already sweet, I added just a little honey to the filling, and cut back on the sweetener in the topping by more than half. And I only used a touch of corn syrup. Just checking if you’re still reading. 😉
sweet potato pecan pie
For the crust:
1 ½ C pecans
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons arrowroot (plus more for dusting)
1 tablespoon coconut flour
⅛ t salt
2 tablespoons butter, (coconut oil for a dairy-free version)
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg yolk
For the sweet potato filling:
1 1/2 cups cooked mashed sweet potato
2 T honey
1 t cinnamon
½ t ground ginger
½ t freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
For the pecan topping:
1 cup pecans
3 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Make the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In the bowl of your food processor, pulse the pecans with the arrowroot, coconut flour and salt 8-10 times or until they are as finely ground as you can get them without turning it to butter.
- Add the butter, egg yolk and honey and blend until combined.
- Press the dough into a pie pan and set aside. Wipe out the bowl of your food processor. (you’ll use it again)
Make the filling:
- Blend the sweet potato, 1 egg, spices, and honey in the food processor until well combined. Spread into the prepared crust.
- Top the crust with the remaining 1 cup of pecans; you can either arrange them decoratively, or just pour them on.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the 3 eggs, honey, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture over the pecans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the crust is browned. Cover it loosely with foil and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until the filling is set.
- Allow to cool before serving.
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Alima says
Yum!! You’re on a roll with the holiday recipes! Can’t wait to try this!
Sally JPA says
Holy crap, this looks good. I’m salivating reading it.
Kristi says
If I don’t have coconut sugar, could I sub something else? It looks delicious!
zenbellyblog says
cane sugar or brown sugar would be the closest texture wise. Not sure if you use those. As far as sweetness, any sweetener will work, I’m just not sure about the consistency…
Kristi says
Another silly question, should I put it in the fridge until we serve it tomorrow? Or is it ok to be left out. My house smells awesome now, btw!
Amy Ayers says
This is just gorgeous! I can’t wait to start writing out my Thanksgiving menu.
Rachel Ball (@grokgrub) says
For a second I thought the ingredients listed at the very top were the ones you used, and was about to say “Who are you, and what have you done with Simone?” ;-P
zenbellyblog says
hahaha I felt dirty just writing it 😉
Pam says
Can tapioca flour be substituted fir the arrowroot? The pics look awesome! And I really want to make this!
zenbellyblog says
Thanks Pam! Tapioca should work. I’ve used arrowroot and tapioca interchangeably in a bunch of recipes, and it tends to work great.
Jenn says
I just made this for my sister who was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. A combo of 2 of the best pies on Earth!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!
Juan Carlo says
Great! Thanks for sharing. I’m a big fan of your site and I really love all the recipes that you are sharing with. I already tried this sweet pecan pie and my entire family love it was well. Can you grant my simple request? I found this great article and hopefully you make your own recipes of these awesome healthy desserts. Here’s the article: http://juancarlothecaterer.com/blog/eating-healthier-2014-desserts/
Amy says
Making this for Thanksgiving! Two of my favorite pies in one!! Whoo! My question: how many days in advance could I make this pie? Would it keep in the refrigerator if I made it two days in advance? Thanks! Loving your book, btw!!! 🙂
zenbellyblog says
So glad to hear you’re loving the book! The pie should be fine for two days. Just make sure to let it get to room temp before you serve it. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Amy says
Thank you, Simone! HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your family! 🙂
Amy says
Hi Simone! I meant to come back to tell you how much my family and I enjoyed this pie for the holidays! 🙂 I had to bake it a little longer (about 15 or so more minutes) for it to set in the middle, but it turned out beautiful and I got to enjoy the best of both my favorite pies!!! 🙂 Thank you! Looking forward to your new book!
zenbellyblog says
Aw thanks so much, Amy! I’m so glad to hear it. And thanks for your support! 🙂
soslik says
are you using toasted or raw pecans?
zenbellyblog says
Raw. They get toasty in the pie 🙂
soslik says
thanks! can i by any chance make in a tart pan like this? http://www.amazon.com/Le-Creuset-Stoneware-1-45-Quart-Cherry/dp/B001HSO22Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416967891&sr=8-1&keywords=le+creuset+tart+pan i am making 2 pies and only have 1 pie dish..would it fit in this tart pan?
zenbellyblog says
I don’t see why not! I’m sure it will look very pretty in there 🙂
anye76 says
can you sub anything for coconut flour? allergic to it such a bummer. having very hard time finding non coconut flours in desserts. just wondered if you’ve used any others. giving the fact that most flours aren’t really interchangeable
zenbellyblog says
I just add a little to the crust, which helps is stay together. You could just add 1-2 tablespoons more of arrowroot, and it should work fine!
Bronwen Grebe says
You got me with the corn syrup – I got really sad for a split second! Can’t wait to try this one. Looks soooooo good!
Donna in Inwood says
So I’ve informed my Thanksgiving hostess that I am going to make this pie and bring it with on Thursday (along with your cranberry sauce with mandarin oranges- yay!).
HOWEVER, I am getting a little bit antsy because so far I been unable to locate any sweet potatoes.
Weird, yes?
I have gone to all my usual stores and farmers market, and I can report that there are no regular yellow/orange sweet potatoes available at any of these places in Manhattan.
Now, there are things that are similar to sweet potatoes that are available — I could get purple sweet potatoes, for instance, or Japanese sweet potatoes (the ones with purple skin and white flesh).
I can also find yams, which are the right color at least — nice and orange. But they’re not quite sweet potatoes.
So given these options, what would you suggest? Can I substitute one of these alternatives, or should I bag the recipe and make a different kind of pie altogether?
Thanks.
zenbelly says
I think orange yams will work just fine! If you’re worried though, the cranberry curd tart would be my second pick!
Donna in Inwood says
haha so funny — I’m having the exact same conversation with my hostess. I sent her a picture of that cranberry tart, and told her she could pick.
My guess is she’ll go for the cranberry — how beautiful is that picture???
Anyway, thanks. I think we’ve got all the bases covered. Happy Thanksgiving.
zenbelly says
It’s a photogenic tart, that’s for sure! Thanks, Donna! Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.
Donna in Inwood says
So this is in the oven right now, and it looks and smells dee-vine!
I will just say in case anyone is interested, I considered baking this in my ceramic pie dish, but I went with the old pyrex glass dish instead.
The ceramic dish (which is one those pretty fluted Emile Henry things) is at least an inch deeper, and I was afraid the recipe volume wouldn’t be enough to fill it up.
But I was wrong. Once you pour the topping on it, the dish gets very full. I’m sure it’ll be fine but I was kinda wishing I’d used the deeper ceramic dish instead.
Cheers.