Sweet Potato Pie (easy graham crust)
A great addition to your holiday pie recipes, this delicious pie uses simple ingredients and is a fun twist on classic holiday desserts. A very easy recipe with a crumb crust (instead of the more laborious traditional pie crust) and warm spices. A fantastic idea for your sweet potato recipes.
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
For the crumb crust:
- 1 ¾ cups fine graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ cup butter melted
For the filling:
- 3 cups sweet potato puree homemade or store-bought
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- ¾ cup evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the cream topping:
- 1 cup heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ tablespoons sour cream or cream cheese
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
For the crumb crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) if you're baking the crust. You can opt for simply chilling it until firm. Have ready a 9-inch pie plate or pie pan with a removable bottom and high sides.
- For the cookie crumbs, the easiest way is to use a food processor and process until you have fine crumbs. Make sure there are no large pieces or that it's a very coarse crumb mixture as it will prevent the mixture from compressing well. You can also make the crumbs by hand, but it takes a while and some patience. Crush the cookies with a rolling pin. It's easier if you put them in a large plastic bag, like a Ziploc bag, leaving it a bit open to let the air out as you roll.
- By hand: mix 1 ¾ cups fine graham cracker crumbs with 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a medium bowl. Add ½ cup butter and combine everything until it resembles wet sand and no dry spots remain.
- Food processor: you can make the mixture directly in the bowl of the processor. Simply process the graham crackers with the sugar and add the melted butter to the bowl of the processor, pulse a few times, and you have your graham mixture ready.
- Press the mixture onto the pan, starting at the edges and the angles where the base and sides join together and make sure it's compacted. This will help when removing the pie from the pan.
- Chill in the fridge while making the filling.
For the sweet potato filling:
- Mix 3 cups sweet potato puree with ⅓ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup white sugar in a large bowl.
- Add 3 eggs one by one, mixing well each time. I use a whisk. If you want to use an electric mixer, do so at the lowest speed.
- Add ¾ cup evaporated milk and 2 tablespoons heavy cream (liquid, straight from the container) and mix well. Do not beat the mixture, but integrate it well.
- Add 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon salt, and mix until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the sweet potato mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until it's *almost* firm in the center. It should still jiggle a little.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours (or up to 2 days) before serving.
- Serve with sweet whipped cream dusted with cinnamon.
For the whipped cream topping:
- Beat cold 1 cup heavy cream with 1 ½ tablespoons sour cream or cream cheese and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar in a medium bowl.
- Consistency of the cream: I like it to be thick but soft, so I whip it to medium peaks. But you can go all the way and beat it to firm peaks, similar to chantilly cream if you want to pipe it.
- Be careful it doesn't curdle. It's what happens if it's overbeaten. You might want to beat with an electric mixer until you're almost there and then end it by hand with a whisk. It's hard to overbeat a preparation with a manual whisk.
Notes
Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use an oven thermometer to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend tracking how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
Spices: substitute the spices for 2 teaspoons of apple pie spice.
