Sweet Potato Pie

One of my favorite things to eat at Thanksgiving while growing up was the pumpkin pie. I always looked forward to them, and was sure to gobble up every last bite. My husband, however, grew up eating sweet potato pies. So one Thanksgiving I was determined to make him the best sweet potato pie. Personally, I never cared much for them.

I have to say though, that I prefer this sweet potato pie over the pumpkin pie I made last year! I even surprised myself! So, since I'm not in love with my own pumpkin one (shown on the bottom of this photo), I'll share with you my sweet potato pie recipe (shown on top), because my husband is very much in love with it!

I mentioned here and here that most of my Thanksgiving recipe photos were snapshots from last years dinner, so I don't have my nice photos with step by step instruction. Please bare with me, I will update these posts with all of my Thanksgiving food photos, I just wanted to share these recipes with you in time for the holiday so you could use them if you like!



Ingredients:

• 1 can sweet potatoes (about one pound or so), drained / or one pound sweet potatoes, unpeeled
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (not deep dish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Prebake the pie crust, first prick the pie shell with a fork. Line with wax paper, and fill the crust with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 11 minutes, for photo reference of this process, go here.
2. If you are using fresh sweet potatoes, pierce the potatoes with a fork in a few places, then bake (unpeeled) in oven at 375 degrees on a baking sheet before step 1. Remove from oven, and let cool for a bit. Once cooled, cut each sweet potato in half lengthwise, scoop the potato pulp out and discard the skin. Continue to step 4.
3. If you are using canned sweet potatoes, drain well.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. In a medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes with butter. Mix well with a mixer.
6. On low or medium-low, add the sugar in and mix till blended. Add the milk, mix. Then the egg and mix. Now add the seasonings, extract, and lemon juice and mix. 
7. Beat on medium until the filling is smooth.
8. Pour filling into the pie crust. It will be pretty full, so be careful! 
9. If you use pie crust savers, apply these now so the crust won't burn.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50-60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
11. Pie will puff up like a souffle, then will sink down as it cools.
12. Be sure to let it cool before you cut into it. Serve with homemade whipped cream. Enjoy!