• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Food & Drinks

3 Sweet Potato Pie Recipes By Black Cooks That You Need This Thanksgiving

Whether you're hosting a Friendsgiving or celebrating with family, these yummy recipes are sure to be a big hit.
3 Classic Sweet Potato Pie Recipes That Will Blow Your Mind
Getty Images
By Danielle Pointdujour · Updated December 6, 2020

One of the biggest food holidays of the year is almost here, and if you’re anything like us you can’t wait to chow down on delicious eats you’ve been dreaming of all year long. So what’s the one item on the Black Thanksgiving table that we can’t wait to get our hands on – sweet potato pie!

Now listen, not everyone in the family is worthy of whipping up this delectable dessert straight from the ancestors, so when it comes to who is going to be trusted to bring the pie for the big event, it needs to be serious business. If the lucky person up to bat this year happens to be you and you’re dreading big momma’s side-eye if you mess it up, you’re in luck.

We’ve rounded up three recipes by Black cooks (so you know the flavor will be real!) for sweet potato pie that will have tongues wagging at the Thanksgiving table, but in a good way. Good luck and let the ancestors be with you!

01
Southern Sweet Potato Pie
INGREDIENTS:
6 medium sweet potatoes
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper, finely ground
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie crust, 9 inch

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour in the oven on a baking sheet. When done, let cool slightly. Peel the skin off of the potatoes and rice them, with a potato ricer, into a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, spices, and salt. Add evaporated milk, then add mixture to sweet potatoes in the large bowl. Beat together with whisk or electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Pour into your unbaked pie shell. Bake on bottom rack of oven for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until center of pie is firm. Serve warm or let cool completely with a dollop of whipped cream. via Sweet Tea & Thyme
3 Classic Sweet Potato Pie Recipes That Will Blow Your Mind
Photo Credit: Sweet Tea & Thyme
02
Chef Garvin’s Sweet Potato Pie
INGREDIENTS:
6 yams or sweet potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 9-inch pie shells

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake whole potatoes for 1 hour or until soft. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and mash them in a large bowl. Add sugar, eggs, condensed milk, cream, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon; mix well. Prebake pie shells in the 350 F oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and pour sweet potato mixture evenly into shells. Bake for 35 minutes more or until firm. via Chef G. Garvin
3 Classic Sweet Potato Pie Recipes That Will Blow Your Mind
Photo Credit: Chef G. Garvin
03
Patti LaBelle’s Sweet Potato Pie
INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for the work surface
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter-flavored vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup ice water
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

FOR THE FILLING
Salt
3 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, scrubbed
7 tablespoons (most of 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:
For the crust: Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the shortening. Use a fork or a pastry blender to cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-size bits.

Stirring with the fork, gradually add enough of the water until the mixture clumps together (you might need more or less water). Gather up the dough and press it into a thick disk. If desired, wrap the dough in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and as long as 3 days.

Lightly flour a work surface. Place the chilled dough on it; roll out to a round that’s 13 inches across. Fold the dough in half.Transfer to the pie plate; gently unfold the dough to fit into it. Trim the dough as needed to leave a 1-inch overhang. (Bake or reserve the scraps for another use.)

Fold the dough under itself so the edge of the fold is flush with the edge of the pan. Flute the dough around the edge of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you start the filling (and up to 1 hour).

For the filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a generous pinch of salt, then the sweet potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium; cook until the sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Drain the sweet potatoes, letting them fall into a colander. Run under cold water until cool enough to handle. Discard the skins; transfer the cooked sweet potatoes to a mixing bowl. Use a hand-held electric mixer to blend until creamy and smooth. You’ll need 3 cups for the filling; scoop out the remainder and reserve for another use.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Uncover the pie shell; brush the interior with the 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of brown sugar over the bottom of the pie shell. Par-bake until the crust is set and just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. (If the pie shell puffs, do not prick it.) Let it cool.

Meanwhile, add the 7 tablespoons of melted butter, brown sugar, the granulated sugar, eggs, half-and-half, cinnamon and nutmeg to the pureed sweet potatoes. Beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Pour into the par-baked pie shell, smoothing the surface. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake (middle rack) until a knife inserted in the center of the filling comes out clean yet the filling still jiggles a bit, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Adapted from “LaBelle Cuisine: Recipes to Sing About,” by Patti LaBelle (Clarkson Potter, 1999).
3 Classic Sweet Potato Pie Recipes That Will Blow Your Mind
Photo Credit: Broadway Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.
TOPICS:  Bite Back corn bread cornbread ESSENCE Eats Food holiday recipes pie Pies pumpkin pumpkin pie rolls sweet potato pie
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now