The BEST Sweet Potato Pie Recipe Ever (Made With Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust)

Made with sugar, butter, milk, spices, brown hands, and love. Perfect with a cup of hot tea on a cold Sunday morning or as a late-night snack with a cup of ice-cold milk.

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Sweet potato pie is America’s favorite pie. It’s definitely my favorite, and I don’t know of many people who don’t love it. And it’s especially very popular during the holiday season (Thanksgiving – New Year).

This is a sweet potato pie recipe you will not only love but will definitely be making again! Yes, it’s that good! So give it a shot you won’t regret it. It’s easily one of the best sweet potato pie recipes you’ll find online.

A classic African-American holiday dessert

Sweet potato pie is sort of a black thing now! I don’t remember any of my black neighbors, family members, or friends of the family who didn’t know how to put their foot in it (which means make it good, lol).

Some of us have a family recipe that’s been passed down for generations that dates back to post-slavery. And even without a recipe, it’s just one of those foods, we’ve mastered.

Like macaroni and cheese or fried chicken, which most black folks know how to make pretty well and have mastered, this comes from watching our parents cook it so much over the years.

And while everyone else typically makes it during the holidays, black folk make it all year round because it’s become a part of our culture, although it’s popular in general in the States.

Sweet potatoes vs Yams

Ok, so before I get into the recipe, let me give you guys who may get sweet potatoes and yams confused a little history lesson on not only the difference but why the confusion came about, to begin with.

I spoke about the differences between yams and sweet potatoes under my Candied Sweet Potatoes Recipe. Let me explain the differences below, and then I’ll explain why some people think they’re the same.

• The shape: Sweet potatoes typically have thick centers and taper off in size with pointy smaller ends, while Yams are more like a cylinder, long and relatively even in size from top to bottom with circular ends.
• Skin color: Sweet potatoes are always orange in color, while Yams are always brown.
• Skin texture: The skin on a sweet potato is thin and smooth, while the skin of a Yam is rough and sometimes like the texture of a tree bark.
• The flesh: The flesh of sweet potatoes comes in a variety of different colors, most commonly orange, but also white and purple – the flesh of a Yam is always white.
• The taste: Sweet potatoes are moist and SWEET, and Yams are dry and starchy.
• Popularity: Sweet potatoes are popular worldwide, especially in the States. Yams are an African and Caribbean thing.

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Why do people call sweet potatoes Yams?

Black folks call sweet potatoes “yams” because, during slavery times, Africans called them YAMS. The sole reason they referred to them as YAMS is because they resembled the shape of the Yams they saw in Africa.

So, to distinguish SWEET POTATOES from REGULAR potatoes, they called them Yams, which just became a thing people did. But while they did it to differentiate the two, black folk did it thinking they were the same.

Future generations weren’t educated on why sweet potatoes were mistakenly referred to as Yams and started thinking they were actually the same vegetable.

I would like to think most of us know they’re different now, but I had friends whom I recently heard refer to sweet potatoes as Yams and vice versa, so I don’t know. Sigh

I had to explain to them that 1, they’re two completely different vegetables, and 2, give them a whole run down like I’m giving you guys on why our people started calling sweet potatoes Yams in the first place.

I hope y’all remember they’re different now, and hopefully, you’ll educate someone you know who don’t realize they’re not the same. Lol!

Childhood memories of sweet potato pie

Ok, so sweet potato pie wasn’t just a holiday thing for my family because we made it all year round, and when I say year-round, I mean from Jan to Dec!

Two memories I have as a kid that stand out the most are my grandma, who would warm up a slice during cold winter mornings and chug it down with a warm cup of tea. It was like brunch for her.

I can also remember seeing several round aluminum pie pans across the kitchen table, mostly during the holidays, and seeing my aunts pour sweet potato pie from large mixing bowls into the pans.

I would be the first nephew or niece sitting by their sides, waiting for them to be done with the mixing bowl so I could eat the leftover filling with my fingers. Lol!

Oh, and how could I forget seeing my aunt take a slice upstairs with a cold cup of milk late at night? She’d do it sneakingly while everyone else was asleep, knowing Grandma Val would kill her for that! Lol!

Another thing I can remember is going grocery shopping with either my mom, grandma, or one of my aunts and hearing them tell the other, “Get some yams”. 

Again, not knowing there’s a difference between yams and sweet potatoes. LMBO! As a kid, I was always mesmerized by the funny shape of sweet potatoes and their orange color.

I thought they had a very intriguing look. Haha! And I remember how they would slice them in half to boil them because they were sometimes too long to fit into the pot.

All these childhood memories of sweet potatoes and plenty more still stick with me to this day and can make me, at times, emotional since my grandmothers are all now gone. R.I.P!

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Patti LaBelle’s sweet potato pie

Young adult memories I have of sweet potato pie are first me trying to make a recipe of my own because of how much everyone talked about Patti LaBelle’s Sweet Potato Pie when it came out.

Everybody was talking about it, and it was mainly sold at Walmart. Can you believe I never really tried it? I say never, really, because all I had was a scoop from someone who bought it.

And not even a full slice or enough to judge it for myself. But my fellow Philadelphian, the great Miss Patti, is who inspired me to create my own recipe for sweet potato pie.

I was overwhelmed by the amount of people who loved it because it was one of the first tutorials I uploaded to my YouTube channel. This was before I gave measurements and just showed people how to cook stuff.

Those of you who have been following me since the very beginning (2014 on YouTube), remember I uploaded several food videos but never gave measurements until 2016 when I created this website.

Everyone knows I like to freestyle when cooking like those old church mothers from the South who cooked with their eyes and from their souls and let God use their hands.

But when I realized that I had so many beginners (folk just learning how to cook) following me, I realized how important it was to put measurements on food and create an actual RECIPE.

This was beneficial not just for them but for me, too, because how else could you have a food website or write a book without an actual recipe? Besides, whenever I make things, they taste similar each time but never the same.

But if you put numbers to it and actually make a recipe out of it, it’ll taste the same every time. But anyway, let me get to the ingredients and cookware you’re going to need for this recipe.

Cookware and utensils you’ll need:

• Pot: You need a pot to boil the fat heavy-weight potatoes! lol
• Measuring Spoons and Cups: How else are you supposed to know you’re using an accurate amount of ingredients the recipe calls for? 
• Large Mixing Bowl: You need a large mixing bowl to prevent everything from splashing everywhere when you’re blending the ingredients in.
• Whisk: You need a whisk to stir in all the dry ingredients. You can use a spoon, but a whisk just incorporates everything better.
• Hand Mixer: This makes blending everything easy, you can use it but I typically dont. I like to use the next product…
• Potato Masher: Get a potato masher to mash the butter into the flour.
• Spatula: The spatula ensures everything is evenly blended and incorporated, like the filling that splashes on the sides of the bowl the hand mixer can’t get to. Gotta use that good ole spatula to scrape everything down and back into the middle of the bowl. Lol!
• Rolling Pin: This is used to flatten the dough and lift the pie crush.
• Pie Dish: You need a nice pie dish to bake the pie in.
• Knife: Using a knife is vital to level out the flour scooped into the measuring cups to ensure the right amounts are being used and to cut into the pie.
• Cake Cutter: This makes it much easier to lift and serve slices of pie.

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Sweet potatoes: Lol! Well, we can’t make sweet potato pie without sweet potatoes, right?
• Butter: Butter gives the pie an amazing flavor and gives the filling a nice consistency.
• Eggs: Eggs provide structure and help to shape the pie. It also adds flavor, believe it or not, and is a leavening ingredient as well that helps the pie rise.
• Flour: The flour thickens the filling and provides structure like the egg. If you don’t add a little flour, it will collapse and won’t hold up.
• Evaporated Milk: Flavor flavor flavor… evaporated milk gives the filling a special flavor, helps with the consistency, and stops it from drying out while baking.
• Lemon Juice: The lemon juice helps to balance out the flavors because this is obviously a very sweet pie. So adding lemon just gives it the hint of tartiness it needs, so it’s not just sweet and bland.
• Vanilla: This is very important in baking. It makes everything taste better, and you will instantly notice something lacking without it. I don’t care if you’re making pudding, pie, muffins, cookies, or cake. Vanilla is a major player in the pastry world. 
• Light corn syrup: Corn syrup gives the filling an amazing silky consistency and adds its own unique sweetness to the pie.
• White and Brown Sugar: Sugar is to obviously sweeten the pie, but it helps to keep it moist once it’s done as well. The brown sugar just adds another element of flavor.
• Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a MUST when it comes to sweet potato pie. Who makes sweet potato pie without cinnamon? It’s what gives it its classic flavor.
• Nutmeg: Nutmeg is as important to sweet potato pie as Cinnamon but I don’t use a lot because it’s pretty potent and has a little zing to it.
• Salt: Salt is important because it enhances the flavors, so adding a pinch to the filling is vital. 

Ingredients for homemade buttery, flaky pie crust:

• Flour: This is the base ingredient for the pie crust, but you also need it to prevent the dough from sticking to the flat surface you flatten it out on with the rolling pin.
• Butter: An important ingredient for pie crust. It helps with flakiness, gives it flavor, and makes it tender.
• Buttermilk or water: You need buttermilk or water to bring the dough together to form a cohesive mass of mess! Lol! It’s not going to stick without a liquid. You also need it to hydrate the flour to activate the gluten.
• Sugar: You can use brown or white sugar, which just adds a hint of sweetness to the pie crust that you’d barely notice.
• Cinnamon: Add this to spice up the pie crust so it’s not bland.
• Salt: The salt helps with browning and enhances flavor.

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About the sweet potato filling

Bake vs boiling

When I make sweet potato pie, I boil my potatoes. My aunt (and others I’ve spoken to) claim baking them is a better option because they don’t lose any juice/flavor.

But I prefer to boil them because they get tender in less time, and the skin slides right off when you peel them. I baked mine before and didn’t notice any significant difference in taste, so I just stuck to what worked best for me.

And before I boil my potatoes, I like to slice them in half so they fit into the pot because, as you know, sweet potatoes are long and won’t fit unless you’re using a 40 qt size pot. lol!

Sweet potato strings

One important thing about the filling. When the potatoes are done boiling, and you’re ready to blend in all the ingredients, make sure to blend the potatoes with a hand mixer first.

If you notice any strings on the blades, remove them! You do this so eating your sweet potato pie can be an enjoyable experience and so you don’t have to remove them while you’re eating it. YUCK!

The last thing you want is to bite into sweet potato pie and have to remove strings. So yeah, I used a hand mixer, and it picked up all the strings, which I discarded before adding the ingredients.

Taste testing

When you get done adding the ingredients to the filling, that is the time to taste test the filling to see if it’s to your liking. This is the time to add more of whatever you feel it needs more of.

I say this because once you bake it, there’s no turning back. If you have any doubts about any of the ingredients I’m using, use a little at a time and taste the filling to make sure it’s to your liking before adding more.

Why is my pie crust hard?

Ok, so hard pie crust is a baking nightmare!! Probably one of the worst things that can happen when baking a pie! It’s as bad as flat cookies or a sunken pie. I’m going to explain what may have caused this and how to avoid it in the future. 

• Overworked dough: More often than not, when pie crust comes out hard, it’s because you overworked the dough at some point when making it. Either when you brought everything together with your hands to form a perfect ball of dough or when you flattened it with the rolling pin.
• Too much water: If you use water or even buttermilk, too much can cause a tough pie crust because when the water evaporates, the pie crust is baking, and the structure of the pastry tightens up and shrinks. 

Keys to a good homemade buttery flaky pie crust

• Level flour with a knife: To ensure you’re using the right amount of flour, scoop out and into the measuring cup, then shake, scoop out more flour into the measuring cup, and, with a knife, even out the top to remove any excessive flour.
• Use a little liquid: You just need enough liquid to make things damp enough to stick and come together. So after kneading the butter into the flour, bring it together with your hands and add two tablespoons of water.
• Make sure the liquid is ice cold: Ice-cold water or buttermilk stops the fat (butter from getting too warm).
• Make sure dough is cold going into the oven: Remember, the colder the butter is when added to the oven, the flakier the pie crust will be.
• Don’t overwork the dough: We tend to overwork the dough most is when trying to bring everything together to form a ball of dough. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a perfect ball of dough; you just want to bring it together.
• Coat the rolling pin: Make sure there’s a light but (ENOUGH) flour on the surface you’re rolling the dough onto and the rolling pin because the dough will stick, and that will make the process more difficult.

How to make homemade buttery flaky pie crust

1. You’re going to first start off by adding flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt to a big mixing bowl.
2. Pour it into the mixing bowl through a strainer.
   
   

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3. You will then add in the cold butter.
4. You want the butter to be cold because it helps create a moist pie crust.
5. Bring everything together with your hands, a masher, or a blender until you’re left with big buttery crumbs.
   
   

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6. Sprinkle in a little buttermilk or water and bring together with a few presses.
7. Afterwards, lay it on a wide piece of plastic wrap.
   
   

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8.  Wrap it up, forming a ball of dough, then sit it in the refrigerator to chill for an hour to get it cold.  
9. Coat a flat surface, the ball of dough, and the rolling pin with flour, as seen in the picture below.
   
   

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10. Then flatten it into a 1/16th inch thick circular piece of dough and slowly and carefully wrap the pie crust around the rolling pin.
    
    

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11.  Lift and place into a pie pan, then remove excess flour around the edges, and dust away any excess flour.
12.  Sit in the refrigerator again to chill for another 30 minutes just to ensure the crust is cold before going into the oven.

How to make sweet potato pie

1. Boil potatoes in a big pot under a lid until tender.
2. Sit the potatoes on a dry surface to dry, then blend for a couple of minutes to remove strings if needed.
   
   

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3. Add in the wet, then dry ingredients and blend well.
   
   

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4. Preheat the oven and add the filling to the cold pie crust.
   
   

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5. Then cover edges with aluminum foil, and bake until done.
6. This will prevent the edges of the pie crust from burning.
   
   

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Tips for best results:

• Let potatoes sit to dry after removing them from the water. Dry a bit to avoid a wet sweet potato pie filling that won’t get stiff.
• Dust off any excess flour from the dough after flattening it and wrapping it around the rolling pin before adding it to the pie pan.
• Make sure to add the sweet potato pie to the oven quickly after adding in the filling. Adding it while the pie crust (mainly the butter in it) is still pretty cool results in a flaky crust. 
• Let the sweet potato pie sit for a while after it’s done to give the pie time to settle before digging in. I will make this at night for the next day so you have time to taste it at its best.

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Making it ahead of time

• Making and storing the pie crust: You can make the pie crust, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and sit it in the freezer until you’re ready to use it to make the pie.
• Make and store the filling: Boil the potatoes, blend everything in, and store it in a Tupperware bowl tightly sealed with a lid or plastic wrap, then place it in the freezer.
• Make the whole pie and store it: Or, you can simply make the whole pie, including the pie crust, and store it in the freezer until it’s time to be served. The choice is YOURS!!!

Serving suggestions:

• Milk: What’s better than warm sweet potato pie at night with a cold glass of milk while watching a movie? Talk about feeling like you’re in heaven. There’s nothing better than a cold glass of milk to flush sweet potato pie down with.
• Egg Nogg: Egg nogg is an obvious answer. It tastes so good with sweet potato pie and is a classic holiday combo we all love. Cold egg nog topped with cinnamon and a pinch of rum to go along with this is joy to the soul.
• Tea: This is what old folk love with their sweet potato pie. If you haven’t had warm sweet potato pie, you’re missing out. Sweet potato pie can be very filling and comforting when you heat it up. 
• Vanilla Ice Cream: You can eat this with your favorite ice cream, but some things you have to keep simple. Warm, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth sweet potato pie scooped up in the same spoon with a little cold vanilla ice cream is priceless.
• Whipped cream: You can’t go wrong by serving sweet potato pie with a big squirt of whipped cream on top. Reddi-Wip is the standard whipped cream for sweet potato pie. 

Storage

• How to store sweet potato pie? Cover it with plastic wrap and sit it in the refrigerator, preferably on the top shelf where it’s cooler. This will keep it fresh for longer.
• Can you freeze it? Sweet potato pie freezes nicely. If you want to preserve it for weeks or months, wrap it up in a ziploc bag and store it in the freezer, making sure it’s tightly sealed to prevent freezer burn.

Frequently asked questions

• Can you use store-bought pie crust? You can save time and buy premade deep dish pie crust from the store if you don’t choose to make it yourself or aren’t confident you’d do a good job.
• How long does sweet potato pie last? It can last for weeks if you store it in the freezer. If you store it in the refrigerator, I’d say about a week before it loses its swag. Lol!

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Guys, this sweet potato pie is fiyaaaaah! I’m sorry but I cant emphasize that enough. When I was creating this recipe, my aunt, who doesn’t even like sweets, couldn’t stop going into the kitchen to get more.

That should tell you everything you need to know about this recipe. So if you’re looking for a delicious, easy-to-make sweet potato recipe, this is the one for you!!! Check the recipe below, rate it, and leave a comment, letting us know how you like it.

And please don’t be a stranger, subscribe so you’ll never miss any of my amazing recipes and follow me on social media at the following handles: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Enjoy, later.

PBJ~

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The BEST Sweet Potato Pie Recipe Ever (Made With Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 8 reviews

• Author: PhillyboyJay
• Prep Time: 20mins
• Cook Time: 2hrs
• Total Time: 2hrs 20mins
• Yield: 8
• Category: Desserts
• Cuisine: American

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Description

Delicious Classic Sweet potato Pie recipe, perfect for the Holiday season

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Ingredients

Pie Crust Ingredients

• 2–1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Cold Unsalted Butter (2 Sticks of butter)
• 2 Tbs Cold Buttermilk or Water
• 1 Tsp Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 Tsp Salt

Sweet Potato Pie Filling Ingredients

• 2 Lbs Sweet Potatoes
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2 Tbs All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 1/4 Cup Evaporated Milk
• 1/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup
• 1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tsps Cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 Tsp Salt

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

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Instructions

1. Place potatoes in a large pot, add in the cool water, and place over high heat.
2. Cover with a lid, leaving a slight crack to the side, and boil for 1 hour. 
   *While potatoes are boiling, kill 2 birds with one stone and make homemade crust*
3. Get a big mixing bowl and add in 2 cups flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then whisk well.
4. Chop the butter into small cubes and press into the flour until left with big chunk pieces of flour.
5. Sprinkle in the buttermilk or water, move the dough around a little until all the liquid is absorbed, then pour onto a wide piece of plastic wrap.
6. Use the plastic wrap to bring the dough together to create a big ball of dough, then sit in the refrigerator to chill.
7. Once potatoes are done, sit them out so they can dry a little and chill.
8.  Then peel the skin off and place them in a large mixing bowl.
9. Blend the potatoes for 1 minute, and if any strings are left on the blenders, remove and rinse them off.
10. Add in the wet ingredients, the melted butter, milk, eggs, light corn syrup, vanilla, and fresh lemon juice.
11. Blend well, and use a spatula to scrab the mixture down from the sides of the bowl and at the bottom.
12. Then add in the dry ingredients; the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, then blend and sit aside.
13. Preheat your own to 350 degrees.
14. Add 1/4 cup of flour to a big cutting board or flat surface.
15. Rub the rolling pin with a little of the flour and place the dough on the flour coated surface.
16. Roll out evenly into a flat circular shape of dough.
17. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin, and dust off any excess flour under it.
18. Lift it up and lay the top side into the pie dish and blow or dust off any flour on the dough.
19. Remove excess dough from the edges or add to thicken thin spots, then pour the sweet potato filling into the dish.
20. Add aluminum to the edges so they dont burn and bake for 1 hour.
21. Then sit on a flat surface in room temperature to chill for about 2 hours.
22. Once it’s chilled set in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours before serving.

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Notes

• Make sure when you weigh potatoes in the grocery store they are a little over 2 lbs because once you boil the potatoes and remove the skin, the potatoes end up around 1.75 lbs.
• Let the sweet potato sit and settle, preferably 8 hours, before serving. 

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 16