During the holidays Sweet Potato Pie is my favorite dessert! And now its just gotten even better! A sweet potato pie, Whole Food Plant Based, sweet, full of spice and everything nice!
I had an uncle that could make the best sweet potato pies. OMG, his pies were so good, that I would literally want to sit and just eat the entire pie. I remember asking him what was his secret ingredient and he said “orange juice”. I remember asking him for the recipe and he said “I don’t measure anything I just dump, stir, taste, and bake.
Well, when I say Cathy Fisher’s Sweet Potato-Pecan Pie I was so inspired to re-create my dear sweet uncle’s sweet potato pie, whole food plant-based style! There are no added salt, oil, sugar, dairy, eggs, as in traditional pies. But trust me when I say, it is the best sweet potato pie I have ever tasted on this side of dessert heaven!
The pie is so worth living for. Simple wholesome ingredients for the pie crust. Many plant-based pie crust call for nuts. I opted to use golden flaxseed to be the binder of the crust. What I love most about this crust is that any leftover can be rolled up into little balls and eaten raw for a snack.
The pie filling is equally as wholesome. Using fresh orange juice and zest is more flavorful than buying the bottled juice and dried zest. Believe it or not, the mashed banana is the butter replacement to give that added creaminess. I prefer using the spice Mace because it seems to have a more subtle spiciness.
So go ahead and add this to your list of desserts to make for the holidays. It will sure to be a crowd pleaser!
Watch “How To” Video
Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 1/4 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 1 Tbsp Milled Golden Flaxseed
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 3.5 oz Medjool Dates, pitted and chopped (about 8 large Medjools)
- 3 Tbsp Applesauce, Unsweetened
- 1 Tbsp Plant-Based Milk, Unsweetened (used Silk Soy, unsweetened)
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (or 1/4 tsp Vanilla Bean Powder)
- Rolling Pin
- 8 inch Pie Pan
- Parchment Paper
Pie Filling
- 2 Tbsp Old Fashion Rolled Oats (see recipe notes)
- 1 medium Navel Orange, juiced and zest (1/4 cup juice and 1 tsp zest)
- 1/2 cup Plant-Based Milk, Unsweetened (used Soy)
- 5 oz Medjool Dates, pitted and quartered (about 9 large Medjools)
- 1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (or 1/2 tsp of Vanilla Bean Powder)
- 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/32 tsp Mace (yes this is actually a measurement; a smidgeon)
- 1 Tbsp Banana, very ripe, and mashed
- 1 1/2 cup Baked Orange Sweet Potato (see recipe notes)
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Preheat the oven 350F.
- Add the oats, flaxseed, and cinnamon to a food processor fitted with a "S" blade. Pulse about 8-10 times to create a coarse flour.
- Add the chopped medjool dates and the applesauce to the food procesor. Pulse until the mixture begins to come together. Using a spatula, push down any flour from the sides of the the bowl and pulse again to incorporate all dry flour with the dough mixture. Add the milk and the vanilla extract to the dough. Pulse until the mixture starts to clump together.
- Place the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper. Form into a tightly pressed ball. Then mash down as flat as possible with palms of hands. Place another sheet of parchment on top of flattened dough. Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough into a circular shape, about 1/8" in thickness. The dough circle should be slightly large than the top edge of the pan.
- Slowly peel back the top piece of parchment paper. Place the pie on top of the pie crust upside down. Holding one hand on the inverted pan and sliding one hand under the parchment paper, flip the pan and the crust over. Carefully peel away the other sheet of parchment.
- Gently press the crust into the pan. Using a paring knife or butter knife, trim away any excess crust from the edges of pan. If there are any uneven crust edges, just fill in with leftover crust. Any leftover crust can be eaten just as is! 🙂
- Use about (3-4) 1/2" aluminum foil strips to wrap the edges of the entire crust to prevent the edge from over-browning. Place the crust into a preheated 350F oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Pie Filling
- Add the 8 tsp of rolled oat to a blender. Blend into a fine flour. Pour flour into a small bowl and set aside. NOTE: If a firmer pie is desired, add an additional 2-3 tsp of oats.
- Zest the entire orange. Then juice the orange. Need 1 tsp of zest and 1/4 cup of juice.
- Add the dates, milk, orange juice, zest, cinnamon, mace, mashed banana, and vanilla extract to a blender and set aside for 15 minutes to soften the dates.
- Then add the sweet potato to the blender and blend until completely smooth. Next, add the oat flour and blend again until smooth.
- Add the pie filling to the pre-baked pie crust. Smooth filling out. Wrap the edges of the crust with the aluminum foil strips. Place pie into the preheated oven of 350F and bake for 25 minutes. Remove pie from oven.
- Allow the pie to cool at least 1 hr or overnight before cutting. Pie will keep up to 5 days in the fridge. Enjoy
