This Black folks sweet potato pie recipe will give you all the vibes of those old school pies your grandmama and em used to make. It’s packed with tender sweet potatoes, warm spices and buttermilk that makes it silky smooth. Add that filling to a flaky crust and you won’t want another pie for the holidays.
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This Black folks sweet potato pie recipe is inspired by Patty Pinner’s cookbook, “Sweets: Soul Food Desserts & Memories”.It has similar notes to my big mama’s sweet potato pie as well.
How to Make Black Folks Sweet Potato Pie
Prep the Potatoes
Step 1: Cook the sweet potatoes in a large pot until the potatoes are tender. This will take place 30 to 40 minutes. Then drain, cool, and peel the potatoes.
Step 2: Mash the potatoes in a large bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer.
Make the Filling
Step 3: Add the melted butter, corn syrup, and sugar to the bowl.
Step 4: Beat on medium speed. Then make sure the mixture is smooth and discard the long, stringy fibers that collect around the electric beaters. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after adding it. Add the buttermilk, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat the mixture until the filling is smooth y’all.
Bake it Up
Step 5: Add the filling to the prepared pie crust.
Step 6: Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the pie from the oven and cool it completely on a wire rack.
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Black Folks Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe, Boo?
I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large sweet potatoes
- 1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup dark corn syrup
- 1 1/4- 1/2 cups granulated sugar can go up and down depending on how sweet you like your pie
- 2 large eggs beaten
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- whipped cream for garnish
Instructions
- Wash the whole sweet potatoes and drain them.
- Place the sweet potatoes in a large pot and add cold water to cover by 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat, and cook until the potatoes are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. (A fork should pierce the potatoes easily but they should not fall apart.) When the potatoes are done, drain and cool them.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the pastry for a 9-inch single-crust pie.
- When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and mash them in a large bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer.
- Add the melted butter, corn syrup, and sugar. Beat on medium speed. Discard the long, stringy fibers that collect around the electric beaters as you beat the filling. In the end, you want a smooth, string-free filling.
- Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition.
- Pour in the buttermilk. Add the nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat until the filling is smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Garnish with whipped cream and serve it up.
Notes
How to Store Black Folks Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
Store your pie in the fridge after it’s fully cooled. I recommend placing it in an airtight pie container or wrapping it well.How long will African American sweet potato pie last in the fridge?
It will last in the fridge for up to three days.Can I freeze black folks sweet potato pie from scratch?
Yep boos for sure. Wrap it up well and store it in the freezer for up to three months. Allow the pie to thaw in the fridge overnight when you want to serve it up again.Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Room Temperature Ingredients. The ingredients for the soul food sweet potato pie recipe should all be at room temperature!
- Don’t Overcook the Potatoes. A fork should pierce the potatoes easily but they should not fall apart.)
- Don’t Skip the Garnish. A bit of whipped cream takes it to the next level!
- Give it Time to Cool. This pie sets up as it cools so make sure you give it plenty of time to cool down.
Recipe Help
Yep you can boos! You can make it up to three days in advance and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. It also works to freeze it for up to a month before you are ready to serve.
Both methods work! If you’re boiling, be sure to boil the potatoes with the skin on so they don’t become waterlogged and cause issues with your pie filling. Just fyi, baking slowly does seem to sweeten the flavor of the sweet potato flesh a bit more.
They are both bomb y’all but Black folks overall tend to prefer sweet potato pie as it is a part of African American culture and heritage.
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When using the homemade pie dough, does it need to blind bake first before added the sweet potato filling?
You can if you like a firmer crust!
Made this 3x but I added the juice of half a lemon it been a hit everytime
So happy you enjoyed this
Best recipe for sweet potato pie!!!
I also want to know if i Can I substitute with clear kyro syrup instead of dark
I haven’t tried it with the clear syrup, it might change the taste some, but I don’t see why you couldn’t!
Can I substitute with clear kyro syrup instead of dark
I love this recipe it’s so good!! Anything I make from your recipes turn out amazing thank you so much! A lot of people don’t like sweet potato pie then they try your recipe and are like omg what have I been missing lol
OMG This is fantastic. Thank you for sharing this with. me.
Hello – The recipe looks great. It seems very similar to what my southern grandma made. If you use your butter pie crust, should the pie crust be baked before the pie filling is added? If so, what are the directions for doing that step? I didn’t see these steps in the sweet potato recipe or the butter pie crust recipe.
Thanks so much!
Hi Erica, yes if you use that crust, you can do what is called a blind bake where you add rice, beans or baking beads to the center of the crust inside of parchment and pre-bake to set it and prevent a soggy crust. You only need to bake for about 10-15 minutes before adding in the filling and completing the bake.
Way too sweet, just as sweet as grocery store pie. Otherwise a fantastic recipe. Cut sugar and syrup in half for second pie and it was definitely the best ever!
So glad you liked it and made it your own!