Every year around this time I reflect on the first Thanksgiving my husband and I had together as man and wife. I still get a chuckle just thinking about it. We come from two different cultures. Our cultures never really clashed until we were trying to figure out what pie we should have at Thanksgiving.
Pumpkin Pie or Sweet Potato Pie
My folks are from the South. I had never had Pumpkin Pie. We came to the conclusion that year that our Thanksgiving festivities would include Sweet Potato Pie. The Sweet Potato Pie I made was so good that is has become an icon each year at Thanksgiving. I make an extra pie because my husband likes to have a slice of pie for breakfast.
One thing I have learned over the years is to remember that in the busyness of the season, to pause for a few moments just to create memories with my family. They will always remember the pies I bake. What they will remember most is the love that went into baking those pies.
I am sharing my Sweet Potato Pie recipe with you.
2 cups of Sweet Potatoes*
1 12-ounce can of evaporated milk
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar (packed)
4 Tbsp of butter (1/2 stick melted)**
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 of salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp of ground cloves
1/4 tsp of allspice
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients together until well blended.
Pour filling into pie crust. Cover the pie loosely with aluminum foil to keep crust from burning. Bake pie for 1 hour. Uncover pie during the last 15 minutes. Pie is done when inserted fork or toothpick comes out clean. Let the pie cool down on the counter. Refrigerate pie preferably overnight before cutting. This pie can be made a day or two before Thanksgiving.
Pie Crust: You can use your favorite pie crust recipe. If you don’t have one, I recommend the one from Crisco.
Crisco Pie Crust
*For the best flavor I bake my potatoes until they are soft. Baking preserves the flavor of the potato verses boiling them.
**I highly recommend sweet cream butter. To me, butter is very important when it comes to this pie.
This recipe will fill one deep dish pie pan or two regular size pie pans.
