That’s right! Old Fashioned, diabetic, lactose intolerant, gluten free and finally Uh-Oh-I-Totally-Forgot-To-Make-It sweet potato pies. With my mother’s side of the family so large, there were many different dietary needs during family gatherings and because of that, Nana made sweet potato pie many different ways in various years. While the recipe card is written in pencil, old, frayed and worn, it still shows all the adjustments needed to serve the pie to just about anyone who has allergies or health related dietary issues. My son-in-law says the way to meet his needs is to make sweet potatoes into pumpkin. Just short of a family member like him, I’ve got you covered!
I rewrote this recipe several times and each one was visually a mess. I finally decided to list each pie’s components separately with one set of directions so if you are using my Print Friendly Button you can copy just the recipe or recipes you need!
Ingredients for Nana’s old-fashioned Sweet Potato Pie:
1 Lb. Sweet Potatoes
½ Cup unsalted butter, softened
½ Cup white granulated sugar
½ Cup brown sugar, packed
½ Cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
2 Eggs – yolks in one bowl and whites in another
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg and ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground mace
½ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons flour
1 Nine-inch unbaked pie crust
1 Cup Whipping cream
4 Tablespoons powdered sugar
Ingredients for Diabetic Sweet Potato Pie:
1 pound sweet potatoes
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Cup of Splenda or other diabetic friendly sugar substitute used for baking
½ Cup Skim milk
½ Cup Egg Beaters or other egg substitute
½ teaspoon Nutmeg and ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Mace
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice (add ½ teaspoon zest to this pie if desired)
1-2 Tablespoons flour
1 nine-inch unbaked pie shell (optional)
Ingredients for Lactose Intolerant Sweet Potato Pie:
1 pound sweet potatoes
½ Cup Dairy Free Margarine
½ Cup white granulated sugar
½ Cup brown sugar, packed
½ Cup Milk Substitute like Vanilla Silk
½ teaspoon Nutmeg and ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground Mace
½ teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons fresh Orange Juice
1/2 Cup Egg Beaters or other egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla
3-4 Tablespoons Cornstarch
One nine-inch unbaked pie shell
1 Tub Cool Whip
Ingredients for Gluten Free Sweet Potato Pie:
1 pound sweet potatoes
½ Cup Butter
½ Cup Carnation Creamy Evaporated Milk
½ Cup White Sugar
½ Cup Brown Sugar
½ teaspoon Nutmeg and ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Mace
½ teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs, yolks in one bowl and whites in another
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1-2 teaspoons Cornstarch
No Pie Crust
1 Tub Cool Whip
Ingredients for I-Forgot-I-Was-Supposed-To-Make-The-Pie Sweet Potato Pie:
One 40-ounce can of Bruce’s Canned Yams, drained w/liquid reserved then whipped. When mixing pie if it is dry add some of this liquid back.
½ Cup Unsalted Butter
½ Cup white sugar
½ Cup Brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, yolks in one bowl and whites in another
½ Cup evaporated milk
½ teaspoon Nutmeg and ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground Mace
½ teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons fresh Orange Juice
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons flour
1 store bought pie crust
1 Tub Cool Whip
Directions:
Spray pie pan with non stick spray, place pie crust in pan.
Dock crust on bottom – this means using a fork, poke holes in the bottom. Just a few.
Set pie crust in a pre-heated oven set to 350F for 10 minutes.
Take pie crust out and set aside.
Wash sweet potatoes well then dry with paper towel and wrap in foil before placing into the 350F oven.
Bake for 1 hour or until cooked then take out of oven, cool slightly and peel.
**Baking the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them because it makes them creamier and less stringy**
Cut up the potatoes into chunks and put in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a hand mixer.
Stop mixer and pull any fibrous strings off the beaters – that should get every last one of them. See how there aren’t many on these beaters? Because I baked instead of boiled.
Add in all the other ingredients except the egg whites mixing with hand mixer until well combined.
Using clean beaters or clean the beaters you have, whip the egg whites until stiff.
Gently fold eggs whites into pie (if you are using egg substitute don’t bother with this part just add to all ingredients)
Pour the pie contents into the pie crust. If not using pie crust, pour into greased pie pan.
Clean beaters and set a clean bowl and the beaters in the freezer now for making whipped cream.
Set in a pre-heated oven at 425F for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 350F for 50 minutes or until a serrated knife comes out of the middle of the pie clean. It will be jiggly but don’t worry about that or over bake thinking the middle isn’t done. If the crust gets too brown, cover with foil.
Once that is complete, turn off the oven leaving the pie inside and then prop the oven door just a little – a wooden spatula will do the trick – until the oven and the pie are completely cooled. The reason you do this is to make sure there are no cracks in the top of the pie.
When ready to serve, take bowl and beaters out of freezer and whip cream and powdered sugar until it is whipped cream topping – or use the Cool Whip.
****I have mentioned several brand names in the making of this pie but none of them paid me or gave me free product. Nana wrote it all down this way (except for the Silk) and since it tastes best this way, I left the names in****
Enjoy!!
