Move over pumpkin pie, there’s a new favorite in town: sweet potato pie! Okay, maybe not so new, BUT new to some of us. And we’ve all decided this one might even replace pumpkin pie on our Thanksgiving tables (gasp!). It’s rich, creamy, fluffy, and perfectly sweet and spiced!
Bonus? It’s undetectably vegan, naturally sweetened, and (optionally) gluten-free! Just 9 ingredients stand in your way. Preheat your ovens, it’s pie time!
Origin of Sweet Potato Pie
Sweet potato pie is a popular dessert during the holiday season, especially in the Southern United States, where it originated in the African-American community.
It’s commonly made with mashed sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, sugar, spices, and eggs. The ratio of some of these ingredients is what determines whether the pie is more light or denser in texture.
Our inspired version skips the milk and eggs and is naturally sweetened but still light and fluffy like the real deal!
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
This EPIC vegan sweet potato pie begins with roasted sweet potatoes. Roasting instead of steaming or boiling brings out their natural sweetness and adds caramelization, yielding a pie with rich sweet potato flavor.
The roasted sweet potatoes take a whirl in a high-speed blender with the remaining filling ingredients: maple syrup, cashews, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and water.
The result is a creamy, luxurious, perfectly sweet filling that goes into a par-baked pie crust. We like using our homemade gluten-free pie crust, but you can use any crust you like (including store-bought)!
The final steps are to bake and let cool (definitely the hardest part!).
We hope you LOVE this vegan sweet potato pie! It’s:
Rich
Fluffy
Flavorful
Perfectly spiced
Sweet but not overly sweet
& Just like the real deal!
It’s best served cold with a scoop of dairy-free whipped cream with family and friends gathered around the table.
More Vegan Thanksgiving Desserts
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Servings 10 (Slices)
Prevent your screen from going dark
- 1 (9-inch) vegan pie crust (store-bought or homemade // gluten-free as needed)
- 1 ¾ cups roasted sweet potato purée (2 medium sweet potatoes (~2/3 lb or 300 g each) yield ~1 ¾ cups or 425 g sweet potato purée)
- 1 cup water (plus more for soaking cashews)
- 3/4 cup maple syrup*
- 1/4 cup raw cashews*
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
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ROAST SWEET POTATOES: To make sweet potato purée, halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise and place cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 F (190 C) for ~40-45 minutes or until very tender to the touch (up to ~1 hour if your sweet potatoes are on the larger side). After baking, move to one side of the pan and wrap the parchment paper over top to steam. Let steam for 5 minutes. Then peel away skin and mash in a mixing bowl (or food processor). Set aside.
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SOAK CASHEWS: Add cashews to a heatproof bowl and cover with hot water by at least 1-2 inches. Let them soak for 15-20 minutes, then drain and set aside.
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PIE CRUST: If making a homemade pie crust, prepare it while the cashews soak and par-bake if indicated in the pie crust recipe (or the pie crust package if using store-bought). We used our homemade gluten-free pie crust and par-baked for 20 minutes.
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Before proceeding with the filling, double check that your oven is preheated to 375 F (190 C).
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Place the mashed sweet potatoes into a high-speed blender with the water, maple syrup, soaked and drained cashews, cornstarch, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt. Blend on high until smooth and creamy.
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Pour the filling into your prepared crust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula (if desired). Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes is up, reduce the oven temperature to 325 F (162 C) and bake for 45-50 minutes until the center is just slightly jiggly. The center should be more solid than liquid with a structured jiggle instead of one that looks more liquidy. Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooling it completely in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.
*If you prefer only mildly sweet desserts, you can reduce the maple syrup to 1/2-2/3 cup, but we found 3/4 cup to be the perfect balance between being indulgent and becoming overly sweet.
*If nut-free, you could try replacing the water and cashews with a thick dairy-free milk, but we haven’t tested it this way and can’t guarantee the result.
*We tested with arrowroot starch in place of cornstarch and strongly preferred cornstarch. If you want to use arrowroot starch, use 1 ½ Tablespoons, but know the texture will be different. It’s a bit pudding-like and slightly gluey.
*Loosely adapted from our super talented friend Joy the Baker.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with our homemade vegan + gluten-free pie crust and without optional ingredients.
Serving: 1 slice Calories: 288 Carbohydrates: 46.9 g Protein: 2.5 g Fat: 9.9 g Saturated Fat: 6.8 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4 g Monounsaturated Fat: 0.9 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 186 mg Potassium: 226 mg Fiber: 2.1 g Sugar: 18.3 g Vitamin A: 1148 IU Vitamin C: 2.3 mg Calcium: 46 mg Iron: 0.9 mg