Southern-Style Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie (Inspired by Patti LaBelle)

With only 10 days until T-Day, we’re continuing with Thanksgiving foods around these parts. Last week, I shared how easy it is to make a caramel apple pie and today we’re getting into another classic: sweet potato pie. Southern-style bourbon sweet potato pie, to be exact! This is the pie for sweet potato purists. For those who look forward to Thanksgiving all year, who love all things sweet potato, and probably scoffed at my sweet potato pecan pie hybrid from last fall. 🙂 This one is for y’all. I referred to the soulful baking prowess of my dear grandmother and the infamous Patti LaBelle when developing the recipe for this one and I think I did them proud. Let me know what you think when you try it out. Because you will try it out, won’t you?

When planning a Thanksgiving menu, sweet potato pie is always a given. But creating a sweet potato pie from scratch can seem like a daunting task because most of us think about the shoes we fill when doing so–my grandma and Patti LaBelle in this case. (Here’s Ms. Patti’s recipe, in case you’re interested. Not sharing my granny’s recipe–sorry!) Anyways, let’s break the process down a bit. Making this bourbon sweet potato pie is basically a four-part process. Roast the sweet potatoes. Make the crust. Whip up the filling. Bake the pie. That’s it. And some of these things can be done ahead of time. My Thanksgiving dinner prep process usually involves making pies and cakes the day before and sometimes two days before in order to free up oven space for turkey, dressing, etc. on the big day. Knowing that the desserts are out of the way is a big relief come Turkey Day.

See the little flecks in the slice above? Those are spices–cinnamon and nutmeg, specifically. And it’s my opinion that you can’t make a good sweet potato pie without them. I also recommend using a quality bourbon for this bourbon sweet potato pie. My current favorites are Hudson Baby Bourbon (as seen in this cocktail recipe) and Fistful (as seen in this mule recipe). I also recently tried Not Your Father’s Bourbon at a party and found it to be delicious so that one is worth a try, too. And I’m sure you’ll want to top it with whipped cream. 🙂

What do y’all think of this bourbon sweet potato pie? Stay tuned for more Thanksgiving stuff throughout the week, including tips for hosting your first Turkey Day dinner and another recipe. If you have any questions at all, just let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email. As always, thanks for reading!

P.S. More bourbon and sweet potato things:

• Bourbon Caramel Apple Cider
• Bourbon Carrot Cake
• Bourbon Gingerbread
• Bourbon Vanilla Birthday Cake
• Healthy Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Salted Caramel Sweet Potato Blondies
• Sweet Potato Cheesecake
• Sweet Potato Pancakes
• Sweet Potato Praline Bread Pudding
• Whiskey-Lover’s Gift Guide

5 from 4 votes

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Southern-Style Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie

Prep Time

35 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 25 mins

Total Time

2 hrs

 

Sweet potato pie just like your southern grandma would make with a healthy dose of bourbon.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bourbon sweet potato pie, homemade sweet potato pie, how to make sweet potato pie from scratch, Patti LaBelle sweet potato pie, southern pie recipe, thanksgiving desserts

Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 large sweet potatoes roasted and skinned
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 6 tablespoons butter melted
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Crust

• 3/4 cups cold butter cut into cubes
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Instructions

1. Start the crust by incorporating sea salt, flour, and butter until a coarse meal forms. This can be done in a bowl with your hands or in a food processor. Add cold water and continue working until a dough forms. Shape into a disc (like a hockey puck), wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile beat roasted sweet potatoes with an electric mixer or in a food processor until smooth. Add remaining sweet potato filling ingredients and mix or pulse until uniform, scraping sides of bowl as necessary.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out chilled pie crust and place in a 9-inch pie pan. Remove excess dough from around sides of pan and crimp or style edges as desired. Prick bottom of dough with a fork a few times then par bake for about 15 minutes then remove and decrease oven heat to 350 degrees. See note about par baking below.

4. Spread filling into pie crust. Return to oven and bake for about one hour and 10 minutes or until top of filling is firm to touch. Cool completely before slicing.

Recipe Notes

To prevent the dough from shrinking and falling during par baking, place a clean sheet of parchment paper over top then add pie weights, uncooked rice, uncooked beans or something similar over top of parchment paper. This will help the crust keep its shape. I've only had to do this once when making this type of pie but better safe than sorry!