Sweet Potato Pie

You may not know this about me, but I LOVE to cook...I've had a passion for healthy cooking eer since I started to realize that many of the foods I was eating didn't make me feel good, and ever since I've been a kitchen queen, modifying recipes to fall into my dietary habits.

NOW I BRING TO YOU A THANKSGIVING SWEET POTATO PIE.

This recipe was born due to the imminent haoliday gathering to which I needed to bring a dish, and a free 50 pound box of sweet potatoes I was given by our local pork farmer (pork rancher? I'm not really sure about that one...) and my new found ability to eat duck eggs.

I haven't been able to eat chicken eggs for years (think serious bloating to the point of uncomfortableness and gas that even my husband can't handle) even in baked goods, which typically puts a serious damper on pie making and all baking in general.

When you're trying to bake Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, and Egg Free, most of the time it just doens't turn out. Add on top of this my aversion to added sugars and the last time I had a truly good baked product was so long ago I don't even know when.

I'd seen recipes for sweet potato pie before, but had never actually had one myself. Most of the time sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving involve marshmallows, which I think are disgusting, so I usually avoid them. I like my sweet potatoes roasted with a little salt, olive oil, and cayenne pepper...but that's another recipe.

So when I was asked to bring a dish to my aunt's house my first thought went to Sweet Potato Pie.

Unlike pumpkins, sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, so I probably wasn't going to need to add much sweetner (if any) to achieve a dessert. My afore mentioned dislike for sugar (thanks in part to a sugar detox I did several years ago) has led me to create desserts that other's have politely called "food". In otherwords, they don't taste sweet to people who's sensitivity to sugar hasn't been reset to normal, and instead simply taste like whatever food they were made from. My attempt at pumpkin pie last year was re-named Pumkpin Casserole.

"But this year will be different!" I told myself. Thus the following dessert was born.

IT IS PALEO FRIENDLY, GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE, SOY FREE, AND SUGAR FREE.

SWEET POTATO PIE

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

~ 2 Sweet potatoes (about 1.5 lbs)
~ 6oz full-fat Canned Coconut Milk
~ 3 duck eggs (if you can eat chicken eggs they work just fine too!)
~ 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
~ 1 tbsp. Ginger Powder
~ 1 tbsp. Cinnamon Powder
~ pinch Himalayan or Sea Salt
~ Vanilla Stevia to taste (I used 15 drops of the NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia, which is the best tasting one I've found...stevia can add a funny taste if it's not a good one, or if you use too much, so go slow with this)

~ Note on the spices: I like my pie spiced. I started with 1 tsp. each of the cinnamon and ginger but couldn't taste them after mixing the filling, so I ended up adding 2 more tsp. of each for a total of 1 tbsp., but if you don't like as much spice as me, feel free to start smaller and work your way up. 

CRUST INGREDIENTS:

~ 1 cup Pecans
~ 1 cup Almonds
~ 1/2 cup coconut (or oat) flour
~ 5 Medjool dates, soaked in hot water till soft (save the soaking water!!)
~ 4 tbsp. Coconut Oil
~ 1 tsp. Cinnamon Powder
~ 1 tsp. Ginger Powder
~ pinch Pink Himalayan or Sea Salt 
~ water as needed 

DIRECTIONS:

~ Pre-heat your over to 350
~ Wash your sweet potatoes, place them on a baking sheet, and poke holes in them all over with a fork 
~ Bake them in the over for 45-55 minutes, or until tender all the way through

~ Once your potatoes are done, cut them up in to big chuncks so they cool faster. Meanwhile make the crust.

~ Place the crust ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add water only as needed to achieve a smooth consistency, but not so much that your crust gets soggy, you want it to be easy to work with to mold into your pie pan. I used the soaking water from my dates for this part.
~ Once your crust is mixed well, press it into your 9 inch pie pan spreading evenly
~ NOTE: This makes one thick pie crust. The filling recipe makes enough for two pies, but I didn't know this till I was done, so you could potentially make two pies with this crust, it will just be thinner. (Plus I only have one pie pan so I can only make one pie at a time ;) )

~ Once the sweet potatoes are cool and the crust is out of your food processor, add all of your filling ingredients to your food processor.
~ Make sure to wait to add all the spices and Stevia until it's all blended together so you can taste as you go along and adjust as needed. You can always add more spices and stevia, but you can't take it out again!!
~ Now some recipes called for you to peel the skins off the sweet potatoes, but I didn't and it turned out just fine.
~ Blend the filling in your food processor until smooth
~ Pour the filling into your crust and return to the oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160-180F

~ Remove from the oven and allow to cool. 
~ Serve to friend's, family, and yourself of course!!

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS RECIPE AS MUCH AS I DID, AND IF YOU LIKE IT , PLEASE SHARE IT!