These Sweet Potato Pie Bars are made by topping a buttery shortbread crust with a brown butter sweet potato filling and tangy whipped cream. This is a faster and easier version of your favorite sweet potato pie because there’s no pie dough to roll out and crimp. Even better, these pie bars can be made in advance!
Table of contents
Your Favorite Sweet Potato Pie, in Bar Form
There’s so much to love about these brown butter sweet potato pie bars! The buttery shortbread crust is made with just 4 simple ingredients and requires no rolling or crimping. You just beat the ingredients together, press the crust into the bottom of a square baking dish, and bake.
Instead of making the standard sweet potato pie filling, I doctored mine up with a little brown butter to give it a nutty flavor and make it taste even richer. Warming spices like cinnamon and cloves give these pie bars a cozy flavor that pairs so well with the sweet potatoes.
For added texture and decadence, I topped the sweet potato pie bars with stabilized whipped cream (i.e. whipped cream that won’t deflate on you). The whipped cream is beaten with cream cheese and sour cream to add lots of tanginess and structure, while pure maple syrup adds a subtle sweetness.
If you love classic sweet potato pie, you’re going to go nuts for these sweet potato pie bars! They’re a simpler alternative to pie and are also a good substitute for pumpkin pie if you’re not a pumpkin fan.
The Key Ingredients You’ll Need
- Butter. I prefer using salted butter in the crust to balance the sweetness of the filling.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar gives the shortbread crust a neutral sweetness, while the brown sugar in the sweet potato filling provides a caramel undertone.
- Flour. All-purpose flour is used to make the crust.
- Vanilla. Is used in the crust, filling, and topping to flavor every layer of these bars.
- Sweet potatoes. I opted to make my own sweet potato puree (it’s just roasted and smashed sweet potatoes), but store bought puree can be used in a pinch.
- Ground spices. Ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger infuse the filling with warm flavor.
- Eggs. You’ll be using both whole eggs and egg yolks in the filling. Save the egg whites for your morning scramble or use them to make candied pecans.
- Heavy cream + whole milk powder. The milk powder creates an even richer, creamier filling without having to thin it out with additional heavy cream.
- Cream cheese + sour cream. Adding cream cheese and sour cream to the whipped cream makes it stable and prevents it from immediately deflating (usually lasts 3-4 days).
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie Bars
Canned or homemade sweet potato puree? The choice is yours! I prefer roasting and blending my own sweet potatoes to make the puree, but you can buy a quality canned sweet potato puree to save yourself some time. Both work equally well, it’s just a matter of flavor and texture preference.
- Make the sweet potato puree. Roast whole sweet potatoes in a 375ºF oven until super soft, then blitz the flesh in a food processor until silky smooth.
- Assemble the shortbread crust. You’ll want to beat together the softened butter and sugar until fluffy (this will take a good 5 minutes) before adding in the flour and vanilla. Press the dough into a parchment-lined baking dish and chill for 15 minutes before par-baking.
- Mix together the filling. The cooled sweet potato puree is combined with ground spices, vanilla, brown sugar, and brown butter to infuse it with layers of flavor. A combination of eggs and egg yolks help bind it together, and the heavy cream and whole milk powder create that signature custardy texture.
- Bake. Turn the sweet potato filling into the cooled shortbread crust and bake until the center just barely jiggles.
- Chill before topping. The pie bars need to be refrigerated for at least 4 hours before being topped with the tangy whipped cream topping. After topping, pop the bars back into the fridge for an hour before slicing.
Make-Ahead Option
Homemade sweet potato pie bars are a fantastic make-ahead dessert for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. You have a few options for preparing the make-ahead elements of this recipe:
- Sweet potato puree. The sweet potatoes can be roasted, pureed, and stored airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Whipped cream topping. The topping can be prepared and refrigerated in a separate airtight container for up to 24 hours. With that being said, the whipped cream is best made and used right away, so consider making the whipped topping an hour or so before serving.
- Baked pie bars. Assemble and bake the bars as instructed, then let cool to room temperature on the counter. Then, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days before topping with the whipped cream and serving.
If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.
More Easy Holiday Dessert Bars
- Key Lime Pie Bars
- Pecan Pie Bars
- Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars
- Marbled Cheesecake Brownies
- Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
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Sweet Potato Pie Bar Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 6 tablespoons (3 oz) salted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Sweet Potato Filling
- 3-4 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg*
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 eggs
- 2 yolks
- 1/4 cup whole milk powder
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Whipped Topping
- 4 oz brick-style cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
- Make the sweet potato puree. Rinse and dry 3-4 medium sweet potatoes. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of neutral oil. Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes, until easily pierced with a knife. Let them cool completely, peel them, and blend the flesh in a food processor until very smooth and not stringy. You should end up with 2 1/2 cups of puree. This can be made several days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Any leftover puree can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- Grease and line an 8×8 metal baking pan with parchment paper so that there’s overhang over two sides. This makes extracting the bars from the pan much easier.
- Make the crust. Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Beat for about 5 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very fluffy. Add the flour and vanilla and beat until just mixed. Press into an even layer in the prepared pan and chill for 15 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 350 F. Prick the chilled crust all over with a fork and bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely.
- Brown the butter. Melt the butter for the filling in a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, swirling occasionally, until the butter is golden brown in color and nutty smelling. Transfer to a heat proof mixing bool and let the brown butter cool.
- Mix the filling. In the mixing bowl with the brown butter, add the brown sugar, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger and whisk for 2 minutes. Whisk in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Whisk in the milk powder, sweet potato puree, salt and heavy cream until very smooth.
- Bake. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake for 45-55 minutes, until the edges are set and the center just barely jiggles. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 4 hours. You can make the sweet potato bars up to this point up to 2 days in advance and keep in the fridge.
- Make the topping. Combine the room temperature cream cheese, vanilla bean paste, and maple syrup in a medium mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer to whip the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the sour cream, nutmeg, cream, and salt and whip until medium-stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped topping over the sweet potato pie bars and transfer to the fridge for 1 hour before slicing and serving.
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