Sweet Potato Pie Bar Recipe
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!
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Makes: 12 bars
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.
Notes
I like to use whole nutmeg and grate them on a microplane or small grater for best results. If you use pre-grated nutmeg, decrease the quantities in the filling and whipped topping to 1/2 and 1/4 teaspoon respectively.
Nutrition
Calories: 489kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 5gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 231mgPotassium: 309mgFiber: 2gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 9104IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 89mgIron: 1mg
