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Grandma’s “What IS That?!” Purple Homemade Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

This unique homemade sweet potato pie recipe came about because of a challenge. This Thanksgiving season, we wanted to spotlight a fun, festive, and easy-to-make holiday dessert…but there was a catch.

We had two rules: 1.) It had to incorporate an ingredient that North Carolina is famous for, and 2.) It had to feature a little something extra special to make it stand out on the dinner table. To help tackle this holiday challenge, we turned to our friend and pie boss, Jami Sevier, who updated her grandma’s classic sweet potato pie family recipe with a colorful twist – purple sweet potatoes! This creamy, cinnamony, semi-sweet treat has all the classic flavors we love – just in a curious new color that’s sure to spark conversation at the dinner table. The most common question you’re likely to get about this homemade sweet potato pie is, well, “What IS that?!”

THAT, it turns out, might just be your new favorite holiday tradition! And, for us, it’s an excellent ice-breaker to gush over our love of all things North Carolina sweet potato! Here are some facts about North Carolina’s most famous vegetable that you may not know!

Sweet Potato Facts

Since 1971, North Carolina has been the #1 producer of sweet potatoes in the United states, pumping out 1.69 billion pounds across 78,000 acres of land to deliver nearly 60% of the nation’s total supply.
Sweet potatoes have been the official North Carolina state vegetable since 1995.
Sweet potatoes are one of North Carolina’s top agricultural drivers, creating over 5,000 jobs, employing over 400 local family farms, and generating $375 million in 2020 alone.
Sweet potatoes are one of the most versatile foods on earth and have many unexpected uses, such as in pet foods, gluten-free flours, breakfast cereals, and thickeners for sauces and gravies.
Experts agree, sweet potatoes are a superfood! Just one sweet potato gives you 102% of your daily vitamin A, and is also an excellent source of B and C vitamins, iron, potassium, zinc, and other essential nutrients.
Sweet potatoes get their rich orange color from natural compounds called carotenoids – antioxidants that protect cells and may help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, cognitive decline, and other ailments.
Purple sweet potatoes are even more “super” than their orange siblings! That’s because they contain 3X more anthocyanin pigments, powerful antioxidants that can help reduce inflammation and supercharge your immune system.
North Carolina’s hot, moist climate and rich, fertile soils are perfectly suited for growing sweet potatoes. Healthy soil is not possible without farmland conservation.

Long story short - when you make this classic sweet potato pie with a twist, you’re inadvertently helping to support North Carolina’s top industry and the hundreds of hard-working local family farms that make North Carolina the sweet potato capital of the United States.

Speaking of local – we may be a little biased, but we think local sweet potatoes taste better. For readers in our local 15 county region, we recommend stocking up on your holiday sweet potatoes from Father and Son Produce Market, located right here in Salisbury, North Carolina, where TRLT is headquartered.

OK, now that we’re done bragging on our favorite colorful veggie, it’s time to start baking this homemade sweet potato pie centerpiece!

Part 1 - Ingredients

Purple Homemade Sweet Potato Pie Filling

2 c mashed, cooked purple sweet potatoes (about 1 ½ lbs)
1 c coconut milk, well-shaken
½ c granulated sugar
3 tbsp salted butter, melted
3 large eggs
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp pink Himalayan sea salt (or table salt)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Homemade Pie Crust

1 ¼ c all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
3-4 tbsp ice water
½ c unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
Pie weights
1 9” pie dish

Homemade Whipped Cream

1 c heavy cream
1 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Coconut Flake Topping

¼ c unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

Part 2 - Prep Instructions

Step 1 - Make Whipped Cream

In a large mixing bowl, whisk cream until frothy
Add confectioners sugar and vanilla extract
Beat until soft peaks form
Set aside

Step 2 - Mash Purple Sweet Potatoes

Bring a large pot of water to a boil
Add purple sweet potatoes
Boil 15-20 minutes, or until tender when poked with a fork
Mash purple sweet potatoes
Set aside

Step 3 - Make Purple Sweet Potato Pie Filling

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mashed sweet potatoes, coconut milk, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt
Mix until consistency is mushy and creamy
Set aside

Step 4 - Make Pie Crust

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, and sugar
Add chilled butter
Using a pastry cutter, cut into flour mixture until it turns to coarse crumbs (alternately, pulse mixture in a food processor until crumbs form)
Gradually add in ice water, 1 tbsp at a time, stirring with a fork until mixture forms into a dough
Gather dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap
Chill for at least 30 mins before rolling
Evenly coat flat surface with flour
Roll out dough onto floured surface until the flattened dough fits your 9” pie dish
Transfer to 9” pie dish
Trim any excess dough overhanging dish
Crimp edges as desired
Set aside

Part 3 - Cooking Instructions

Step 1 - Bake Homemade Pie Crust

Preheat oven to 400°F
Place pie weights on top of dough
Place 9” pie dish on bottom oven rack
Bake 12 mins
Remove dish from oven
Remove pie weights from dough
Place dish back in oven for an additional 5 mins (until crust is baked dry)
Remove dish from oven
Set aside
Reduce heat to 350°F

Step 2 - Bake Purple Homemade Sweet Potato Pie

Pour prepared pie mixture into prepared pie crust
Place pie in 350°F preheated oven
Bake until just set, 40-45 mins
Let cool completely for 2 hrs

NOTE: Final pie coloration may be very dark. Don’t sweat it – that’s perfectly normal and still super delicious!

Step 3 - Toast Coconut Flakes

Keep oven at 350°F
Evenly spread coconut flakes onto ungreased baking sheet
Bake 8-10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes until evenly browned
Remove from oven

Step 4 - Add Whipped Cream and Coconut Flakes

Add a generous dollop of whipped cream on top of pie
Sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes

And there you have it, your new favorite conversation-starting, crowd-pleasing, farm-supporting, feel-good, taste-good, delightfully different dark purple super pie! We hope you enjoy this updated classic sweet potato pie, this year and every year to come. Happy Thanksgiving from Three Rivers Land Trust!

This homemade sweet potato pie is made possible by the hard-working local family farms that keep North Carolina’s sweet potato industry boomin’.

Even though agriculture is North Carolina’s #1 industry, NC is ranked #2 in the nation for farmland loss, with 1.2 million acres projected to be lost to development by the year 2040. Once farmland is gone, it’s gone forever. Once it’s conserved, it’s conserved forever.

Three Rivers Land Trust has permanently conserved over 50,000 acres of North Carolina land, including over 19,000 acres of local family farmland. For every farm we conserve, there are dozens more in need. The only difference between permanent farmland loss and permanent farmland conservation is your financial support.

Keep North carolina #1 in sweet potatoes. Partner with TRLT to help permanently conserve North Carolina’s local family farms.

Grandma’s “What IS That?!” Purple Homemade Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

Long story short - when you make this classic sweet potato pie with a twist, you’re inadvertently helping to support North Carolina’s top industry and the hundreds of hard-working local family farms that make North Carolina the sweet potato capital of the United States.

Part 1 - Ingredients

Purple Homemade Sweet Potato Pie Filling

Homemade Pie Crust

Homemade Whipped Cream

Coconut Flake Topping

Part 2 - Prep Instructions

Step 1 - Make Whipped Cream

Step 2 - Mash Purple Sweet Potatoes

Step 3 - Make Purple Sweet Potato Pie Filling

Step 4 - Make Pie Crust

Part 3 - Cooking Instructions

Step 1 - Bake Homemade Pie Crust

Step 2 - Bake Purple Homemade Sweet Potato Pie

Step 3 - Toast Coconut Flakes

Step 4 - Add Whipped Cream and Coconut Flakes

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