Silky Sweet Potato Pie (Gluten-Free)

Silky Sweet Potato Pie with a delicious grain-free crust. This luscious pie recipe is refined sugar-free, paleo friendly, lower in sugar than regular pies, and includes a dairy-free option. Plus, it’s surprisingly good for you! A guilt free treat to enjoy during the holidays and beyond!

Controversial opinion, but I’ve always loved sweet potato pie more than traditional pumpkin pie.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m a pumpkin pie lover through and through. But there is something about the starchy creaminess of sweet potatoes and yams that levels up the taste and texture of the pie.

I’ll even go so far as to divulge the fact that sweet potato casserole and pie are my favorite parts about Thanksgiving.

This healthier silky sweet potato pie is pure perfection for the holiday season.

It has all the iconic features of classic homemade sweet potato pie, but is allergy-friendly for those with dietary restrictions.

Grain-free, nut-free, and refined sugar-free using minimally processed ingredients, this amazing pie is lower in sugar and leaves you feeling great!

Plus, this traditional southern dessert is ultra silky using a couple tricks. The texture is simply sensational!

I can tell you from years of experience, it is difficult to stop at one piece! It is definitely my favorite pie recipe and something I look forward to every fall.

I made this Silky Sweet Potato Pie recipe for the first time way back in 2012 and it has been a staple in my life ever since.

Because my recipe development skills have come a long way in ten years, I am re-visiting this delicious recipe with some enhancements. The changes I have made to the recipe make it easier to prepare than the original recipe while keeping the same level of deliciousness!

In my opinion, this yummy pie recipe is easier to make than a regular sweet potato pie or pumpkin pie because the crust is a low-fuss endeavor. There’s no cutting in chilled butter and cold water, no need to roll dough on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin, and no chill time in the refrigerator.

What we’re looking at here is truly low maintenance. An ideal breath of fresh air amid the chaos of holidays!

Let’s chat about the simple healthy ingredients for sweet potato pie.

Ingredients for Silky Sweet Potato Pie:

For the Pie Crust:

I make the flaky pie crust grain-free using coconut flour, but you can go with your favorite tried and true pie homemade pie crust recipe using all-purpose flour or a store-bought pie crust or pie shell.

Coconut Flour: The wheat-free flour of choice here. Coconut flour is full of fiber and results in a tender buttery pie crust that has a sort of shortbread vibe.

Feel free to make my Almond Flour Pie Crust if you prefer using almond flour over coconut flour in your baking.

Unsalted Butter (or Coconut Oil): The fat portion of the recipe that gets absorbed into the flour to generate a rich and flavorful crust. If you use butter instead of coconut oil, you will need to add an additional 1-2 tablespoons. I’ve found butter is less oily than coconut oil so it isn’t an exact 1:1 replacement.

Pure Maple Syrup: A little pure maple syrup goes a long way in adding a gentle sweetness to the crust so that the pie is perfectly sweet through and through. Swap it out for your favorite granulated sweetener like brown sugar, coconut sugar, or regular cane sugar if you’d prefer. I would avoid using honey here because honey tends to burn easily and you don’t want to end up with an overly cooked crust.

Vanilla Extract: A splash of pure vanilla extract brings warmth to the crust. If you don’t have it on hand, you can omit it.

Eggs: Eggs help keep the crust ingredients held together nicely so that it slices easily and holds together. 

Salt: A pinch of salt enhances the flavor of all of the ingredients, giving the crust a rich, buttery taste.

Sweet Potato Pie Filling:

The ingredients for sweet potato pie filling are basic and simple! You may already have all of them on hand.

Fresh Sweet Potatoes: We need 1 to 2 large whole sweet potatoes (sizes vary greatly, so I recommend buying 2 large potatoes to be sure you get enough flesh). You can roast or boil the potatoes to cook them, and I recommend doing so several hours (up to 3 days) before you want to bake the pie to give the potatoes plenty of time to cool.

Eggs: A couple of eggs help fluff up the otherwise dense sweet potatoes to ensure the pie is light and tender. For a vegan option, omit the eggs and add 3 tablespoons of tapioca flour or cornstarch.

Full-Fat Canned Coconut Milk (or Cream): Used to bring richness, full bodied flavor and tender texture to the pie, full-fat canned coconut milk or half and half gives us the absolute best sweet potato pie. I use canned coconut milk to keep it dairy-free, but feel free to swap it out for dairy if you prefer.

Pure Maple Syrup (or Honey): Used to sweeten the sweet potato mixture, we use honey or pure maple syrup to keep the pie refined sugar-free. I find a small amount (¼ cup) of honey works great, but you can increase the amount to up to ½ cup for a very sweet pie.

Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you don’t have pumpkin spice or you prefer using your own blend, feel free to make your own using ground cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. This combination of wonderful warm spices is what gives the sweet potato puree such incredible flavor.

Fresh Ginger: This all star ingredient brings such delightful zingy flavor to the pie! Don’t skip it unless you absolutely need to as it really levels up the flavor.

Salt: It may seem like one teaspoon is a ton of salt but keep in mind, we’re using a lot of mashed potatoes! Be sure to use sea salt, not iodized salt as iodized table salt has much saltier flavor. If you only have iodized salt on hand, decrease the amount to ¼ teaspoon. 

Tip For the Silkiest Sweet Potato Pie:

If you’ve ever had a lusciously silky sweet potato pie, here’s the trick! Cook the sweet potatoes with the peel on (whether you’re boiling them or baking them). When you remove the peel, also remove the first layer of sweet potato flesh. As long as the potatoes have had a chance to cool, this layer peels off very easily and is also very noticeable. 

This leaves you with the moist, tender, deliciously creamy sweet potato, which makes for the silkiest pie and lighter texture!

Another trick to light and fluffy sweet potato pie is using plenty of canned coconut milk (or heavy cream) in the filling to bring moisture, fat content, and tenderness to the filling. For this particular recipe, you can use ⅔ cup to 1 ¼ cups of full-fat canned coconut milk, half & half, or heavy cream.

Now that we have the basics down for this gluten-free sweet potato pie, let’s bake it, shall we?

How to Make Silky Sweet Potato Pie:

Cook the Sweet Potato:

Cook the sweet potato using your preferred method. I cut mine into 1-inch rounds (with the peel still on) then boil them for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chunks are very tender when poked with a fork. Drain potatoes into a colander and allow them to cool to room temperature.

To speed up the process, you can transfer the cooked sweet potatoes to an airtight container and refrigerate them until chilled.

As an alternative, you can poke several holes in the potatoes, wrap them in foil, and bake them at 400 degrees F for 40 to 60 minutes or until they are very mushy.

I often cook the sweet potatoes at least 1 to 2 days before baking the pie so that I have ample time to allow them to cool.

While the potatoes will end up getting blended in a blender for the sweet potato filling, I do recommend measuring them out so you can mash them with a fork or potato masher in order to measure out 3 cups.

Prepare the Pie Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease or spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking oil or coconut oil. 

Add the coconut flour, coconut oil (or butter), pure maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt to a stand mixer (or food processor) and beat until well-combined. Note: You can also use a large bowl and an electric hand mixer if you don’t own an electric mixer.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the eggs.

Beat until completely combined and a thick dough forms.

Press the dough into the pie pan into an even layer. There is enough pie dough to form pleated sides if you choose to make them. Go ahead and crimp edges if desired.

Poke the dough with a fork many times to allow it to bake evenly. This also prevents the dough from bowing out in various areas during the baking process.

Bake the pie crust on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the crust begins to show a little color on the edges.

Remove the pie crust from the oven and allow it to cool before proceeding with the rest of your pie recipe.

Make the Pie:

Transfer the cooked sweet potato to a blender or food processor along with the rest of the ingredients for the pie filling. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth.

Note: you can blend all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl with an immersion blender if you prefer.

Pour the sweet potato pie filling into the prepared pie crust and spread it into an even layer.

Use thin sheets of aluminum foil to cover the exposed crust to keep it from burning.

Bake the pie on the center rack of the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the center of the pie looks like it has completely set up.

Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature before transferring it to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.

When you’re ready to serve, use a sharp knife to slice the pie into individual slices and serve with your choice of whipped cream, coconut whipped cream (for a dairy-free option), or vanilla ice cream.

Sweet Potato Pie is always more flavorful and delicious the next day (and a few days) following baking. For the best result, bake the pie 1 to 3 days before you want to serve it to give it plenty of time to set up and develop deeper flavor.

And that’s it! A deliciously creamy, perfectly sweet and warmly-spiced silky sweet potato pie with gluten-free crust. Make it for any event that necessitates pie and put it on your Thanksgiving table this year!

If you’re looking for more pie inspiration, check out these reader favorites!

More Healthy Pie Recipes:

• Keto Chocolate Pie
• Dairy-Free Keto Pecan Pie
• Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Paleo Vegan Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
• Vegan Bourbon-Orange Sweet Potato Pie
• Paleo Apple Pie Bars
• No-Bake Vegan Banana Cream Pie

Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth.

Original post published on November 5, 2012.

Silky Smooth Sweet Potato Pie (Gluten-Free)

4.52 from 27 votes

Silky gluten-free sweet potato pie that is dairy-free, naturally sweetened, and healthier! This smooth and delicious healthy sweet potato pie is a true delight for sharing with friends and family for Thanksgiving or other holiday celebrations.

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Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 (9-inch) pie

Ingredients

Grain-Free Crust:

• ¾ cup coconut flour
• ½ cup coconut oil softened (not melted)*
• 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup**
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 2 large eggs

Sweet Potato Pie Filling:

• 3 cups cooked sweet potato mashed***
• 2 large eggs
• ⅔ cup full-fat canned coconut milk
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup****
• 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp fresh ginger peeled and grated
• 1 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Cook the Sweet Potato:

• Cook the sweet potato using your preferred method. I cut mine into 1-inch rounds (with the peel still on) then boil them for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chunks are very tender when poked with a fork. Drain potatoes into a colander and allow them to cool to room temperature. To speed up the process, you can transfer the cooked sweet potatoes to an airtight container and refrigerate them until chilled.
  
• As an alternative, you can poke several holes in the potatoes, wrap them in foil, and bake them at 400 degrees F for 40 to 60 minutes or until they are very mushy.
• Note: I often cook the sweet potatoes at least 1 to 2 days before baking the pie so that I have ample time to allow them to cool.
• When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and the first layer of flesh (this ensures the pie turns out very creamy and silky).
  

Prepare the Pie Crust:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease or spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking oil or coconut oil. 
• Add the coconut flour, butter (or coconut oil), pure maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt to a stand mixer (or food processor) and beat until well-combined. Note: You can also use a large bowl and an electric hand mixer if you don’t own an electric mixer.
  
• Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the eggs.
  
• Beat until completely combined and a thick dough forms.
  
• Press the dough into the pie pan into an even layer. There is enough pie dough to form pleated sides if you choose to make them. Go ahead and crimp edges if desired.
  
• Poke the dough with a fork many times to allow it to bake evenly. This also prevents the dough from bowing out in various areas during the baking process.
• Bake the pie crust on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the crust begins to show a little color on the edges.
• Remove the pie crust from the oven and allow it to cool before proceeding with the rest of your pie recipe.

Make the Pie:

• Transfer the cooked sweet potato to a blender or food processor along with the rest of the ingredients for the pie filling.
  
• Blend until the mixture is completely smooth.
  
• Note: you can blend all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl with an immersion blender if you prefer.
• Pour the sweet potato pie filling into the prepared pie crust and spread it into an even layer.
  
• Use thin sheets of aluminum foil to cover the exposed crust to keep it from burning.
  
• Bake the pie on the center rack of the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the center of the pie looks like it has completely set up.
• Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool to room temperature before transferring it to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
• When you’re ready to serve, use a sharp knife to slice the pie into individual slices and serve with your choice of whipped cream, coconut whipped cream (for a dairy-free option), or vanilla ice cream.
  

Notes

*You can replace the coconut oil with 2/3 cup of softened butter if you prefer. Butter is not a 1:1 replacement for coconut oil in baked recipes like this, as coconut oil is greasier.

**Or granulated sweetener of choice

***You’ll need 1 to 2 large sweet potatoes to get 3 cups of mashed sweet potato.

***For a very sweet pie, use up to ½ cup of honey or pure maple syrup. I personally think the pie turns out perfectly sweet with just ¼ cup of honey.

I posted this recipe on November 5, 2012. Feel free to send me an email if you’d like the original version of the recipe.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1slice of 10 · Calories: 175kcal · Carbohydrates: 19g · Protein: 4g · Fat: 9g · Fiber: 4g · Sugar: 11g

Author: Julia

Course: Desserts & Treats

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dairy free sweet potato pie, gluten free recipes, gluten free sweet potato pie, grain free pies, healthy sweet potato pie, paleo desserts, paleo sweet potato pie, silky sweet potato pie, sweet potato pie

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