I became a vegan solely in order to bring my blood sugars down, which means unfortunately that most of the delicious vegan sweets you’ll find at the bakery or grocery store are off limits. I’d seen recipes for vegan desserts using only natural sweeteners, but to be honest I doubted they would be remotely edible. You can’t have Thanksgiving without pie, however, so I decided to give it a shot. Honestly, I chose this recipe mostly because of how pretty it is, and can you blame me?

Besides an apple pie with a pre-made crust, I had never really made a pie from scratch before. I was nervous about making my own crust, but this one was super easy, and SUPER delicious. I did use sweetened coconut flakes (because I didn’t read the recipe correctly), but I think it would still be great with unsweetened.

As for the filling, the consistency was a little thicker than I would have liked. I’m wondering if mashing the potatoes before blending would have helped. All in all, it was really good! Besides the shredded coconut, the only sweetener used is maple syrup, which gives it the perfect amount of sweetness. I also omitted the coconut whipped cream, but feel free to add it.

Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Pie

From The Endless Meal

Ingredients

  • For the crust:
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ cup honey (or sub maple syrup)
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • For the pie filling:
  • 2 pounds purple yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch rounds (about 4 cups’ worth)
  • ¾ cup canned coconut milk (not low-fat)
  • ½ cup maple syrup (see notes)
  • 1½ tablespoons tapioca starch
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼-½ cayenne pepper (neither amounts are very spicy, but the ½ teaspoon does stand out more)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • For the coconut whipped cream:
  • 1 can full fat, additive-free coconut milk (make sure it does not contain guar gum)
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9” pie pan with coconut oil.
  2. Mix all the crust ingredients in a large bowl, then transfer them to the prepared pie pan. Wet your hands lightly to prevent the crust from sticking to them, then press the crust into the pan, making sure it’s even on the sides and bottom.
  3. Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, the crust will have puffed up and be light golden brown. Use the back of a spoon to gently push the crust down so there is room for the filling.
  4. For the filling: Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Add the purple yams and boil for 10 minutes, or until yams can be pierced with a fork. Drain the yams, then put them in a high-powered blender or food processor.
  5. Add the rest of the pie-filling ingredients and blend on high until everything is smooth and creamy.
  6. Pour the pie filling into the baked pie shell and smooth out the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the pie has set but still has some jiggle in the middle. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely before serving.
  7. For the coconut whipped cream: Set the can of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight. You want the cream and the milk to separate, and this is easier if it’s very cold.
  8. Separate the hard cream from the watery milk. Put the cream in a large bowl and add the powdered sugar. Using electric beaters, beat the cream for 2-3 minutes. It won’t form stiff peaks like regular whipped cream, but it will be stiff enough to dollop.

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