Sweet potato pie with graham cracker crust is a delicious twist on the traditional southern recipe. Learn how to make homemade crust with graham crackers while preparing this delicious holiday dessert.
Try more sweet potato recipes like Southern Sweet Potato Pie Recipe, Old Fashioned Candied Sweet Potatoes, and Sweet Potato Cornbread.
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Pie is one of my favorite desserts to make and eat during the holidays. Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, and the grand finale - Sweet Potato Pie! Some may wonder, "Can you make sweet potato pie with graham cracker crust?" And my answer to that is, "Absolutely!" I actually prefer it.
This sweet potato pie is a harmonious mixture of sweet potatoes, sugar, and the perfect blend of spices, wrapped in a buttery homemade graham cracker crust. It's rich, sweet, decadent, and satisfying with each mouthwatering bite. The crust also has a fun twist - brown butter!
This homemade sweet potato pie recipe is so easy to make and saves so much time when prepping a big holiday dinner! This southern classic is the best sweet potato pie recipe you'll ever make!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy recipe to Make! Sweet potato pie with premade graham cracker crust is fine but it's so easy to make homemade pie crust with just 6 simple ingredients! It's especially easier than making crust from pastry dough.
- Perfect Holiday Dessert! Sweet potato pie is an essential dish during the holidays, whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's - any special occasion! It feels like something's missing without it.
- Customizable! Sweet potato pie filling and graham cracker crust are easy to customize by incorporating additional flavors. I have some tasty ideas!
Ingredients
See the recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
Graham Cracker Pie Crust
Graham cracker sheets - Use your favorite brand of graham crackers.
Browned Butter - Melted butter is easier to mix. You can use salted or unsalted butter.
Brown sugar - This makes the crust extra sweet.
Spices - Ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg enhance the spiced flavors already in the graham crackers. It also enhances the sweet potato flavor of the filling!
Sweet Potato Pie Filling
- Roasted sweet potatoes - Broasting the sweet potatoes ensures a thick sweet potato pie filling and creamy texture. Try to use small to medium sweet potatoes, they're sweeter. Avoid using canned sweet potato puree, the water content is too high and the pie will be mushy.
- Salted butter - Brown the butter for extra flavor.
- Sugar - Use both brown sugar and white sugar for a balance of sweetness.
- Spices - I use a combination of warm spices including cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves.
- Heavy Cream - Use this for creamy sweet potato pie. You can also use evaporated milk.
- Pure Vanilla extract - The vanilla complements the spices for an even better taste.
- Large Eggs - Use room temperature eggs as a binder. It also thickens the sweet potato mixture, making it custard-like.
Substitutions
-Sweet Potato Pie with Condensed Milk: Some recipes use condensed milk instead of heavy cream. If you use condensed milk, omit or use less sugar. I prefer heavy cream or evaporated milk so I can control the sweetness of the pie.
- Storebought Crust: Save time by using a premade graham cracker pie crust.
- Marshmallow Topping: Once the pie has set, place marshmallows on top and allow it to bake for an additional 5 minutes on 350°F. Watch it carefully so it doesn't burn!
Pro Tips
- Prebake the graham cracker crust for 12 minutes so the pie doesn't get soggy when you add the sweet potato filling.
- Adequately drain the boiled sweet potatoes so the pie filling doesn't end up too watery or runny.
- Don't use canned sweet potatoes or sweet potato puree for this sweet potato recipe with graham cracker crust. Fresh sweet potatoes taste better and have a better consistency.
- Prevent cracks in the pie by turning off the oven and leaving the oven door slightly ajar when the pie is done. A sudden change in temperature can cause the pie to crack so slowly adjusting the temperature prevents that.
- Use a potato masher, food processor, or even a fork to mash the sweet potatoes.
- The size of the sweet potatoes matter! Avoid using large sweet potatoes - the smaller ones are sweeter!
- Allow the pie to set. This is not a recipe you enjoy straight from the oven. It needs time to properly form in the fridge (about 3 hours).
How to Make Sweet Potato Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Wash your sweet potatoes, dry them off, and use a fork to poke holes all around them. Cover each sweet potato with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until fork tender.
- Brown all of butter and place in a container to cool. (Image 1)
- (If using store-bought crust, skip steps 3-5) Make the buttery graham cracker crust. Add graham crackers, brown sugar, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a food processor and pulse on high speed until smooth fine crumbs form. Then pour add ¾ cup of the browned butter into the graham cracker crumbs and pulse until the texture resembles wet sand. (Image 2)
- Add the crust mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and press mixture up the sides of the pie pan and all along the bottom. Ensure that the crust is evenly distributed amongst the pan. (Image 4)
- Bake the crust for 12 minutes, until golden brown and set.
- Place sweet potatoes into a food process and add the remaining browned butter, brown sugar, sugar, spices, vanilla extract, and heavy cream. Pulse until smooth, then add eggs and pulse until combined. Pro tip: Be sure to remove any stringy fibers from the sweet potato flesh. (Optional step: press sweet potato mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps and residual stringy fibers)
- Pour sweet potato filling into the graham cracker crust. (Image 5) Bake pie for 50-55 minutes, until the edges of the pie are set and the center is no longer jiggly.
- Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top of the pie.
Storing Leftovers
Cover leftover sweet potato pie with aluminum foil and place it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
FAQ
Patti LaBelle’s sweet potato pie recipe includes orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, beaten eggs, half and half, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg. The ingredients are very similar to this recipe but she uses half and half instead of heavy cream. Her recipe also includes a "black bottom" brown sugar crust.
The two pies have distinct flavors. Sweet potato pie has a natural sweetness with a smoother texture, while pumpkin pie has a slightly earthy flavor and a denser texture. However, both are seasoned similarly with sugar and spices.
You can boil or bake sweet potatoes for pie but the choice depends on personal preference. Boiling sweet potatoes retains nutrients and moisture, which results in a smoother puree. Baking or roasting sweet potatoes enhances their natural sweetness and adds a depth of flavor. However, they take longer to cook and it may require a bit more effort to peel and mash them after baking.
More Sweet Potato Dessert Recipes
- Sweet Potato Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Grandma's Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie Recipe
- Sweet Potato Marshmallow Bars
- Sweet Potato Pound Cake
- Sweet Potato Casserole
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Sweet Potato Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
Crust
- 15 Graham cracker sheets
- ½ cup Butter (see instructions)
- 3 tbsps Brown sugar
- ½ tsp Ginger
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
Sweet Potato Pie filling
- 1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes
- 4 tbsps salted butter browned, (see instructions)
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Wash your sweet potatoes, dry them off, and use a fork to poke holes all around them. Cover each sweet potato with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of the sweet potato), until fork tender. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Add ¾ cup of butter (1 ½ sticks) to a skillet over medium heat and brown. A ½ cup of the browned butter will be for the graham cracker crust and the remaining butter will be for the filling. (If using store-bought crust, skip steps 2 and 4)
- Make the buttery graham cracker crust. Add graham crackers, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a food processor and pulse on high speed until smooth fine crumbs form. Then pour add ½ cup of the browned butter into the graham cracker crumbs and pulse until the texture resembles wet sand.
- Add the crust mixture into a 9-inch pie pan or springform pan and press up the sides of the pie pan and all along the bottom. Ensure that the crust is evenly distributed amongst the pan. Bake the crust for 12 minutes, until golden brown and set.
- Remove the skin from the sweet potatoes and place into a food processor. Add the remaining browned butter, brown sugar, sugar, spices, vanilla extract, and heavy cream. Pulse until smooth, then add eggs and pulse until combined. Pro tip: Be sure to remove any stringy fibers from the sweet potato flesh. (Optional step: press sweet potato mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps and residual stringy fibers)
- Pour sweet potato filling into the graham cracker crust. Bake pie for 50-55 minutes, until the edges of the pie are set and the center is no longer jiggly.
- Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- Prebake the graham cracker crust for 12 minutes so the pie doesn't get soggy when you add the sweet potato filling.
- Adequately drain the boiled sweet potatoes so the pie filling doesn't end up too watery or runny.
- Don't use canned sweet potatoes or sweet potato puree for this sweet potato recipe with graham cracker crust. Fresh sweet potatoes taste better and have a better consistency.
- Prevent cracks in the pie by turning off the oven and leaving the oven door slightly ajar when the pie is done. A sudden change in temperature can cause the pie to crack so slowly adjusting the temperature prevents that.
- Use a potato masher, food processor, or even a fork to mash the sweet potatoes.
- Avoid using large sweet potatoes - the smaller ones are sweeter!
- Allow the pie to set. This is not a recipe you enjoy straight from the oven. It needs time to properly form in the fridge (about 3 hours).
I am confused. You mentioned using evaporated milk but the recipe calls for heavy cream. Which one would be best to use?
Thanks!
Hi, the evaporated milk is merely a suggestion in the event that you don't have heavy cream. I hope that this helps!