Happy Thanksgiving! Well it will be, when you make this delicious pie. We made a choice and Sweet Potato Pie beats Pumpkin Pie. And Thanksgiving Apple Cider & Brown Butter Sweet Potato Pie is the best recipe to have. Fall baking his here!
Apple Cider & Brown Butter Sweet Potato Pie: A Perfect Fall Dessert
As the leaves change color and the temperature drops, it’s time to start thinking about cozy fall desserts. The BEST Holiday is coming up, and we get to eat! And what could be more perfect to eat on and around Thanksgiving than a warm and comforting sweet potato pie? But not just any sweet potato pie – this one is made with brown butter and a hint of apple cider, which takes it to a whole new level of deliciousness.
Brown butter, also known as beurre noisette, is made by cooking butter until the milk solids turn brown and the butter takes on a nutty flavor. It’s a simple technique that adds depth and complexity to any dish, and it works especially well in desserts. In this sweet potato pie recipe, the brown butter gives the filling a rich and nutty flavor that pairs perfectly with the sweet potatoes.
So now you’re asking…why apple cider in this pie. It’s not needed! Well, apple cider, adds a distinct, yet subtle apple flavor to the pie. While apple cider is more known for popular baking recipes such as: cider donuts, apple cider cake, and apple cider bread, this light touch of apple cider in this pie enhances the natural flavor of the sweet potato, giving the entire pie an ultimate Fall feel, and flavor!
As we begin…
As you will see below, we’ll start the recipe by roasting some sweet potatoes until they’re tender and caramelized. Then mash them up and mix them with brown sugar, spices, and all other ingredients listed, until well combined. Pour the filling into a pie crust and bake until it’s set and golden brown. Serve it warm with a dollop of whipped cream or our Creamy Dream Vanilla Ice Cream, and you’ve got yourself a perfect fall dessert.
Thanksgiving Apple Cider & Brown Butter Sweet Potato Pie
Equipment
- Plastic wrap
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Crust
- 290 g AP flour
- 4 oz. cream cheese cold, cubed
- 3 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 tbsp. vinegar apple or white works
- 170 g butter cold, cubed
- ¼ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
Sweet Potato Filling
- 2½ lbs. sweet potato uncooked
- 113 g brown butter
- 110 g brown sugar
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 9 g AP flour
- 5 oz. evaporation milk
- 3 tbsp. apple cider
- 1 tbsp. heavy cream
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. ginger powder
- ¼ tsp. pumpkin spice
Instructions
Sweet Potato Filling
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- Prepare and wash 2½ pounds of whole sweet potato.
- Puncture with a fork or knife all around the sweet potato. NOTE: If you're under a time crunch, split the potato in half. Also drizzle a little oil in the middle.
- Bake for 1 hour, or until skin is tender to poking. Cool and set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, heat the butter on medium. Always monitor butter as it browns.
- As it gets to a deep amber color, turn off heat, and mix for a minute or two before setting aside and cooling butter down.
- RECOMMEND MAKING FILLING (BELOW) AFTER CRUST IS MADE:
- Lower oven to 350° F.
- In a mixing bowl, scrape out the inside of the sweet potato with a spoon or fork. Discard the skin.
- Add the heavy cream, milk, apple cider, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger powder and pumpkin spice. Mix very well.
- Finally, add the cooled brown butter. Mix very well.
- Add filling to crust. Bake for 55 minutes, or when you can feel the top of the pie and the middle giggles only slightly.
- Cool before consuming.
Cream Cheese Crust
- Oven remains at 425° F.
- Add the vinegar to the heavy cream.
- In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt and baking soda.
- Add the cold cubed cream cheese and the cubed butter. Mix very well.
- Finally, add the heavy cream and vinegar to the mix.
- Add the crust mix on a surface, covered with plastic wrap. Add plastic wrap to the top. Using your rolling pin, smash down, then roll flour mix.
- Try to keep plastic wrap covered lightly to readjust the flour mx when needed. Turn dough over and smash again with rolling pin, then roll. Continue this method, along with tucking in extra flour peaking out at the sides until you have a whole dough.
- Roll dough out to the size of the pie pan. Place in fridge for 15 minutes. Uncover one side of the plastic wrap. Fold in as a rectangle or square, and roll out again to the size of the of the pie pan. Place in fridge for 20 minutes.
- Uncover dough again on one side. Grease your pie pan lightly.
- Place dough in pan gently and evenly. Mold with your hand, with the plastic wrap still on, the top of dough. Place in fridge for 20 minutes.
- Remove from fridge, gently remove top plastic wrap. Cut off excess dough hanging over pie crust. Mold to favorite pie crust design.
- With a fork, puncture bottom of pie dough all over to help prevent rise of dough, and baking quicker.
- Place parchment circle at bottom of pie crust, approx. 10" for a 9"" pan. Flatten parchment. Then add pie weights.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or when pie crust starts to brown.
- Let cool a little before removing pie weights and parchment.
- NOTE: If your pie crust bottom is not cooked to your liking, bake at 350° F for an extra 5-10 minutes without parchment or weights. Check doneness, before removing from oven. Cool a little before adding the filling.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Review the How-To video for easier instructions on how to make Thanksgiving Apple Cider & Brown Butter Sweet Potato Pie.
If you’re looking for a cozy fall dessert that’s easy to make and absolutely delicious, look no further than this pie. With its nutty brown butter flavor and warm spices, it’s sure to become a new favorite in your dessert repertoire. So grab some sweet potatoes and get baking – your taste buds will thank you!
Cold Dough is the Best Dough!
What is the reason for chilling the dough when making a pie crust? The pie crust made with butter and cream cheese has a delightful flaky texture. This is achieved by letting the layers of butter and cream cheese settle between the layers of dough. To prevent melting, it is necessary to keep the butter and cream cheese consistently cold while working with the dough. Therefore, the coldness is our biggest ally in this process. Chilling the dough also helps to prevent shrinkage during baking. When the dough is chilled, it allows the gluten in the flour to relax, which reduces the amount of shrinkage that occurs during baking. Finally, taking the time to chill the dough before baking this pie crust is crucial for achieving a successful and delicious pie. When rolling our the dough, if it’s starts to get warm for any reason, place the dough in the fridge for about 10 minutes. If you’ve already rolled the dough wide, just wrap with plastic wrap (both sides!) to avoid drying, and positioning accessibility.
Always monitor your dough when rolling out. Try to use cold tools, if possible. It is recommended to avoid touching the dough with your hands as your body heat can cause the cold dough to warm up faster than expected.
One LAST Thing…
Make sure to head over to https://whippedit.com/2023/11/16/the-top-5-best-thanksgiving-pies-to-enjoy/ to review our list of the top 5 best Thanksgiving pies!
Tools Used
