When it comes to baking and entertaining for the holidays, I always make sure I have plenty of eggs in the fridge and some pie crust mix in the pantry. You never know when you’ll need to whip up a yummy quiche for a holiday brunch or get a hankering for a bourbon-laced Sweet Potato Pecan Tart. The latter of which totally happened to me a couple of weeks ago.
Bourbon is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
I adapted this yummy Pecan Pie recipe as part of my collaboration with The American Egg Board and the Good Egg Project. You may remember, back in October I became a Good Egg Ambassador to help the Egg Board raise awareness about how we can fight hunger in America.
Egg farmers across the country have been feeding the hungry by donating millions of eggs. Thanks to their generosity, 12 million eggs are delivered to food pantries and charities everywhere each year. If you want to help too, get involved with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Bake Sale. Whether you want to bake or buy, this pie would be perfect for helping fight hunger.
I worked my Dietitian magic on this traditional Pecan Pie recipe by trading the corn syrup for the natural sugars in sweet potato, and added just a little maple syrup and brown sugar for a richer flavor.
Oh and bourbon. We must not forget the bourbon. Ever.
The eggs in this recipe make this tart fluffy and contribute high-quality protein. Just one slice has about 7 grams of protein and almost 150% of the daily-recommended amount of Vitamin A!
Actually, enjoying a slice of this seemingly decadent dessert increases your protein and vegetable consumption. How many holiday desserts can boast that?
The best part is, this tart gets even better after a day in the fridge, so it’s the perfect make-ahead dessert for those holiday dinners.
Ingredients
- 9″ frozen pie/tart crust or pie crust mix
- 1 1/2 cups sweet potato, roasted or microwaved and skins removed (about 2 medium potatoes)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon maple syrup, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten, divided
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon bourbon, divided
- 1 cup whole pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Prepare pie crust according to package directions and set aside.
Using a stand or hand mixer, blend sweet potato, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and 2 tablespoons bourbon until very smooth. Add 2 beaten eggs and blend until just incorporated. Evenly spread the filling in the crust.
In a separate bowl, mix remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 beaten egg and 1 teaspoon bourbon. Toss remaining 1 cup of pecans in mixture until well coated.
Arrange the pecans decoratively on top and drizzle any remaining maple-egg mixture on top of the pie. Bake for 30 minutes, until the tart is set and the crust has browned. Let cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Let cool completely, about 45 minutes to 1 hour before serving. This can be made one day ahead of time and chilled, covered, in the refrigerator overnight.
This post is part of a series sponsored by The American Egg Board and The Good Egg Project. I was compensated for my time and calories consumed while making this delicious dessert but the opinions expressed are my own.
No cooking temp !???
This tart is so beautiful!
I would LOVE a huge slice of this [for breakfast]!
Wow, your sweet potato pecan tart is beautiful!!! Looks too pretty to eat!
Drool…
Wow! Looks amazing! I love sweet potato casserole and these seems really similar.