As the weather is getting cooler, I’m getting back into baking mode. In the past week, I made this gluten-free Sweet Potato Pecan Pie and a Banana Chocolate Chip Crumble Coffee Cake.
Oh my, we’ve been enjoying some pure gluten-free deliciousness here of late!
I hope to share the recipe for the Banana Chocolate Chip Crumble Coffee Cake and my review of the new book it comes from next week. But today it’s all about this fantastic gluten-free Sweet Potato Pecan Pie!
![Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Slice with two scoops of caramel ice crea. Oh my, what a trifecta of flavors! [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Gluten-Free-Sweet-Potato-Pecan-Pie-Slice-Two-Scoops-Photo.jpg)
Goodness, we love pie at our house! While some families flip over cakes and we do occasionally do cakes (especially for birthdays), pies are our thing. Sometimes at Thanksgiving, we’ll have six pies on the sideboard!
We don’t actually eat a slice of every pie after our Thanksgiving meal. Doing that would be very uncomfortable—and pretty much impossible to be honest—because of all the good and filling food we’ve already enjoyed during our meal. We might eat quarter slices, half slices, and everyone gets more pie in “to go” containers.
Everyone has their all-time favorite pie. Then their second favorite. Then probably others that are not in their “top two” list but that they still enjoy.
With this pie—especially if you love Sweet Potato Pie and Pecan Pie—you get a two-for-one deal! No need to choose Sweet Potato Pie or Pecan Pie.
Or both and then have to cry “enough” and stop eating pie. Gosh, how sad would that be? We don’t want that!
![Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pie. The best of both worlds in one slice! Even more amazing when served a la mode. [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Sweet-Potato-Pecan-Pie-Whole-and-Slice-A-La-Mode-Photo.jpg)
You can have a slice (or partial slice) of this gluten-free Sweet Potato Pecan Pie and still have room to try other pies on your holiday table. I love that! Don’t you?
By the way, I gave my mom two slices of this pie, thinking she’s enjoy one slice herself and give the other slice to my aunt who is gluten free. But Mom confessed later that she ate both slices!
Believe me, I get it. I also consider her inability to resist the second slice to be high praise. Very high praise indeed!
More Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes You “Need”
~ Angel Food Cake (better than the gluten-full version!)
![Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake. This recipe from Gluten-Free Homemaker is better than any other Angel Food Cake in the world. Period. One of many fabulous [featured on GlutenFreeEasily.com] (photo)](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Angel_Food_Cake.jpg)
~ Best Pumpkin Pie Ever (no crust needed!)
![Best Pumpkin Pie Ever. Gluten free and dairy free with grain-free option. [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Crustless-Gluten-Free-Dairy-Free-Pumpkin-Pie-Enjoyed.jpg)
~ Easy “Crustless” Apple Pie (you’re going to love this “pour over” crust concept)
![This recipe make an apple pie lover out of everyone! Easy Gluten-Free Apple Pie. It's called a crustless apple pie because the crust is poured over the apples and forms both a top and bottom crust when baked. This pie is so, so good! [from GlutenFreeEasily.com] (photo)](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/Crustless_Apple_Pie.jpg)
~ Pie Crusts (from traditional roll-out pie crusts to no-roll pie crusts to chocolate pie crusts and more)
![PIE! Best Gluten-Free Pie Crust Recipes (40 recipes ... with choices for everyone). [featured on GlutenFreeEasily.com] (photo)](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Gluten-Free-Pie-Crust-Recipes-Collage.jpg)
~ Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Streusel Filling (scrumptious!)
~ Sweet Potato Pie Bites (bite-sized individual sweet potato pies) (Note: This site is no longer active; therefore, I’ve linked to the recipe via the Wayback Machine, the internet archive.)
Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Recipe
![Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pecan Pie. Sweet Potato Pie, Pecan Pie; you get both in this recipe! [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Gluten-Free-Sweet-Potato-Pecan-Pie-with-Text-Image.jpg)
With this pie---especially if you love both Sweet Potato Pie and Pecan Pie—you get a two-for-one deal! No need to choose Sweet Potato Pie or Pecan Pie. Or both and then have to cry “enough” and stop eating pie. No need at all! While I love making pies crustless, this recipe requires a crust. I like to use my Never Fail No-Roll Press-In Pie Crust. If you would like to make this recipe refined sugar free, coconut sugar may be substituted for the granulated sugar. Using chopped pecans (instead of pecan halves) in this pie makes cutting pie slices easier and cleaner and hence, the pie presentation prettier, in my opinion. Recipe adapted from this gluten-free Pumpkin Pecan Pie recipe.Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Ina Gawne says
Shirley your pie looks scrumptious! And yes…definitely the best of both worlds – so perfect with pecans.
Shirley Braden says
Thanks, Ina! I have to admit that I love it whenever I can have “the best of both worlds”! 🙂
Shirley
Nancy says
Shirley, I’ve been staying away from baking lately, but since pumpkin and pecan pies are both favorites of mine (and my husband) I will definitely be trying this soon, maybe for Thanksgiving. I use an almond flour/arrowroot blend which makes a nice flaky Paleo crust and I’ll use maple syrup and coconut sugar for the sweeteners. It sounds wonderful! I don’t dare make it now (without others to help us eat it) or we would eat the whole thing ourselves!
Shirley Braden says
Nancy–You said “pumpkin and pecan” vs “sweet potato and pecan” so I guess you’re making the version that inspired this one. 😉 I think that either one is terrific though and I hope you’ll enjoy the refined sugar-free version. When subbing maple syrup for honey, I usually use slightly less because honey is usually thicker in my experience and subbing one for one can result in a pie that won’t set up.
I looked up your pie crust . It and all your pies look delicious! I do see it’s a traditional roll-out crust, which I usually try to avoid. LOL but true. I’ll let you know when I give it a go. I do see that you can use tapioca starch vs arrowroot, which is probably what I’ll do as I usually prefer that and keep it on hand.
Oh, yes, pies (and pretty much any baking effort) require “help”!
Shirley
Nancy says
Shirley, Funny I read that as pumpkin even though it is clearly sweet potato! I’ve never made a sweet potato pie and I guess I always just thought the pumpkin and sweet potato were interchangeable, but the pumpkin probably has much more water content. I had recently bought, cooked and froze the meat of 4 pie pumpkins because they disappear from the markets quickly in Florida. It seems they are only around for a few weeks. But, I think I’ll try the sweet potato as you recommended. The roll out pastry crust is a bit of a nuisance, no way around that, unfortunately. I truly understand why you make crustless pies or press-in pie crust! I know your recipe is going to be wonderful! Nancy
Shirley Braden says
Nancy–Sometimes our minds get ahead of us. 😉 Not only does pumpkin have more water content, sweet potato is naturally sweeter than pumpkin. Many of us wouldn’t eat cooked pumpkin “as is” but a lot of us would eat cooked sweet potato without anything added. Because you eat less sweet refined sugar-free recipes, you might find that you need less maple syrup/coconut sugar than you think in this recipe!
Good for you on already cooking and freezing fresh pumpkin puree! Canned pumpkin will never compare to fresh pumpkin, even after it’s been frozen. I love introducing folks to pumpkin pie made with fresh pumpkin. 🙂 And the pie pumpkins around here don’t even last that long! I have two pie pumpkins myself that I need to cook in the next day or two.
I’ve actually made my press-in pie crust using almond flour (plus some tapioca and/or coconut flour, if I recall) in the past. I can’t remember if there were any issues. Will have to try that again. 😉
Shirley
Nancy says
Shirley, We got spoiled with the fresh pumpkin pie a few years ago when we were in Black Mountain for several weeks. It’s hard to go back to canned once you have had the fresh! I think I’ll try to play around with your press-in crust using almond flour to see what happens. It would certainly be a lot easier, thanks for the idea! Nancy
Shirley Braden says
I so agree on getting spoiled with fresh pumpkin pies, Nancy! I’m thinking that I cut back on the salt when using almond flour in the press-in pie crust. I’ll be interested to hear about your experience when you give that method a try. I also like making grain-free crusts using crushed nuts (vs nut flour) and oil–and sometimes a few dates, if their stickiness is needed for binding and a little extra sweetness won’t hurt. 😉
Shirley
Nancy says
Shirley, My first Paleo press-in crust experiment turned out pretty darn good, just need to tweak it a bit more (50/50 almond flour and arrowroot, with palm shortening and egg and yes only 1/4 tsp, salt). Problem is I now have a single pie crust cooked and looking for a filling! My husband has been asking for a coconut cream pie for ages, so I might play around with that idea. Far from the sweet potato/pecan but I don’t have those ingredients on hand at the moment. Thanks for the suggestions.
Nancy
Shirley Braden says
Happy to hear that, Nancy! The proof will be in a slice of pie though–whether the slice can be picked up or removed from the pie plate with a spatula, etc. after the crust has been filled. I have never actually baked the press-in crust without a filling before. Did you have to add foil and beans or pie weights to blind bake it? I’m wondering if it puffed up in places or if you prevented that by poking holes in it with a fork. I’m also concerned that your crust might be more likely to “over bake” once you fill it since you’ve already baked it. Fingers crossed on all though! And coconut cream pie sure sounds good to me. That’s one of our family’s very favorite pies!
Shirley
Nancy says
Shirley, The coconut cream filling was a failure. I was attempting a pudding-type filling using coconut milk, egg, honey, coconut, and arrowroot. It was tasty but it didn’t set up. I should have tried modifying your recipe (and maybe parbake the crust for 10 minutes). I poked holes in the crust and it was a nice sturdy, pastry-like crust which would hold up to any filling. (I think.) I’ll set this experiment aside for a while but thanks for all your feedback! Nancy
Shirley Braden says
Well, darn, Nancy. It sure sounds like that combination of ingredients would work. It probably would have worked fine if you’d added a tablespoon or two of sifted coconut flour. One way that my crustless pies (coconut and pumpkin versions) can be made is with 1/4 cup sifted coconut flour. So I’m thinking since you already have arrowroot in your ingredients, only one or two more tablespoons of coconut flour would be needed. Food for thought!
Have a great weekend!
Shirley
Nancy says
Shirley, I haven’t had time for social media or cooking experiments lately, but I finally made this pie for Thanksgiving and it turned out great! I’m going to post my Paleo rendition soon (and of course I’ll link back to you). The problem with the crust was actually adding coconut flour (which I hadn’t mentioned). I basically used my original Paleo crust recipe and just increased the amount, it made a wonderful, press-in crust. Thanks for all your feedback! Nancy
Shirley Braden says
That’s such great news, Nancy! I can’t wait to try your paleo version!
Shirley
Nancy says
I know you are going to be happy with it. Thanks for motivating me to create a Paleo press-in crust, it will be my new go-to recipe! Nancy
Shirley Braden says
I know you’re right, Nancy. So many are going to appreciate your paleo press-in crust. In fact, I’m going to add it to my gluten-free pie crust recipe roundup right now! 🙂
Nancy says
Wow, thanks!
Shirley Braden says
You’re welcome, of course, Nancy!