Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Update: There was no contest between the pumpkin and the sweet potato pies that I made for Thanksgiving! The Sweet potato was the unanimous winner. Most of you predicted that in your comments. The truth of the matter is that it wasn’t a fair contest. I made a traditional pumpkin pie, like the one you find on the can and it just wasn’t all that thrilling next to a butterscotch sweet potato pie that is spiked with whiskey! 😉

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this day. It is the ultimate holiday for anyone who loves to cook and eat. Today I am hosting the feast at my house. It will be a small party of my family, those who live in MN. We have all the old favorites from turkey to pumpkin pie. Due to my new found love of sweet potatoes I also did a butterscotch sweet potato pie. There are only 8 of us and we have two pies. I hope it is enough! 😉 I thought it would be fun to see which pie becomes the family favorite. After our meal I’ll report back what we decide.

For Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie inspired by a recipe for pumpkin pie in Bon Appetit:

Do you have pie questions or need to troubleshoot your recipe? Check out my guide on how to make pie crust.

1 pie crust recipe

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup whiskey

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup sweet potato puree

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Preheat oven to 350°

Rolled out pie crust | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Make and allow your pie crust to chill for at least an hour before using it. Roll it out thin enough to go an 1″ beyond the pie plate.

Forming pie crust | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Fold that excess dough under itself on the edges.

Forming pie crust | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Crimp in your favorite pattern.

Weighing down pie crust with beans | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Blind bake with foil and beans for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and bake for another 15 minutes until slightly golden and dry looking. While the shell is baking you can start the filling.

Brown sugar and butter heating on stove | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

In a small sauce pan heat 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, butter and salt over medium heat.

Whisking brown sugar and butter on stove | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Whisk until the sugar has dissolved and has turned a nice deep caramel, about 5 minutes.

Carefully add in the whiskey, it will sputter and bubble, so add it slowly.

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Then add the heavy cream. The caramel may seize up so return it to the stove and heat until it melts.

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Strain the mixture to get any of the caramel that didn’t melt. Set aside to cool.

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

In a large measuring cup add together the sweet potato puree, eggs and spices, blend with an Immersion Blender. I find it easier to get the sweet potato perfectly smooth. Then add the butterscotch mixture.

Pouring sweet potato pie filling into baked crust | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Pour into the baked pie shell. Drop the oven temperature to 325° and bake for about 45-60 minutes. (The magazine said to bake it at 350°, which was too hot and the pie cracked. I dropped the temperature to 325° for my pumpkin pie recipe and it didn’t crack at all.)

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Remove from oven and cool on a rack until room temperature.

Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie Recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Serve with whipped cream that is barely sweetened and spiked with more whiskey!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Zoë

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26 thoughts to “Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie”

  1. Sweet potato is something a really, really fancy, and this pie of yours looks fantastic. Wished I could have a slice right away!

    Happy Thanksgiving, Zoe. Have a great one with your family!

    (and do tell us which one was their favourite pie)

  2. Happy Thanksgiving! I think I would normally pick pumpkin pie, but then the word ‘butterscotch’ would’ve swayed my decision in this case.

  3. I agree with Y on the butterscotch winning me over! I’m not a huge pumpkin pie lover, which is ironic because I love everything else pumpkin!

  4. I love sweet potatoes, this pie sounds great!
    BTW, I made pumpkin cheescake from the same issue. I baked mine at 350F, but in a water bath. It came out smooth–no crack.

  5. Hi everyone,

    The sweet potato was the favorite! Despite the cracked surface it was soother and the flavor divine!

    Hi Thip,

    Baking in a water bath will insulate the cheesecake from the high heat and bake it very evenly, so that it won’t crack. It sounds wonderful!

    Zoë

  6. Hi Latoya,

    I have not done this one without the butterscotch. But, I was just about to do another version and post about it! Stay tuned!

    Thanks, Zoë

  7. Hi Zoe, I live in Aust. and have a new guy in my life and he’s an American from South Carolina.
    Am doing him a surprise for a slightly belated Thanks giving pressy.(Distance and his work hours a bit in the way= life)
    But ya get that!
    Am going to try your recipe Beautiful and see how it goes. Will give you feed back.
    My mouth is watering right now actually. (Such suffering in the early morn too)

    Lov and light may many blessings be Yours.
    Barbara.

    1. Hi Frances,

      Because it is baked with so much spice and flavor the brand of whiskey will not matter, just use one that you’ll want to drink after! 😉

      Thanks, Zoë

  8. The ingredients list calls for 3/4 cup brown sugar and the carmel says to use 1/2 cup. Where does the other 1/4 cup go?

    Thanks! I love you website!

  9. Hi Zoe, I want to make your Butterscotch Sweet Potato Pie, but tweaking the recipe to use just HALF as much butterscotch as the recipe calls for (The reason for this is that I’m also using HALF the amount of BROWN BUTTER that a different sweet potato pie recipe calls for, and I don’t want the TOTAL amount of butter to exceed what EITHER recipe calls for). Anyway, so for the butterscotch I’m using HALF the amounts of butter, sugar, cream, and whiskey (actually Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum). My question is: since I’m using HALF of all these ingredients, should I also use HALF the amount of SALT? (1/8 teaspoon instead of 1/4?) Or does butterscotch require 1/4 as a MINIMUM for salt even if only HALF as much butterscotch is being made? Thank you!

  10. Hello Zoe, will be trying this recipe today, plus your apple and pumpkin, can It be baked in advance and store in the fridge until tomorrow?

    1. Hi Elaine! You can bake it, cool it, and refrigerate 1 day ahead. If you don’t intend to bake it the day before, then pour the filling into the crust just before baking so it doesn’t get soggy. Happy baking!

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