The humble sweet potato is such a versatile root vegetable. A few weeks ago I posted my chipotle sweet potato fries recipe, highlighting my love of sweet potato with spicy chipotle. Today I have mini purple sweet potato pies with cheesecake filling, a delectable treat to represent sweet potato’s dessert side.
This purple sweet potato pie is reminiscent of pumpkin pie, with the exception that it has a deep purple hue. I also love pumpkin cheesecake, so I decided I wanted to add a cheesecake center to these sweet treats.
Finally, I wanted to make individual sized servings. It makes them easier to serve at a potluck, party or family dinner, and can help to control portion size. This way you can limit your intake, or decide to try a second sweet treat!
Variations to the Mini Purple Sweet Potato Pies with Cheesecake filling:
- Use orange sweet potato if you cannot find purple. The purple hue is stunning but orange will work just as well.
- Alter the crust: Try a graham cracker crust, or use a whole cookie in the bottom instead of cookie crumbs. You could also go crustless!
- Yogurt in the filling helps to make it creamy and rich replacing heavy cream. I have tried regular yogurt but the filling is slightly less thick, so I recommend the Greek yogurt. You can buy vanilla flavored Greek yogurt, but I opt to mix in my own vanilla instead to avoid unnecessary added ingredients.
How to puree sweet potato:
There are two options outlined below: the oven or the steamer. I often opt for the steamer because it is faster but you want to make sure your potatoes are not soaking wet before pureeing. The moisture can alter the consistency of the filling so just be sure to dry the potato well before adding to the food processor.
- Oven: Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and bake at 400F for 1 hour 15 minutes. Unwrap and cool. Peel sweet potatoes and puree in a food processor.
- Steamer: Peel and cut into 1 ½ inch cubes. Steam in a steamer basket for 10-15 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Pat dry with paper towels and transfer to a food processor and process until a smooth puree forms.
- 6 oz gingersnap cookies
- 1 TBS butter, melted
- 5 oz cup plain Greek yogurt
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 ½ cups purple sweet potato puree (from about 2 medium sweet potatoes)
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 3 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 TBS powdered sugar
- Process ginger snaps in a food processor until fine. Mix in melted butter and firmly press crumbs in the bottom of paper cup lined muffin tins. You should fill about 15 cups. Bake at 325F for 6-7 minutes.
- Mix the yogurt and vanilla together and divide into two portions, a half cup portion and about 3 TBS.
- Combine sweet potato puree, brown sugar, ½ cup yogurt mixture, eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large liquid measuring cup. You should have 3 cups filling.
- Beat together the remaining yogurt, cream cheese, and powdered sugar using a hand held mixer until smooth.
- Pour the purple sweet potato mixture over the warm baked cookie crumbs. Dollop teaspoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over the sweet potato filling, gently pressing them down into the filling.
- Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes, or until puffed and dull on the edges and firm to the touch. If they are shiny on the edges, put them back in for a few minutes. Let cool completely, at least 2 hours.
Recipe adapted from Eating Well.
