Prepare to fall in love with a dessert that simplifies your holiday baking and brings unparalleled flavor to your table: this incredible Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallows. What makes this recipe a true game-changer? We’re skipping the tedious peeling, chopping, and cooking of sweet potatoes entirely! Instead, we harness the convenience of pureed sweet potatoes (cleverly sourced from baby food) to create a perfectly smooth, rich filling. And for an extra layer of gourmet indulgence, brown butter elevates this pie to an entirely new level of deliciousness, infusing it with a warm, nutty, caramel-like essence.

🥘 Ingredient Notes for Your Perfect Sweet Potato Pie

My secret to making a rich, smooth, and utterly delicious sweet potato filling without spending hours on prep? Baby food! When my kids outgrew their pureed meals, I found myself with an abundance of perfectly smooth, ready-to-use sweet potato puree. It’s an ingenious shortcut that saves precious time and effort, offering a pure sweet potato base without any preservatives or unnecessary fillers. It’s simply pure sweet potatoes, perfectly pre-prepped for your baking convenience. I’ve often found it at major retailers like Walmart, but it’s also available online and in many grocery stores’ baby food aisles. For this recipe, you’ll need the following key ingredients:

• Scalded Milk: This step, though seemingly minor, significantly enhances the pie’s richness and moisture. Scalding milk involves heating it just to the point of steaming, but not boiling. This process not only concentrates the milk’s flavor but also ensures a velvety smooth texture in your pie filling. I typically use 1% milk as it’s what I always have on hand, and it works beautifully. If you’re new to scalding milk, don’t worry – a quick video guide is available further down or in the recipe notes.
• Brown Butter: Oh, brown butter! This ingredient is a game-changer. I always opt for unsalted butter to maintain precise control over the salt content in my recipes. Browning butter transforms it, developing a complex, nutty, toffee-like flavor with an irresistible caramel aroma. It’s truly divine and adds a layer of sophistication to this pie that you won’t want to miss. For those unfamiliar with the process, a helpful video is linked below or in the notes section.
• Whipping Cream: For the ultimate fluffy marshmallow topping, use whipping cream with a fat content between 33% and 38%. This ensures it whips up beautifully to stiff peaks, providing the perfect airy texture for our topping.
• Mini Marshmallows: These small wonders are perfect for two reasons: they melt quickly and smoothly into our whipped cream to create the marshmallow topping, and they are also ideal for garnishing the finished pie, adding a delightful visual and textural touch.
• Sweet Potato Puree (Baby Food): This is the star of our shortcut! As mentioned, baby food offers pure, pre-pureed sweet potatoes, saving you immense time and effort. It’s naturally preservative-free and perfectly smooth, ensuring a consistent and delicious pie filling. Look for it in the baby food aisle of your local grocery store or check online retailers.

📖 Variations & Substitutions for Your Sweet Potato Pie

While this recipe offers a fantastic shortcut, there are always ways to adapt it to your preferences or what you have on hand. Don’t hesitate to experiment!

• Sweet Potatoes: If baby food puree isn’t an option or you prefer to use fresh sweet potatoes, you certainly can. You can boil or roast whole sweet potatoes until tender, then peel and puree them until smooth. Alternatively, canned sweet potatoes are a convenient option; simply drain and puree them thoroughly before using. Make sure whichever method you choose yields a very smooth, consistent puree for the best pie texture.
• Pie Crust: For ultimate convenience, a store-bought deep dish pie shell is perfectly acceptable and will yield excellent results. However, if you enjoy making pie crust from scratch, my No Fail Pie Crust (Cold Water Pastry) recipe offers a flaky, tender base that’s truly unbeatable and is pictured below. It’s designed to be foolproof, even for novice bakers!
• Marshmallows: If mini marshmallows aren’t available, or you prefer a different texture, you have a few alternatives for the topping. You can use marshmallow fluff (also known as marshmallow creme or cream) directly, though it might yield a slightly different consistency than the whipped cream mixture. Full-size marshmallows can also be melted with a touch of water, similar to the mini marshmallows, then folded into the whipped cream. Just ensure they are fully melted and smooth.
• Butter: While unsalted brown butter is recommended for precise flavor control, if salted butter is all you have, it can be used. Just be mindful of the overall salt content in the pie, and perhaps omit any additional salt if your salted butter is particularly strong.

🔪 How to Make Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallows: Step-by-Step Guide

Creating this delicious sweet potato pie is simpler than you think, especially with our smart shortcuts. Follow these steps for a perfectly baked pie with a dreamy marshmallow topping.

PREP:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). This initial high temperature is key to achieving a perfectly flaky crust.
2. In a small saucepan, brown the butter over medium heat. Keep a close eye on it, stirring frequently, until it turns a rich golden-brown and smells nutty. Once achieved, immediately remove it from the heat to prevent burning. If you’re unsure about this technique, refer to the “How to brown butter” video linked below or in the Notes section.
3. In a separate saucepan, scald the milk. Heat it gently until small bubbles form around the edges and steam rises, but do not let it boil vigorously. Remove from heat and allow it to cool slightly; it should be warm, not hot, when added to the filling. A video on how to scald milk is also available below or in the Notes.

1. Step 1: Prepare the Pie Filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pureed sweet potatoes, browned butter, cooled scalded milk (ensuring it’s warm but not hot), cinnamon, flour, brown sugar, and lightly beaten eggs.

2. Step 2: Whisk Gently. Whisk all the filling ingredients together just until they are fully combined and smooth. Be careful not to overmix, as this can lead to a tougher pie texture.

3. Step 3: Bake the Pie. Pour the prepared sweet potato filling into your unbaked pie crust. Bake in the preheated oven at 425 degrees F (218 degrees C) for 10 minutes. This initial high heat helps set the crust and prevent sogginess. After 10 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F (162 degrees C) and continue baking for another 30-35 minutes, or until the filling is firm. I found 30 minutes to be ideal for my oven. To ensure perfect doneness without overcooking, I highly recommend using an instant-read thermometer (affiliate link); the pie is ready when the thermometer registers 170 degrees F (76 degrees C) in the center. The pie might still look slightly jiggly, but it will continue to set as it cools. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours. Chilling is crucial for the pie to fully set and for easy slicing.

4. Step 4: Prepare the Whipped Cream. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer on high speed with a whisk attachment to whip the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks.

5. Step 5: Melt the Marshmallows. In a separate, microwave-safe bowl, add ¼ teaspoon of water to the mini marshmallows. Microwave for approximately 10 seconds, then stir. The residual heat from the melted marshmallows and stirring action typically melts the remaining unmelted ones.

6. Step 6: Ensure Smoothness. If any marshmallows remain unmelted after stirring, return the bowl to the microwave for additional 10-second intervals, stirring after each, until the mixture is completely smooth and liquid.

7. Step 7: Create Marshmallow Whipped Cream. Immediately pour the melted marshmallows into the whipped cream. Beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Speed is crucial here; if you delay, the melted marshmallows will begin to harden, resulting in lumpy whipped cream. Work quickly to ensure a smooth, airy topping.

8. Step 8: Garnish and Serve. Once the pie is thoroughly chilled, spread or pipe the marshmallow whipped cream generously over the top. For a more elegant presentation, I often use a pastry bag with a 1M frosting tip to pipe beautiful swirls, then add a few extra mini marshmallows and a sprinkle of cinnamon for decoration. The pie should be chilled for at least 2 hours before serving to ensure it holds its shape. Serve it cold or at room temperature, according to your preference.

PRO TIP: To prevent spills and make transferring your pie to and from the oven much easier, always place your pie shell, once filled, onto a sturdy baking sheet before baking.

🎥 Essential How-To Videos

Mastering certain baking techniques can elevate your results. Here are quick video guides for key steps in this recipe:

Video – How to brown butter

Video – How to scald milk

💡 Top Tip for a Flaky Pie Crust

For the absolute best pie crust results with this sweet potato pie and marshmallow topping, especially if you’re using a store-bought pie shell, consider transferring it to a glass pie pan (affiliate link) before baking. Glass pie pans are widely recognized as superior for achieving a consistently flaky and evenly baked crust due to their ability to conduct heat slowly and steadily. This helps the bottom crust cook thoroughly without burning the top. While ceramic, steel, or aluminum pans can also be used, you might find it takes a bit longer to get that perfectly crisp, flaky bottom crust in those materials.

A smart trick for transferring a store-bought pie shell: gently loosen the crust around the rim of its original aluminum plate. Then, carefully move the pie shell to the glass pan while it is still frozen. The frozen state makes the crust much firmer and less prone to cracking during the transfer. Before placing the crust, make sure your glass pie pan is generously coated with a non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking.

👪 Serving Size Information

This easy sweet potato pie recipe yields one full 9-inch pie, which traditionally provides 8 generous servings. However, you have the flexibility to cut larger or smaller pieces based on your guests’ appetites and your preference. Should you need to feed a larger crowd, you can easily double or triple the recipe; simply adjust the serving quantity in the recipe card, and the ingredient amounts will automatically update.

🌡️ Storage Instructions for Leftovers

Proper storage ensures your sweet potato pie remains delicious for days to come. Here’s how to store it:

Fridge: Any leftover sweet potato pie should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If you plan to store it overnight or for a short period and haven’t yet decorated it with the marshmallow whipped cream, you can simply cover the pie tightly with plastic wrap. It’s best to store the marshmallow whipped cream separately in an airtight container in the fridge to maintain its texture and freshness until serving.

Freezer: This pie freezes beautifully! For longer storage, you can freeze the baked and cooled pie (without the marshmallow topping) for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Ensure it’s well-wrapped to prevent freezer burn.

To Defrost: When ready to enjoy, transfer the frozen pie to your refrigerator and allow it to defrost overnight. Serve cold or at room temperature, then add your freshly prepared marshmallow whipped cream and garnish.

A soggy sweet potato pie crust is a common concern, often stemming from the pie filling’s naturally high moisture content. If the pie crust doesn’t cook quickly and thoroughly enough, it will absorb too much moisture from the filling, leading to a soft or even mushy bottom. There are a couple of excellent strategies to prevent this: firstly, baking the pie at an initial high temperature (as this recipe instructs) rapidly sets the crust, creating a barrier against moisture. Secondly, consider blind baking your crust with pie weights before adding the filling. Lastly, using a glass pie pan, as recommended in our top tip, significantly helps in producing a flakier, crispier crust by distributing heat more evenly to the bottom.

While not strictly necessary for food safety in modern baking (thanks to pasteurization!), scalding milk serves a valuable purpose in this sweet potato pie. Historically, it was done to kill bacteria. Today, in recipes that call for it, scalding milk is used because it becomes an excellent carrier for flavors, intensifying the overall taste of the final dish. It also helps to create a smoother, more cohesive filling by dissolving sugar more effectively and sometimes reduces overall cooking time by jump-starting the heating process of the filling. So, while you could skip it, following this step will contribute to the superior texture and flavor of your pie.

The initial high oven temperature of 425 degrees F (218 degrees C) is a critical technique for achieving a beautifully flaky and non-soggy pie crust. At this temperature, the fat in the pie dough melts rapidly and produces a burst of steam. This steam quickly separates the layers of dough, creating that desirable flaky texture. It also helps the bottom crust to firm up quickly, preventing it from absorbing too much moisture from the filling. After this crucial initial period (typically 10-15 minutes), the oven temperature is reduced to allow the pie to bake through gently and evenly without burning the crust or overcooking the filling.

Preventing cracks in your sweet potato pie filling comes down to a few key practices: primarily, avoiding both overcooking and overmixing. Overmixing can develop too much gluten in the flour, leading to a tougher, more prone-to-crack texture. Overcooking is the most common culprit, as it dries out the filling and causes it to pull apart as it cools. To combat this, bake your pie on a lower (but not the lowest) oven rack for more even heat distribution. Most importantly, use an instant-read thermometer. This pie is perfectly done when the thermometer inserted into the center registers 170 degrees F (76 degrees C). Even if it appears a bit jiggly, trust the thermometer – the pie will continue to set as it cools. For new pie bakers, a thermometer is your best friend in ensuring perfect texture every time!

No, yams and sweet potatoes are not the same, though they are often confused or used interchangeably in North American grocery stores. They belong to entirely different plant families. True sweet potatoes are sweeter, have a softer texture, and come in various colors (orange, purple, white). True yams, on the other hand, are typically starchier, less sweet, and have a rough, bark-like skin and a drier, more fibrous flesh, similar to a regular potato or yucca. I strongly advise against substituting canned yams for sweet potatoes in this particular pie recipe. Canned “yams” in the US are usually a type of sweet potato, but even then, their sugar content and texture can vary significantly. Using actual yams would result in a pie that is not sweet enough, and the texture of the filling would be substantially drier and starchier, detracting from the desired rich and creamy consistency.

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