The purple sweet potato is the cousin of the well-known orange sweet potato. It gets its purple color from anthocyanins and antioxidants.
Anthocyanins offer a host of wonderful medical benefits – from protecting the liver from inflammation to reducing uric acid (high in people with gout) and even reducing blood sugar levels (by increasing the secretion of GLP-1, which stimulates insulin secretion while reducing glucose production in the liver.)
I hope you enjoy this recipe as a refreshing departure from using traditional sweet potato or pumpkin.
In winter, I like desserts that are grounding and earthy – a purple sweet potato pie is exactly that.
In the recipe, I do not peel the purple sweet potato because the skin offers plenty of fiber – a master gut “sweeper” and hormone regulator. But, the skin will add a slightly astringent taste to the pie – so, if you have guests coming over who might be less health-conscious, peel the sweet potato.
- FILLING
- 2 medium purple sweet potatoes, unpeeled
- 1 13.66-ounce can
full fat coconut milk - ¼ cup maple syrup
- Zest of 2 organic oranges
- 1 cup freshly pressed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- CRUST
- 2 cups nuts of your choice; I used 1 cup hazelnuts and 1 cup walnuts
- Dash of sea salt
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- DECORATION
- Coconut flakes
- Toasted almond slivers
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Cut the sweet potatoes horizontally in half and bake for 1 hour, or until soft when pierced with a fork.
- To make the crust, place the nuts and salt in the food processor and pulse until crumbly.
- Add all the other crust ingredients and pulse again until well integrated. Do not over-pulse as the crust will then become runny.
- Transfer the nut mixture to the pie pan and, using your fingers, spread it evenly all the way to the rim of the pan. Place in a freezer.
- Once the sweet potatoes are baked, cut them to smaller pieces and place in the food processor. Add all the filling ingredients and blend until a smooth paste develops.
- Remove the crust from the freezer and fill it up with the sweet potato mixture. Spread the mixture evenly and freeze for 5-6 hours before serving.
- Decorate the pie with coconut flakes and almond slivers.
- Serve chilled.
Food processor
9-inch pie pan
Just week ago I made a Hawaii sweet potato cake for my husband and it was made with regular wheat and dairy, it really looked delicious and I tought to look some similar recipe from internet … and you just posted it , awesome
and I do have a sweet potatoes already , guess who is going to make it…yes me
Thanks Magdalena
Hi Anni,
Yes, wonderful! We would love to hear your thoughts on the recipe! ~Deanna HB Team
I can’t wait to try this! I love sweet potatoes and have been wanting to make a purple sweet potato dessert for a while. Thanks Magdalena! You’re the best.
We are excited about this recipe too Teresa! Please let us know how it goes 🙂 ~Deanna HB Team
What if you can’t eat coconut, MCT oil, or anything coconut?
Hi Terri,
We haven’t tested the recipe using other ingredients, but please feel free to make any adjustment to accommodate your diet and let us know how it works!
Jeanne HB Team
I am on the east coast and have tried all of our specialty grocery stores as well as chain stores and cannot find any purple sweet potatoes. Can you recommend a website or a place that I can possibly order them from.
Thank you
Hi Angel,
Have you tried your local farmers market or Whole foods? I might even ask the produce manager, at a specialty grocery store, to see if they could special order them for you. I hope this helps!
Jeanne HB Team
Hi, is this a recipe from one of Magdalena’s books? And is it available for purchase? Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hi Belinda, No, this is a new recipe only found here on Magdalena’s Blog page, but the cookbook does have lots of wonderful recipes, as well. Here is the link, if you are interested: https://hormonesbalance.com/cfhb/
~ Jeanne HB Team
[…] Purple Sweet Potato Pie […]
Wonder if lemon would work instead of orange? Also wonderif it would taste good, although different without tge spices?
Give it a try and let us know how it turns out! 😉
HB Team
What does the can of full fat coconut milk mean? Is this evaporated coconut, condensed coconut OR coconut milk that you can actually drink? Looking forward to making this for Thanksgiving!
Thank you!
“Medium” means different things to people. Would you mind giving the weight of the purple potatoes that you used? I plan to try this for Thanksgiving. Thanks!!