Sweet Potato Pie Bars

These Sweet Potato Pie Bars are a twist on the classic pie — made with sweet potatoes, warm spices, a light buttery crust and topped with a marshmallow whip. Ideal for Thanksgiving, potlucks, or cozy fall nights.

Ingredients and substitutions for Sweet Potato Pie Bars

• Plain flour: Plain or all purpose works best here for a nice shortbread base. You could replace with bread flour in equal measure, if that’s all you have on hand. It is not recommended to use cake flour as this would be too fine and wouldn’t give our base a firm texture.
• Butter: Room temperature unsalted butter is used here, though salted butter would also work if that’s what you have on hand.
• Sweet potato: You'll only need a small sweet potato for the puree here. Though purple sweet potato was used here, orange is the most common and could be used in equal measure.
• Eggs: As well as adding structure to the sweet potato custard, the eggs will bind everything together, so are essential.
• Brown sugar, maple syrup and honey: The three types of sweetener here add a depth of flavor and allow a softer texture to the custard for a smooth and fall flavored pie. The brown sugar could be substituted with raw sugar.
• Spices: The ground cinnamon and nutmeg elevate the filling. You could substitute the nutmeg with allspice in equal measure.
• Heavy cream: The foundation of our custard filling. It's also great to top our pie with whipped cream, if the marshmallow topping isn't something you have time for.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Sweet Potato Pie Bars:

Step 1: Make that shortcrust base: Toss all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and cut into the flour mixture until it resembles rough breadcrumbs.

Step 2: Base it and bake: Spoon the shortcrust mix into the tin and press firmly to smooth out. Bake the crust until lightly golden.

Step 3: Filling: Blend all the ingredients for the filling until smooth.

Step 4: Bake: Until slightly jiggly in the center.

Step 5: Make the syrup for the marshmallow: Heat with a candy thermometer until the temperature reaches 115C/240F and remove from the heat.

Step 6: Whip: The egg whites and lemon juice until soft peaks form.

Step 7: Make the marshmallow topping: Continue beating the egg whites whilst slowly pouring the sugar syrup in a thin stream, until thick with a slight gloss.

Step 8: Crown: Spoon or pipe on top of the sweet potato custard and caramelize that marshmallow fluff to your preference.

Step 9: Serve up: Slice, serve and dig in!

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Sweet Potato Bars

Sylvie Taylor

These Sweet Potato Bars are a cozy dessert made with mashed sweet potatoes, warm spices, and homemade marshmallow topping. Perfect for fall gatherings, Thanksgiving treats, or healthy snack cravings.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16 bars

Calories 231 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Shortbread base

• 140 grams / 4.9 ounces butter room temperature
• 200 grams / 1 ¼ cups plain flour

Sweet potato filling

• 423 grams / 1 ⅔ cups sweet potato puree
• 110 grams / 2 large eggs room temperature
• 145 grams / ⅔ cup light brown sugar
• 80 grams / ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 40 grams / 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 grams / 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 113 grams / ½ cup heavy cream

Marshmallow topping

• 15 grams / 1 tablespoon water
• 40 grams / 3 tablespoons superfine/caster sugar
• 40 grams / 2 tablespoons honey
• 38 grams / 1 egg white room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

Shortbread base

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350F and line a 18×18 cm or 7×7 inch square baking tin with parchment paper.
• Place the flour and butter into a bowl and beat on low until the mixture looks like a rough crumble and no piece of butter is larger than a pea.
• Spoon into your baking dish and press firmly until even.
• Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until ever so slightly golden.
• Remove and allow to cool fully and lower the oven temperature to 140C/285F.

Sweet potato filling

• Place the puree, eggs, sugar, syrup, honey, spices and cream in a bowl and whisk to combine or mix with a stick blender until smooth.
• Pour into the pastry shell and smooth out evenly.
• Bake until it no longer jiggles in the center, approximately 40 minutes.
• Remove and allow to cool completely at room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill.

Marshmallow topping

• Place the water, sugar and honey in a saucepan on medium heat with a candy thermometer, cooking until the temperature reaches 107C/225F.
• Meanwhile, place the egg whites and lemon juice into a bowl and whip on medium until soft peaks form, approximately 2 minutes.
• Continue cooking the syrup until it reaches 115C/240F and remove from the heat.
• Continue beating the egg whites whilst slowly pouring the sugar syrup into the egg whites in a thin stream, beating the mixture for a further 3 minutes, until it is thick and has a slight gloss in its appearance.
• Spoon into a piping bag with a star tip or onto the bars.
• Using a blowtorch, lightly caramelize that marshmallow fluff to your preference or place under a broiler.
• Slice and serve.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• Sweet potato: You'll only need a small sweet potato for the puree here. Though purple sweet potato was used here, orange is the most common and could be used in equal measure.
• Make ahead: The sweet potatoes can be cooked and mashed up to 3 days before making the filling. You can also bake the bars 1 day before topping with the marshmallow frosting.
• Replace the marshmallow topping: You can replace the homemade marshmallow topping with store-bought marshmallows or whipped cream, if you prefer.
• Best stored: Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days with the marshmallow topping or 5 days without. You can also freeze without the topping for up to 2 months — thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
• Square tin: A square baking tin was used, though a rectangle tin of similar size would also work well.

Recipe by Roamingtaste

Nutrition

Calories: 231kcal

Keyword bars, fall dish, meringue

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