Sweet Potato Bars
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.
Servings 16 bars
Calories 231kcal
Ingredients
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 231kcal