Maple Sweet Potato Pie Bars

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With all the flavor of that classic southern pie, these Maple Sweet Potato Pie Bars are made easy and with good-for-you ingredients. A creamy, rich, maple sweet potato filling is sandwiched between an oat and pecan crumble. Make it for a potluck dessert, or when you have a craving for sweet potato pie but don't feel like making an actual pie!

Healthier Sweet Potato Pie Bars

A sweet potato pie is an absolute classic American Pie. It's sweet and rich and one of my favorite pies. These Sweet Potato Pie Bars pay homage to the classic pie, but make it a bit healthier and easier to make by turning them into a dessert bar instead. This recipe also switches up a few of the classic ingredients and flavors the sweet potato filling with maple syrup, cinnamon and cloves. The crust and the crumble topping are actually just one mixture made gluten-free by using healthier ingredients like oats and pecans. Can't we basically just call this breakfast at this point?

These Maple Sweet Potato Pie Bars are pretty simple to make (though do have a long baking time since it requires roasted sweet potatoes so plan accordingly) and are perfect to serve for dessert. Top it with some simple whipped cream or maple whipped cream and serve!

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Bars

• Sweet Potatoes (the recipe calls for roasted sweet potatoes, so be sure to leave time to do that before making the pie bars)
• Old-Fashioned Oats
• Pecans
• Maple Syrup
• Unsalted Butter
• Dark Brown Sugar
• Warm Spices (think cinnamon and cloves)
• Heavy Cream
• Milk
• Eggs
• Vanilla

To Roast or Boil the Sweet Potatoes

The ingredients call for roasted sweet potatoes. This is obviously the most time consuming method of cooking the sweet potatoes. It takes roughly an hour at 400 degrees to roast medium to large sweet potatoes. This recipe calls for roasting them, instead of boiling them because it results in the most flavorful and sweet puree. Roasting the sweet potato concentrates the flavor by evaporating the liquid and creates a nuanced flavor.

If you prefer to skip this step and boil the sweet potatoes (or cook in the Instant Pot) the recipe will still work, but will be a little less flavorful.

Make Ahead Instructions

This isn't a complicated or hard recipe to make, but it does involve three separate steps: roasting the sweet potatoes, preparing the pie bars and baking them. It takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete from start to finish because of the long cooking time of the sweet potato and the pie bars themselves.

To make this easier, you can roast the sweet potatoes ahead of time. This can be done up to 3 days ahead. It is easiest to remove the skin from the sweet potatoes when they are still warm. Store the flesh of the sweet potato in the refrigerator.

You can also make the crust ahead of time. Store the crust and the oat-pecan topping at room temperature up to 1 day ahead of time.

And you could also make the filling up to 1 day ahead of time.

The pie bars themselves can be made 1-2 days ahead of time. The longer they are stored, the wetter the oat-pecan crust tends to get.

How to Serve Sweet Potato Pie Bars

These sweet potato pie bars can be served warm or cold. They are easier to handle as bars when they are chilled. They are baked with a parchment paper sling to make for an easier removal so you can slice into neat squares, though they should be chilled first before attempting to lift it out.

If you wanted to serve it warm, it will be a little more delicate and you won't get super neat slices--but it will sure be delicious.

Serve as is with simple whipped cream or maple whipped cream and serve!

Check out these others classic pie flavors with a twist:

• Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie
• Mile-High Apple Pie
• Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Full Recipe

Sweet Potato Pie Bars

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With all the flavor of that classic southern pie, these Maple Sweet Potato Pie Bars are made easy and with good-for-you ingredients. A creamy, rich, maple sweet potato filling is sandwiched between an oat and pecan crumble. Make it for a potluck dessert, or when you have a craving for sweet potato pie but don't feel like making an actual pie!

• Author: Kelli Avila
• Prep Time: 00:15
• Cook Time: 01:45
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 9 Pie Bars
• Category: Pie Bars
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

For Oat-Pecan Crumble:

• ½ cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing dish
• 1-¾ cups (180 grams) old-fashioned oats, divided
• 1 cup (120 grams) pecans, toasted
• ⅓ cup packed (65 grams) dark brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt

For Filling:

• 2 medium to large sweet potatoes, (about 16 ounces), roasted until tender
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup whole milk
• ⅓ cup (100 grams) real maple syrup
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons packed (25 grams) dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Pinch cloves

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and butter a 8” x 8” square baking dish. Cut out a strip of parchment to fit inside the dish with edges hanging over the edge. Stick inside the baking dish and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a medium pan and set aside. 
3. Add 1-½ cups oats to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the oats are finely ground. Add in toasted pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and pulse until pecans are ground to a coarse pieces. Pour the ground pecan mixture and the remaining ¼ cup of whole oats into the pan with butter and mix together. Wipe out the bowl of the food processor and set aside for use with sweet potato pie filling.
4. Place 2 cups of the pecan mixture in the bottom of the baking dish and pat down. Par-bake for crust for 10 minutes. Then set aside until ready to use.
5. Meanwhile, make the sweet potato pie filling: Remove the skin from the roasted sweet potatoes if not already done. Add the sweet potatoes to the now empty bowl of the food processor and processor until smooth. Add in the cream, milk, maple syrup, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt and cloves. Processor for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is completely smooth. 
6. Pour the batter on top of the oat crust. Sprinkle the remaining oat crumble on top.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the filling is mostly puffed up and the internal temperature reaches above 180 degrees.