Five-Spice Sweet Potato Pie

It's only been a few short days since my favorite holiday of the year and I just now ate the last slice of the pie you see above. It wouldn't have made it to Friday night if we wouldn't have packed up the car and headed out to Sequoia National Park after waking up from our Thanksgiving induced food coma, but I decided to leave it at home to give us a nice treat for when we came home today, all grumpy and grumbly, knowing the hours to be few before we have to get back to real life and less fun, less calorie dense meals.

Had we not decided to take advantage of the long weekend to go away, and if we wouldn't have had to choose between so many delicious homemade pies on Thanksgiving, the lifespan of this sweet potato pie would have been measured in hours, not days. I am a fan of the sweet potato in any form, and because I don't make as many pies as I should, I rarely get to indulge in a good sweet potato pie. Which made deciding what dessert to contribute to the big meal all that easier.

Five-Spice Sweet Potato Pie

From Cooking Light

Five-spice powder is a blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns. It is usually sold in most supermarkets, but if you have trouble finding it, or don't want to invest in a spice you don't think you will use often, you can substitute pumpkin pie spice.

2 lbs sweet potatoes (about 5 medium)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder (or pumpkin pie spice)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Homemade or store-bought pie dough*

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2) Pierce sweet potatoes several times with a fork and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until tender. Cool slightly. Peel and discard skins. Place the sweet potatoes in a medium bowl and mash. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar and the next 8 ingredients (through eggs). Beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.

3) Fit pie dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Pour sweet potato mixture into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees F for 55 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool pie completely on a wire rack.

*I had the greatest of intentions of including a homemade pie dough recipe, but I had some issues with the recipe I used to make my pie and need to figure out what went wrong. Rest assured dough recipe experimentation and the results will be forthcoming.