Sweet Potato Pie with Ginger Snap Crust (Gluten-Free Option)

Here is another recipe I cooked for Thanksgiving. I like this one because I used one of my favorite cookies for the crust, which are in fact, gluten-free. This way everyone can enjoy this pie.

My sister was already making two pumpkin pies and I was missing living in the good ol’ south, so sweet potato pie came to mind. I used two recipes as a base and added a personal (healthy- of course) twist to them. Martha Stewart and a recipe on Epicurious helped me get started on this concoction.

This pie is so good that I ate half of it in one sitting. Yes, my sister can attest that the night after Thanksgiving, still in the holiday spirit of stuffing face, I ate the remaining half eaten pie. That being said, you should absolutely try this recipe.

Crust:
 -5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

 -1 cup finely crushed gingersnap cookies (use GF, delicious cookies pictured below)

 -1/2 cup finely chopped, toasted pecans

 -1 teaspoon agave

 -Pinch of salt

Filling:

-2 to 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
-2 large eggs
-1/3 cup light-brown sugar
-3 tablespoons agave
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure the rack is in the center of the oven. Dust or spray the pie pan. Meanwhile, add all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Press cookies into the butter mixture with a fork to moisten them. Pour mixture into pan and flatten out with a spatula. Bake for 5 minutes then cool.

For the filling, place potatoes in a large pot and fill it with water. Boil them for about 15 minutes or until very tender (test by piercing with a fork or knife). Drain and allow them to cool. I placed them into the freezer to speed up the process.

Turn up the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place potatoes in a food processor and blend until smooth.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, brown sugar and agave until smooth. Add potatoes, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and almond milk. Once thoroughly mixed and smooth, pour into the piecrust.

Bake for about 50 minutes.

Topping: Optional

-1 cup of pecans

-2 tablespoons butter

-2 tablespoons agave

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium/ low heat. Add remaining ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes. Pour over pie. Once it cools it will harden and caramelize.