Vegan Sweet Potato Pie With PB2 And Persimmon - Simple, Healthy, Low-Fat, Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free

 Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2

This Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Peanut Butter Powder and another surprise ingredient - a persimmon ~ is the quintessentially SASSY ~ Super Affordable, Simple, Satisfying & Yummy ~ pie recipe. It's healthy, and can be enjoyed as a low-fat, sugar-free breakfast, snack, or post dinner, evening mini meal, with just enough natural sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth, I made it this way deliberately, to have as a healthy, easy to grab snack, as opposed to a dessert. It's a great way to use seasonal sweet potatoes ~ as well as winter squash ~ especially on top of my Oat Cider Pie Crust, modified a bit for this recipe.

Of course, if you prefer a Vegan Sweet Potato Pie dessert for your holiday meal, that's still pretty healthy  ~ and SASSY ~ either add a little sweetener of choice, or top it with a fresh whipped plant-based cream, or non-dairy yogurt. Alternatively, you may also like my other Vegan Sweet Potato Pie that's a little richer, while still being lower in fat than typical Sweet Potato Pie recipes.

The Inspiration for Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2

Since we often finish eating our lunch/dinner in the early afternoon, we find ourselves looking for a simple snack or healthy dessert for a light last meal in the evening. Last month, I purchased a couple 2 pound sweet potatoes at our local farmers market. I always buy smaller ones, roughly uniform in size. To our amazement, these sweet potatoes were fantastic!  Denser and sweeter than typical for orange flesh sweet potatoes.  

I've since bought several more which we've been batch cooking, along with some winter squashes to have for a quick starch addition to our meals, either with beans, greens and/or other vegetables, or as that stand alone, evening snack we've been wanting.

All well and good, except I had a hankering for sprucing up the sweet potatoes. Making a Sweet Potato Pie makes it seem more complete, or fun.  Just take a slice out of the fridge, let it come up to temp, then grab a fork ~ or a spoon ~ and enjoy.  Better still, this crust holds up perfectly to hold in your hands.

What inspired me to finally make the sweet potato pie I had been imagining was when I saw the Butterscotch Pie recipe from Center for Nutrition Studies land in my inbox. It was similar enough to what I was thinking about trying that it lit my fire to create my own version.  Hence, my healthy, low-fat, nearly sweetener-free, Vegan Sweet Potato Pie using my Vegan Oat Cider Pie Crust was born.

Their Butterscotch Pie recipe uses orange sweet potatoes and a cup of mashed bananas. I did not have ripe bananas on hand. Neither did I want them in this recipe. It turned out, I had something better. 

Three Things Magically Came Together To Make This Pie Perfect

As stated, the thought to make another healthy Vegan Sweet Potato Pie had been simmering in the back of my mind for a few weeks. Three things came together to help my desire for a healthy ~ versus dessert-y ~ sweet potato pie really pop, rather than flop.

1. I just happened to recently buy a few fresh looking organic white sweet potatoes from Kroger.
2. During that same shopping trip, I saw a Silk Soy Yogurt on sale. I grabbed the last one. Not only do I rarely buy yogurt, but soy yogurt is much less available these days. (The yogurt is not part of the recipe, but it is good on top!)
3. I purchased a handful of the smaller Fuyu persimmons a week or two earlier that needed to soften up a bit. I placed them on a different counter, away from my vision, as the sweet potatoes and winter squash were in all my big storage bowls. I then forgot about them. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. Well, I remembered them just in time. They were at the perfect, soft, ripe gelatinous stage, perfect for blending into this Sweet Potato Pie! Plus, the orange color added to the final pie looking more orange, and boosted the beta carotene content.

It seemed as though I was divinely guided to make this pie, even though I acquired each of the ingredients ~ seemingly randomly ~ before the inspiration took form. Plus, my modified Vegan Oat Cider Pie Crust, made with prune 'juice' and dates was a perfect base.

Oat Cider - Or Prune Juice And Date - Pie Crust

To make my Vegan Oat Cider Pie Crust, I had to come up with a good substitution for the apple cider, as we had none. Again, fortune smiled on me. We often have a jar of non-sorbate, dehydrated prunes soaking in a jar of water in the fridge. We had just enough left to use the soaking liquid in lieu of the apple cider.  

I also added some deglet dates to the pie crust, for a little added sweetness, and to help the crust bind together. Both worked like a charm! The pie crust came out great, especially as a healthy pie that can be enjoyed for breakfast.

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Filling

In my other rich and creamy Vegan Sweet Potato Pie, I used orange flesh sweet potatoes. For this recipe, I used 2 large white sweet potatoes, which are denser, and super sweet, along with one half of a honey nut winter squash (like a small, light brown skin colored butternut squash, with more deep orange flesh) - enough to make 2 cups mashed.

Feel free to use what you have on hand, including a mix of sweet potatoes and winter squash. Because there are so few ingredients in this pie, I believe the denser sweet potatoes help it to have a surprisingly firm texture, and naturally sweet flavor.

Since I was desiring a healthy, low-fat snack option, I added 1/4 cup  + 1 tablespoon of PB2 powder. This added a tad more protein, a hint of the peanut butter flavor, and a firmer texture. 

Alternatively, if you desire a higher protein Vegan Sweet Potato Pie, sub the PB2 with 1/4 cup or so of your favorite vanilla, plain, or other flavored protein powder. You may need to adjust the recipe, adding either more vanilla, cinnamon, or perhaps a liquid sweetener, like sorghum, brown rice, or maple syrup.

I also added 2 very ripe Fuyu persimmons.  IF you can't find Fuyu persimmons (my favorite), you can try using 1 larger, Hachiya persimmon, or going without. OR sub 1-2 mashed bananas, if that a-peels to you (being punny), or 1/2+ cup soft, baked or stewed apples, or 5+ mashed, rehydrated prunes. Experiment. In my opinion, the persimmons were the perfect complement to the sweet potatoes.

The Rest of the Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Ingredients 

I added vanilla powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and a pinch each of nutmeg, and sea salt. I also added a small amount of date sugar. Basically, I spilled out what little remained in the bag after adding a spoonful to the Oat (Prune Juice) Crust. 

That's it! 

NO other thickeners, binders, nut or seed butters, oil, or added fat of any variety. 

So let's get started on this SASSY Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Powder recipe!

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Powder Recipe 

This recipe comes together very quickly once your sweet potatoes, or sweet potatoes and squash are baked and cooled. If you have an inkling to try this super easy and satisfying Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Powder (and Persimmon) recipe, plan ahead!  Batch cook some extra sweet potatoes and/or squash, and get some small (Fuyu) persimmons ripening!

Vegan Oat Cider or Oat Prune Juice & Date Pie Crust Ingredients & Steps

1 Vegan Oat Cider Pie Crust (or try my Oat Prune Juice & Date Pie Crust variation:)

• 1&1/2 cups oats, ground (use gluten-free oats if needed)
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. (more if needed) brown rice flour (for gluten-free) or use white whole wheat, whole wheat, spelt, barley, or unbleached, all purpose flour of choice 
• About 4-5 Tbsp. cold prune juice or apple cider (I used the liquid from my soaked, dehydrated prunes) - use cold water if needed
• About 6 pitted deglet dates, cut into smaller pieces
• 2 Tbsp. oil, more if needed
• 1+ Tbsp. date sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Small pinch of sea salt

Steps to Make the Pie Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Prepare a pie pan with a little oil or baking spray, spread evenly around the bottom and sides
3. Grind oats in a food processor until the texture of a stone ground whole wheat.
4. Add flour and dates, and pulse a couple minutes.
5. Add remaining ingredients, and pulse until combined.
6. With a wet hand, grab some of the batter. If it sticks pretty well, you're good to go. If still crumbly, add a tablespoon more at a time of liquid - apple cider, prune juice / soaking liquid or water, pulse some more, and check again. If it's too wet, add a tablespoon at a time more flour. The dates will be in small chunks.
7. Press evenly into your pie plate, being sure to press at least half way up the sides.
8. Place on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. 
9. Take out of the oven, and set on a cooling tray until ready to use.

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Filling Ingredients and Steps

• About 3 large sweet potatoes or a blend of sweet potatoes and winter squash - I recommend trying white sweet potatoes if available as they are denser, and quite naturally sweet, or a blend of white and orange flesh sweet potatoes, or sweet potatoes with some denser, sweeter winter squash, like sweet dumpling, buttercup, or kabocha. Also good with the honey nut squash which has a slight orange flavor. I used 2 large white sweet potatoes + 1/2 honey nut squash
• 2 very soft and ripe small Fuyu persimmons, or a substitute as suggested above
• 1/4 cup (+ 1 Tbsp.) PB2 powder, or other plant-based vanilla (or other complementary flavored) protein powder
• 1 Tbsp. (+/-) date or maple sugar, or sorghum, brown rice, or maple syrup (to taste) - see notes
• 1/2-1 tsp. each vanilla powder (I use Cook's)* and vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. sea salt

Steps to Make the Vegan Sweet Potato Pie with PB2 Filling

1. Bake 2 large sweet potatoes, and a small winter squash like a honey nut, or 3 larger sweet potatoes, ideally at least one denser white sweet potato. Remove from oven, and let cool.
2. Once baked, if oven was at a higher setting, turn down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  (Otherwise preheat to 350º F.)
3. Lightly oil a pie pan, including up the sides.
4. Peel sweet potatoes once cool, and scoop out squash if using. Measure out 2 cups mashed.
5. Place in food processor or blender with 1/4 cup of PB2, and remaining filling ingredients. Blend until creamy.
6. Once blended, taste test. Adjust if needed: If too thin, or not quite peanutty enough, add another tablespoon of PB2 (or protein powder, if using).  If too thin, but peanutty enough tasting, you can thicken it with either a tablespoon of ground chia or flax seeds, arrowroot or tapioca flour, or something similar.  If using arrowroot or tapioca, dissolve first with just enough cold water to dissolve it.  Ideally, no flour will be needed.) If you are on the fence about whether it is thick enough or not, don't worry about it. It will thicken up once baked, and later, once chilled.
7. Pour filing into prepared pie crust, and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. 
8. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Check the pie. If it looks as though it is just staring to firm up at the top, but needs a bit more time, loosely tent a piece of foil on top, otherwise the crust will get too browned. Bake for another 5-10 minutes. 
9. Take it out and let it cool for 20-30 minutes before slicing.

*If you like hot drinks like I do, you may enjoy having the Cook's vanilla powder around. I often add a little to my morning hot matcha latte, or other hot beverages, and our hot cereal.

Notes:

1. Sub puréed prunes, stewed or baked apples (store bought apple sauce would be too watery and thin), rehydrated dried apricots ~ or a large mashed banana ~ if you don't have any persimmons available. Alternatively, you can see how it tastes without any added fruit. 
2. A thickener can be used, as mentioned in step 6. If using something like arrowroot or kudzu root, dissolve in cool water or a little of that prune soaking liquid if it's cold before adding to the pie filling.  Alternatively, add 1+ tablespoons of ground chia or flax seeds. I would still dissolve the seeds in a little liquid first, as if making an egg substitute. You could try blending with nondairy milk instead of water. Another option if you don't mind having it be higher in fat is to add 1 tablespoon of almond, peanut, or cashew butter, or tahini, like my other Vegan Sweet Potato Pie recipe. OR, add a tablespoon of brown rice flour, or other flour. You'll have to make the call based on what you have, and how dense your sweet potatoes and/or winter squash happen to be.
3. Feel free to add more cinnamon, vanilla, or even a pumpkin pie spice, or allspice if you like. 
4. Add sweetener if you prefer it to be more like a dessert. I prefer brown rice or sorghum syrup. As they are in liquid form, you may have to adjust the filling to make sure it is firm enough.
5. Add some orange zest to bring out the orange highlights of some squash and sweet potatoes.

 You may also like my other holiday pie recipes:

Cranberry Apple Crisp Pie

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie, Version #1

Awesome Vegan Pumpkin Pie

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