Marbled Sweet Potato and Cream Cheese Pie Recipe

Every week, we’re spotlighting a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Here, Christine Arel of No Gojis, No Glory shows off a creamy, dreamy twist on sweet potato pie.

Photo: Christine Arel

Marbled Sweet Potato Pie
Serves 8-10

I’ve got to admit, I’ve never been a fan of sweet potato or pumpkin pies. To me, they’re just a big heap of boring layered atop a thick, tasteless crust. (Have I whet your appetite yet? Ha!) But for this marbled sweet potato pie, I added a layer of cream cheese, and it made a huge difference in flavor. [And a bonus for the health-conscious: Coconut oil, Greek yogurt, and homemade powdered sugar make this pie a lighter affair.]

2 medium sweet potatoes
1½ cup (6.5 ounces) organic gingersnap cookies (I used Newman’s Own)
3 tbsp coconut oil
¾ cup coconut sugar
¾ cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt, divided
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup organic cream cheese (I used Organic Valley)
2 tbsp Sucanat powdered sugar (See note below)
¼ tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and place on the center rack. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender. Unwrap and allow to cool.
Reduce oven to 350°F.

Place gingersnap cookies into a food processor and process until finely ground. Add oil and continue to process until well combined. Add cookie crumbs to a 9” pie pan, pressing firmly into the pan and ensuring the bottom and sides are covered. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven.

Wipe out the food processor so it’s free of crumbs. Peel the sweet potatoes, add to the food processor, and puree until smooth with no visible lumps. Transfer the puree to a separate bowl and measure out 1½ cups (store the remainder for another use). Return the 1½ cups of puree to the food processor and add the coconut sugar, ½ cup yogurt, eggs, egg yolk, cinnamon and nutmeg; process until combined. Fill the cookie crust with the puree.

Clean out the food processor once more, and add ¼ cup of yogurt, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and ginger; puree until smooth.

Using about a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture at a time, create 2 concentric circles on the pie’s surface. (One should be about 1 inch from the pie’s edge, the other about 4.) Then, using a wooden skewer or chopstick, drag the tip back and forth through the cream cheese circles, creating a swirl pattern as you go, such as is shown in this video.

Bake until firm to the touch, about 50 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Note: One of the ingredients is Sucanat powdered sugar. I make my own by throwing some Sucanat [a brand of dehydrated cane juice] into a high powered blender for a minute, and voila! I have powdered sugar. I wouldn’t recommend using store-bought “pure sugar cane” confectioners’ sugar because it contains cornstarch. (If you don’t have Sucanat, you can sub it out for coconut sugar.)

More show-stopping pies:

Easy fruit hand pies, aka the perfect winter pick-me-up

Cute mini muffin tin apple pies

A terrifically tart lemon-basil custard pie with gorgeous red berries

What’s your favorite pie recipe? Tell us below!