Ingredients
Crust:
- 18 full graham crackers
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
- 2 cups (16 ounces) sweet potato puree
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon bourbon (or 1 teaspoon vanilla)
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Topping:
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
For the crust:
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with foil.
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Place the graham crackers, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the melted butter and pulse until the mixture is moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Keep oven at 350°F.
For the filling:
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In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat all the sweet potato filling ingredients until well combined. Pour over the graham cracker crust and bake for 40 minutes, or until set but still slightly wiggly in the middle. Let cool to room temperature.
For the marshmallow topping:
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In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
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Meanwhile, in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue to cook until a candy thermometer registers exactly 240°F. Immediately remove from heat. Turn the mixture on low speed and carefully and gradually drizzle the syrup into the egg whites. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is thick and glossy and looks like marshmallow fluff, about 7 minutes longer. Add in the vanilla and beat until combined.
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Spread the marshmallow topping evenly over the sweet potato layer. Use a kitchen torch to gently torch the marshmallow layer until lightly golden. Alternatively, place the pan under the broiler and broil for 1 minute, or until lightly golden. Don't step away - the broiler can go from toasted to burnt FAST!
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Refrigerate the pan for at least 1 hour before cutting into squares and serving. The squares can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, though they are best served soon after the marshmallow is made.
Recipe Notes
Feel free to leave the sugar out of the sweet potato filling if you prefer things less sweet.
I, like other bakers found that the marshmallow fell off the sweet potato.
The marshmallow itself was hard to make. I did exactly what the recipe said and it burnt to a crisp before it reached 240 degrees.
I made it again on medium and it still burnt.
Delicious…. And the Marshmallow fluff.. perfection!
Could you use marshmallow fluff on top?
That should work!
Just made these and they are amazing! Not too sweet and a fairly easy recipe. I got rave reviews from the coworkers & will be bringing them to a small family gathering. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe looks really good and I would love to make it, however, I am gluten free. They do make gluten free graham crackers but they are not the same size as the regular ones. Please tell me how many cups of the graham cracker crumbs you need for the crust.
Thank you.
Do you use prepared sweet potato puree or make it? If you use prepared can you tell me what it is and if you make it can you share the recipe please? Thank you.
Just made these for Thanksgiving. They were good, however, I want to know in what universe does it take only 30 minutes to make? Took me 4 hours!! Also, I followed the directions strictly and the marshmallow topping did not turn out, flopped miserably! Using already made fluff or mini marshmallows would be fine.
LOL Karen.
J…. I did the recipe as directed and the same thing happen to me… it still tasted great. I’m going to try it again next weekend for Thanksgiving #2, going to try and let the marshmallow/egg mixture cool a little before pouring on to the sweet potato pie part. Would still love to know if the original baker knows a secret!!!
My pie never fully set even though I added 20 minutes to baking time. I let it overnight and went to slice it but it wasn’t firm enough. What did I do wrong?
Help!
I made a double recipe last night for Thanksgiving. I took both out today to slice before hitting the road and the marshmellow/egg whites are literally sliding off the sweet potato mixture! Will anything help or is it a goner?
I live in France and had to substitute honey for corn syrup and speculoos cookies for graham crackers but it turned out delish. The honey I used changed the flavor of the whipped topping but it was still delish.
Yay! Glad you were able to make it work. The speculoos cookies in the crust sound amazing 🙂
I maide it, double size for work, looks great, same as yours. I will let you know my coworkers opinion…
That crust looks amazing!! Could I sub canned pumpkin for the sweet potato purée?
I haven’t tried that myself, but if you give it a shot let us know how it goes!
Made these with canned pumpkin purée. Enjoy! FYI – Took about an hour and twenty to set. Actually, made them for my wife’s coworkers so
I didn’t get to try them, but I was told they were a big hit.
love that this is mostly naturally sweet! And sweetened with sweet potatoes! Thank you for this recipe, love the topping too, really all of the layers!
Could I take a short cut using “Fluff” marshmallow topping? I know, I know, but would that work okay?
I’ve never tried!
why don’t I just eat a gallon of butter
Incredible! Just fantastic!! Loveeeee tô recipes!!
Will leaving out the cream of tartar have any significant negative effects? I don’t want to buy some for one recipe and then never use it again :).
These are delicious!
Joyce — Puree is a fancy word for processing a cooked food in a blender until creamy.
Ibambi — I used 8 oz of crushed graham cracker crumbs. That was half of the 16 oz box that I purchased. Depending on the brand, graham crackers usually come in squares that can be split in to 2 pieces or rectangles that can be split into 4 pieces, but you can also find them in various shapes or already crushed.
What is the sweet potato puree ?
Well I am a marshmallow fan for sweet potato casserole, but seeing these bars makes me want to toss the casserole out. Looking forward to making these. WOW!
These look incredible! Already has me thinking about Thanksgiving… there I said it!
These look incredible Tessa, how clever! They’re like sweet potato casserole meets s’mores. I will most DEFINITELY be making these! 😀
What an amazing idea! Gotta get start with the sweet potato baking ASAP!
Pinned.
Hi Tessa,
Love your blog. How many graham crackers by weight? I have mini individual crackers to use up.
Looks like an amazing recipe, I’ll be making it tomorrow night. ?
Thanks, B.
Wow those look incredible! I just love that layer of fluffy toasted meringues 😀 I’ve never even tried sweet potato pie, but I really ought to, it sounds amazing–especially in bar form!
Tessa, these pie bars look so good. Sweet potatoes have always been a favorite root vegetable of mine. I prefer sweet potato pie over pumpkin pie any day. Have you ever tried Jersey white sweet potatoes? They are just as good as regular sweet potatoes but a little milder in taste.
I’ve never seen those. Will have to keep an eye out – thanks for the tip!
Waw, just waw. These sound amazing. So fluffy and creamy. Oh my. There is not one thing that I don’t like in this bars.