sweet potato coconut pie.

after 4 full days of eating nothing but thanksgiving leftovers, i present to you my favorite recipe of the season. i actually made this particular pie last year for thanksgiving back east (and christmas too, i think!) after my mom spotted it in the New York Times, and everybody loved it. the reviews were no different this year - while the coconut flavor sounds unusual, it isn't too strong and adds the perfect amount of sweetness to give this pie some more flavor! i highly recommend making it for your next family gathering, dinner party, or any old tuesday night.

sweet potato coconut pie

as seen in the New York Times

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs, made from one package graham crackers, which has 9 full cracker sheets

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

3 eggs

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

Large pinch salt

1 cup coconut milk.

heat oven to 350 degrees. put the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan, add water to cover by about an inch, and bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the potatoes are very tender, 12 to 15 minutes. drain, then pulse in a blender until smooth

while the potatoes cook, put the graham crackers in a food processor and pulse several times until they are finely ground. add the shredded coconut, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon each of the ginger and cinnamon, and pulse once or twice; add the melted butter and pulse just to combine. press the mixture into a 9-inch pie dish and bake for about 7 minutes. remove the crust from the oven and cool.

in a food processor, combine the eggs with the remaining sugar, ginger and cinnamon, along with the nutmeg, cloves and salt; pulse until well combined. add coconut milk and pulse to combine, then add the sweet potatoes and pulse until just smooth.

put the pie plate on a baking sheet. pour the sweet potato mixture into the crust and bake until the mixture is set on top but still quite moist, 40 to 45 minutes. cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

serve with some whipped cream and some shredded coconut on top! if so desired, of course :)

xo jordan