Passport & Plate - "Jus a Bite" Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Pockets
USA | Wednesday, March 12, 2014 | 4 photos
Ingredients
"Jus a Bites":
3 Sweet Potatoes
1 Can of Evaporated Milk
2 Eggs
1 Box of pre-made Pie Crust
2 Cups of Brown Sugar
1/2 cup of White Sugar
1 tablespoon of Pure Vanilla
1 cup of Chopped Pecans
1/2 Tablespoon of Cinnamon
1 stick of Softened Unsalted Butter
1 Dash of nutmeg
Caramel Sauce:
1 cup of Brown sugar
3-4 teaspoons of Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup of Half and Half
1 tablespoon of vanilla
pinch of salt
How to prepare this recipe'Jus' a Bites:
Preheat oven to 375. Makes about 20 pieces.
Peel and boil 3 medium to large sized sweet potatoes. Once sweet potatos become soft; you can check with a spoon or fork; drain them. In a bowl combine sweet potatoes with the stick of butter, evaporated milk, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, pecans, cinnamon, and eggs. Mix with a spoon or cake blender until the mix is as smooth as possible.
Oil a cookie sheet. On a floured surface, roll out the pre-made pie crust it into even size squares or circles; if you care about neatness. Place each piece of pie crust on to the oiled cookie sheet. take about a table spoon of the mix (depending on the size of your cut outs) and place them on to each piece. Roll out the other pie crust and cut them just as you did previously.
Take a piece of the newly sliced pie crust and gently place it over a piece on the cookie sheet. To seal the squares use your fingers or the end of a fork creating a pattern around the bite. once each square has been covered dust cinnamon and sugar on top of them. Place the bites into the oven for about 20-30 mins or until brown.
Caramel Sauce:
Mix all of the ingredients (except vanilla) together over a medium heat in a small pan. stir with a spoon for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until it starts to thicken. (It will bubble a lot) Add in vanilla and stir for another minute or so. Remove the caramel from the hot pot into a bowl or container.
Dip "Jus a Bites" freely in the caramel sauce or drizzle it on top.
The story behind this recipeThis recipe is an adaptation of my Great Grandmother's sweet potato pie recipe that was passed down to my Granny, Mother, and to my sisters and me. Each generation has their own spin of the basic sweet potato pie recipe, but they are mainly slight improvements. My granny added evaporated milk instead of whole Milk, which my Great Grandmother used. My mother added nutmeg and pecans, and my sisters and I added the bites.
Every year during the holiday season there are always family members that never want a whole slice of pie so they will ask for "Jus a bite". Who really wants a "jus a bite of pie"? So one Thanksgiving my sisters and I were joking about the people who pretend they don't want a whole slice of pie and I had an idea. Jokingly I said, " we should make some bites for people so the pies aren't cut up all weirdly". One of my sisters suggested that we actually make sort of a turn over or pockets. As an experiment we grabbed some of the left over pie crust and sweet potatoes that were suppose to be served as a dish and created our little bites.
Everyone in our family loved our twist on Great Grandmothers pie, it was our special improvement on the family recipe. And believe me, they weren't "jus" taking bites! since then, it has been a tradition for my sisters and I to make those bites for various family functions. It is also our new bonding activity.
