6
Dec

Mini Maple Sweet Potato Pies

Did you know that sweet potatoes are considered one of nature’s most superior forms of vitamin A, that there also exists a purple-flesh version, and that in Benton, Kentucky this lucky spud is celebrated annually during an event called the Tater Day festival? Yeah, I didn’t know any of this either (thank you Wikipedia for feeding my love of random food facts). What I do know is that sweet potatoes are DELICIOUS – especially when combined with maple syrup, sausage, and pie crust! I found this recipe about a month ago on a really cool blog called The Tomato Tart. As soon as I saw the name of the recipe I knew I had to make it.
I love maple, I love sweet potato, and I love anything in mini form. There’s something so wonderful about a little mini morsel that you can just pop in your mouth, no silverware, no plate, no guilt. Well, a little guilt if you’re like me and allow the mini status to justify eating as many as a you want- I mean they are mini, so its okay…right? Luckily, I’ve developed a defense mechanism against my mini addiction. It’s called a party! Or more specifically in this case, a brunch. I mentioned last week that we were having a group of friends over for a holiday brunch and that I was trying to narrow down my recipe selections. While a bunch of the contenders were passed over for various reasons- not kid-friendly, takes too long to make, would have to make 3 batches to feed everyone – this recipe seemed to be the prefect fit. And it was a hit! Everyone loved them, even including some of the kids. The best part was that since I made this magnificent mini dish for a crowd, I only ate just one!
I had the best intentions to take photos of all the wonderful dishes from our brunch so that I could share them with you here. Unfortunately, I was so busy visiting with friends and making pomegranate mimosas that I completely forgot to take a single picture! Oh well. I will tell you that we had an amazing and tasty array of dishes. From the fruit and yogurt parfait to the garlic and cheese filled fingerling potatoes, it was a wonderful spread of good food and even better company.

Having this brunch so early in December was the perfect motivation for me to get all of my holiday decorating done. Over the past few years I have really pared down my decorations and now I am left with only my most favorite. Since I got lost in pomegranate mimosa land and forgot to take food pictures, I thought it might be fun to share some of my Christmas decorations with you instead.

Hope you enjoyed- now on to the recipe!

Print Recipe

Mini Maple Sweet Potato Pies
Inspired by Tomato Tart
Makes: 20
3 medium size sweet potatoes
8 ounces sausage
½ onion, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 fresh sage leaf
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried mustard
¼ cups oats
¼ cup almonds
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
2 portions of pie crust- get the recipe Here, or make your life easy and buy the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust that you just need to unroll and cut into circles

Preheat the oven to 375º. Bake the sweet potatoes for 50-60 minutes or until soft all the way through.
While the potatoes are cooking, crumble and brown the sausage along with the onion. Remove from heat and set aside.
Roll the pie crust out and cut into 4-inch circles. Tuck the dough circles into 20 standard size muffin tins. Freeze the dough for 15 minutes. Remove the dough from the freezer, pierce the bottom of each muffin tin a few times with a fork and bake in a 375º oven for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.
When the potatoes are done let them cool for about 10 minutes until you can safely handle them. Peel the skin from the potatoes and mash in a large bowl. Add the eggs, maple syrup, sage, salt, and mustard. Use an immersion blender or handheld mixer the whip the potato mixture until smooth and fluffy.
Fill each muffin tin ¾ full with the sweet potato mixture. Top with the sausage, dividing it equally among the muffins.
In a food processor (or just using a good old-fashioned knife and cutting board) pulverize the oats, almonds and brown sugar into a rough mix. Add a dash of salt and few grinds of pepper.
Sprinkle the oat mixture on top of the sausage.
Bake the pies for 20 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.