Mini Sweet Potato Pies with Brown Sugar Pecan Topping

Tis the season for holiday parties! I was asked to make some mini sweet potato pies for our annual training conference dinner at work. Mini pies??? Just like regular pies....only cuter. I got the mini pie shells in the frozen foods section at Harris Teeter, the only place I know of that has them. Our department head comes from a sweet potato family farm, so home grown Johnston County sweet potatoes made these sweet treats. The pecans are optional, but make it so much better!

Sweet Potato Pies with Brown Sugar Pecan Topping

Ingredients for pie:

1 frozen pie crust or about 12 mini pie crusts

1 big or 2 medium sized sweet potatoes

2 eggs

1/3 c brown sugar

3 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

3/4 c heavy cream

For pecan topping:

1 to 1 1/2 c chopped pecans

1/2 c brown sugar

3 tbsp butter

Boil sweet potatoes until tender then peel and cream with a mixer. Add remaining ingredients for pie and pour into crusts. For the mini pies bake on 375 degrees about 20 minutes, for regular pie crusts bake about 45 to 50 minutes. Once the pies are baked, let cool for at least one hour or put in the fridge.

For the topping, melt butter over stove then add brown sugar. Cook about 3 minutes or until caramelized. Mix in pecans and let sit for 1 minute, then spread over the top of the cooled pies.