Sweet Potato Biscoff Pie Bars

Reminiscent of pumpkin pie, these sweet potato pie bars have a creamy filling that’s lightly spiced, with a biscoff cookie crust that tastes like gingersnaps. You can bake these in a square pan and cut them into bars, or make a traditional sweet potato pie in a pie pan to cut into wedges. This is a delicious alternative to pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving!

You might also love this sweet potato bundt cake, sweet potato maple crumb muffins, and the best sweet potato casserole with brown sugar crumb topping.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy to Make. For the crust, you simply need to press a crumble mixture into the pan, and the filling comes together easily with a bowl and whisk.

Tastes Like Pumpkin. Did you know that when sweet potatoes are roasted in their skin and pureed, they have the exact same consistency and moisture level as canned pumpkin? They’re virtually interchangeable in recipes, so if you’ve used up your last can of pumpkin but you have sweet potatoes on hand, you can still make a delicious pie that tastes just like pumpkin.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. Today’s recipe will work at any altitude, though.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• Sweet Potatoes. See the FAQs section below for information on identifying the correct type of sweet potatoes at your grocery store. When roasted, they’re very soft, sweet and mashable, perfect for pie filling.
• Olive Oil. Adds a little moisture to the sweet potatoes as they roast.
• Lotus Biscoff Cookies. Biscoff cookies, also known as Speculoos cookies, are a deeply spiced buttery shortbread cookie. They add a nice flavor to balance the sweetness of the sweet potato pie filling.
• Butter. Melted butter moistens the cookie crumbs to bind the crust together.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk. Adds sweetness to the filling and gives it a thick, creamy texture.
• Eggs. Helps to thicken and set the filling as it bakes.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Spices. A blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg in the filling adds warmth and coziness.

Instructions

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

• Preheat the oven to 425 F.
• Wash the sweet potatoes, but don’t peel them. Rub the peel with the olive oil, then wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil and place them on a baking sheet.
• Roast the sweet potatoes for 90 minutes, until very soft.
• Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove and discard the peel.
• Puree the roasted sweet potatoes in a food processor until very smooth. Weigh out 18 ounces (2 cups) for the filling, and save the rest for another recipe.
• You can make the sweet potatoes up to 2 days in advance, keeping them in the refrigerator until needed.

Crust

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
• Reserve 9 of the Biscoff cookies to decorate the top of the bars.
• Crush the remaining cookies with a food processor into fine crumbs. Combine the crumbs with the salt and melted butter, then press evenly into the bottom of the pan.
• Bake the crust for 8 minutes, then set aside while you make the filling.
• Increase the oven temperature to 375 F.

Filling

• In a bowl, whisk together the roasted sweet potatoes with the sweetened condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, spices and salt, until smooth.
• Pour the filling over the crust, then decorate the top of the filling with the 9 remaining Biscoff cookies.

• Bake the bars for about 35 minutes. The filling should be gently puffed and mostly set, but will still look a little shiny in the center.
• Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate for several hours until well chilled, before cutting into bars.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are sweet potatoes the same as yams?

So, are the sweet potatoes we buy at the grocery store sweet potatoes, or are they yams? It turns out, the answer isn’t all that straightforward. My grocery store has bins labeled as sweet potatoes and yams, but it’s actually uncommon for them to carry true yams. Most often, the tubers available are either firm sweet potatoes or soft sweet potatoes, but not yams.

• Yams. A yam has a dark brown or blackish peel that’s rough and bark-like. Inside, the potato flesh can range from white, purple or red. They are starchier and drier than sweet potatoes.
• Firm Sweet Potatoes. Firm sweet potatoes have golden colored peel with a pale yellow or white potato flesh. They are firmer and starchier than soft sweet potatoes.
• Soft Sweet Potatoes. Soft sweet potatoes have copper colored peel with a deep orange potato flesh. They become extremely soft and sweet when cooked, with a caramelized flavor when they’re roasted in their skin.

So which one should I buy?

If you want a sweet, soft, mashable sweet potato for roasting and eating, or for pureeing into a casserole filling, then you should look for the soft sweet potatoes (which your grocery store might label as yams). Even though they’re not yams. Look at the color of the peel, and look for any nicks or breaks to see the color of the flesh inside to identify the correct ones. You can see in the photo above that I accidentally bought a firm sweet potato along with the soft sweet potatoes. I didn’t even realize it until after I’d roasted them and removed the peel.

Can I bake sweet potato pie bars in a pie pan instead?

You can use a 9-inch pie pan, but you’ll need to increase the crust recipe by 1 1/2 x, to have enough to press against the bottom and sides of the pie pan.

Can I use graham crackers instead of biscoff cookies?

Yes, you can. However, graham crackers are more dry and less buttery than Biscoff cookies, so you’ll need more melted butter to moisten the graham cracker crumbs. For 2 cups of crushed graham crackers, use 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) melted butter.

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