Sweet Potato Bars

As I said earlier, there's this expectation that I come up with at least two desserts for Christmas Eve. The Bundt cake was number one, a caramel mochi (recipe in the Honolulu Advertiser a few years ago) was number two. And I'm done, right?

So my mother asks if I can do something with these sweet potatoes she's got sitting around. She asks this on Christmas Eve, while I am starting to make the planned two desserts. Sure. Why not. So, I toss the sweet potatoes in the oven to cook with everything else and come up with something. It's an odd size pan because it was chosen to fit the amount of sweet potatoes she had.

Sweet Potato Bars
Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

Filling:
2-1/4 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 10" x 6" x 2" pan.

Make crust: In a bowl, combine 1 cup flour and 3 Tbsp sugar. Cut in cubed butter until mixture is sandy with the largest butter chunks the size of small peas. Press mixture into the bottom prepared pan. Bake until very lightly golden at the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Make filling: In a bowl, combine all filling ingredients, stirring well to combine. Spread over baked crust. Bake until slightly puffed, lightly browned at the edges, and somewhat set, about 45 to 55 minutes. Note that the oven seemed to be struggling by this point in the day and it may take significantly less time. Cool completely before cutting and serving.