Whole Southern sweet potato pie styled with vintage silverware, linen napkins, and fall table setting.

A Southern Sweet Potato Pie Recipe from a Vintage Southern Cookbook

(Part of the “Home for the Holidays: A Southern Season of Charm” series)

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A Taste of Southern Nostalgia

Most people might guess that a typical Southern Thanksgiving meal would include a favorite Southern sweet potato pie recipe. But the truth is, I hadn’t found one that I really liked until now. Today I’m sharing this treasured recipe that I uncovered, just in time for Thanksgiving. It’s part of this year’s Home for the Holidays: A Southern Season of Charm series, where we’re celebrating meaningful traditions and nostalgic Southern flavors.

A few months ago, while I was thrifting, I stumbled across The Deep South Cookbook, by Southern Living in 1976. I mentioned in an earlier article with my Chicken Mull recipe, that it’s important to me that we keep our Southern cultural recipes alive. So, when I found this cookbook that was full of recipes from a by-gone era, I simply couldn’t leave it behind. (And the fact that it was only $1 was icing on the cake!)

Today we’re making a recipe that I discovered on page 55 of The Deep South Cookbook, which is Harvest Sweet Potato Pie. This recipe was submitted by Shirley Wise of Richmond, Virginia.

As the cookbook states, this recipe was “home-tested, so you can be sure of delicious dining!”

Abby Smolarsky holding The Deep South Cookbook by Southern Living, 1976, inspiration for a vintage Southern sweet potato pie recipe.
Abby with The Deep South Cookbook (Southern Living, 1976), the vintage treasure where she found this classic Harvest Sweet Potato Pie recipe.

A Cookbook Worth Keeping

This cookbook is far from beautiful. The cover decoration is an unmistakably mid-century scene with candles and a platter of roasted poultry. By modern standards, it’s almost an unappetizing image. But after opening the cover of the cookbook, it’s a pure delight. Beyond discovering the Southern sweet potato pie recipe, there are hundreds of other traditional recipes to explore.

The book is divided into states in the Deep South. Each section begins with a brief introduction and history of food in that state. Following the introduction, the pages are filled with simple, approachable recipes for home cooks. Each recipe was written and submitted by real Southern women whose names appear beside that recipe.

I won’t be experimenting with “South Georgia Squirrel Stew,” but today we’re going to make the Southern sweet potato pie recipe. After I share the recipe, I’ll also include a few modern changes that you could make to enhance the nostalgic Southern flavors for your pie this Thanksgiving.

Whole Southern sweet potato pie styled with vintage silverware, linen napkins, and fall table setting.
A classic Southern sweet potato pie, styled simply with vintage silverware and linens for a timeless holiday table.

The Original Harvest Sweet Potato Pie

Whole Southern sweet potato pie styled with vintage silverware, linen napkins, and fall table setting.
Belle Antiquarian (adapted from The Deep South Cookbook, 1976)

Harvest Sweet Potato Pie

A classic Southern sweet potato pie inspired by a 1976 recipe from The Deep South Cookbook, a Southern Living publication. This simple and comforting dessert highlights the timeless flavors of sweet potatoes, cinnamon, and milk in a flaky crust. It is a vintage favorite that feels just as welcoming on today’s holiday table as it did generations ago.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¾ cups mashed sweet potatoes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 unbaked pie shell

Method
 

  1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine all of the filling ingredients in a bowl, then beat until smooth.
  3. Pour into the pie shell.
  4. Place on the center rack and bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and the filling is just set. Begin checking at 30 minutes, as baking times may vary.

Notes

For a richer flavor, substitute part or all of the milk with buttermilk or evaporated milk. If using buttermilk, reduce the salt to ½ teaspoon and use 1¼ cups instead of 1½ cups. You can also replace half of the white sugar with light brown sugar for a hint of molasses. Try adding ¼ teaspoon nutmeg and a splash of vanilla extract for a more aromatic pie. Bake until the center is just set, then cool completely before slicing. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream or a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar for a classic Southern finish.
The recipe above is printed exactly as it appeared in The Deep South Cookbook (Southern Living, 1976). Baking times may vary depending on oven type, pie dish material, and the moisture level of your sweet potatoes. Begin checking for doneness at 30 minutes and continue baking until the center is fully set, about 45 minutes total.

Modern Touches for Today’s Kitchen

With only a few ingredients, and even fewer steps to pull this recipe together, I imagine that Mrs. Shirley Wise of Richmond, Virginia, made many of these pies in her time. As much as I love following a recipe exactly as it was written, I also enjoy experimenting with subtle changes that reflect today’s kitchens and ingredients.

To modernize and customize this recipe for my family, I made a few substitutions and additions. The Southern sweet potato pie recipe is delicious just as Mrs. Wise wrote it, but with a few changes, we can introduce a touch of warmth and brightness that is suitable for modern holiday tables.

Here are the ways I updated this Southern sweet potato pie recipe:

  • 1¼ cups buttermilk (instead of milk, reduce salt) – for tang and creaminess.
  • ½ cup white sugar + ½ cup light brown sugar – adds depth and warmth.
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract – enhances sweetness naturally.
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg – classic holiday spice that pairs well with cinnamon.
  • ½ teaspoon orange zest (optional) – brightens the flavor slightly; use sparingly so it doesn’t overpower the custard.

Optional variation: add 1 tablespoon melted butter to the filling for extra richness.

Slice of Southern sweet potato pie served on a fall plate with vanilla ice cream dusted with cinnamon.
A slice of sweet potato pie served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a touch of cinnamon — simple, classic Southern comfort.

Serving and Styling

While this pie is simple enough to throw together for a casual meal with the family, it’s also a thoughtful addition to holiday gatherings. We always set up a dessert buffet in our dining room for Thanksgiving, and this Southern sweet potato pie recipe will be included this year. (I’m already looking forward to enjoying a slice with a hot cup of coffee!)

I served mine in a white ceramic pie dish with some simple linen napkins and vintage silverware that I found at an estate sale. I used some fall themed plates and added a small scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream on the side.

If you’d like to recreate this setup, here are a few of my favorite pieces and some of the kitchen tools I used while baking.

Southern-style kitchen counter with vintage pie plate, rolling pin, glass prep bowls, and a stand mixer surrounded by baking tools used to make a sweet potato pie.
Timeless kitchen essentials that make holiday baking a pleasure. Simple tools, classic materials, and a touch of Southern charm.

Why These Recipes Still Matter

When is the last time you ate sweet potato pie for dessert? Have your kids ever tasted it? Our country enjoys many different cultures throughout the different regions across our great land. In the North you’d probably expect to find cheesecake. In the Midwest, we would probably eat scotcheroos.

Unless we do something to preserve our traditions, they will continue to meld into one indistinguishable, bland culture that has forgotten the spice and flavors of the people who live in each region.

When I found this cookbook and came up with the idea of sharing one of the recipes, I intentionally looked for one that had very few ingredients. Anyone can make pie recipe, even a beginner home cook.

This holiday season, I hope you’ll slow down, honor the stories behind your favorite recipes, and make a little space in your kitchen for history to live again. Whether you’re baking with family, sharing dessert with friends, or simply enjoying a quiet slice with coffee, this sweet potato pie is a delicious reminder of how good the simplest things can be. And Mrs. Shirley Wise, if you’re out there, I loved your pie.

Explore More from This Series

Each article in this series celebrates the beauty of Southern living through the seasons. You can find the full collection on the homepage under Home for the Holidays: A Southern Season of Charm.

Each article in this series celebrates the beauty of Southern living through the seasons. You can find the full collection on the homepage under Home for the Holidays: A Southern Season of Charm.

Abby Smolarsky7 Comments

Natural Fall Decor: Simple Ways to Bring the Outdoors In

Welcome to the first installment of my newest series, Home for the Holidays: A Southern Season of Charm. Today we begin by sharing ways to bring the outdoors inside to decorate your home with natural décor for fall.

The holiday season in the South is rich in tradition. It’s a graceful time of the year where we extend hospitality and celebrate the season by adding seasonal touches in gathering spaces. Each week of the Home for the Holidays series will be a celebration of meaningful traditions, nostalgic décor, and cozy inspiration for the heart of the home.

Whether you plan to host a large holiday gathering or your goal is to simply add traditional touches around your home, I hope you’ll come back each week for inspiration and a sense of community.

Autumn charm tucked into a secretary desk — goldenrod in a stoneware crock, bowls of acorns, beeswax candles, and heirloom blue-and-white china.

Why Choose Natural Fall Decor?

Albert Camus is credited with saying, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower,” and I can’t hear this quote without thinking of the mighty Southern magnolia.

Truly a Magnolia grandiflora, in the spring she entices us with massive, fragrant flowers in a milky white hue that contrast with her green leaves. Yet, the Magnolia doesn’t stop in spring! In the fall, we are presented with brilliant and strange cones that push out bright red seeds as they ripen. The vivid green leaves of spring have developed their velvety brown undersides, softening as the heat of summer eases into the first chilled autumn evenings of the Deep South.

During the spring and summer, we bring nature’s bounty indoors to eat. When autumn arrives, the growing season has come to an end. But that doesn’t mean we turn our backs on what nature has to offer. For generations Southerners have brought nature inside during autumn to decorate with and enjoy. By taking advantage of what nature has to offer us from the land, garden, and forests, we can decorate our homes in the traditional Southern fashion for little to no cost.

Southern autumn in hand — a magnolia seed pod bursting with brilliant red seeds.

The Three Categories of Natural Fall Decor

To make gathering from nature more approachable, I like to think of natural fall décor in three categories.

The Harvest: Abundance for the table and sideboard

The food we harvest to eat in the fall can also be used to decorate our homes. Apples of all shades from yellow to red to bright green mimic the colors of the leaves. A basket full of apples in the center of a breakfast table becomes edible artwork.

Pumpkins are sometimes overlooked as indoor décor. Most houses will be seen with one next to the front door, waiting for a face to be carved. But pumpkins can be used as indoor décor as well. A large pumpkin can be turned into a centerpiece, and small pumpkins can line a windowsill.

Layered textures of hydrangeas and grapevine wreath frame an heirloom pumpkin for an inviting fall accent.

In the fall we also harvest other growing plants like cotton, wheat, and many types of flowers. Bundles of cotton and wheat can be used in vases or wreaths. Dried hydrangeas and goldenrod are also traditional Southern fall decor.

The Gathered: Treasures from the forest floor

A walk through our natural surroundings will reveal all sorts of treasures if we observe the world around us. These items aren’t necessarily grown to harvest at the end of the season. They’re little gifts that we can find while looking on the forest floor or in the trees. Sometimes a stroll along the shore of an ocean or lake will reveal a prize to bring inside.

A hand-carved wooden dough bowl brimming with acorns adds warmth to a fall mantel styled with grapevine pumpkins.

In my own yard I collected magnolia and pine cones, acorns, and pecans. I filled all kinds of bowls and vessels to use them as natural fall décor. I also cut branches of magnolia to use in floral arrangements.

Other gathered finds are items like feathers, antler sheds, ethically sourced turtle shells, and oyster shells. All of these can be thoughtfully integrated into your fall décor.

Rustic fall touches — pinecones, twine, dried grasses, and terracotta pots flank a vintage dog portrait for cozy seasonal charm.

The Handcrafted: Artisan-made with natural materials

The final category of natural fall décor is the handcrafted. Artisans use natural items to create things that we use on a daily basis. We can thoughtfully incorporate those items in our fall décor to highlight their natural materials and craftsmanship.

Pheasant feathers in ironstone, vintage books tied with velvet ribbon, and a grapevine pumpkin create timeless autumn layers.

Candles made of beeswax perfume the room and add a warm yellow tone to the space even when they’re not burning. Baskets made of local grass and willows are useful all year round, and in the fall they can be used to showcase things like a bunch of gourds.

Other handcrafted items to consider using in your natural fall décor are quilts, pottery, and sculptures made from wood or local rock.

How to Incorporate Natural Decor into Your Home

A common mistake people make when decorating their homes for the holidays is to go overboard with a theme. If every item in your home has a pumpkin motif on it, it will start to look more like a gift shop than a home with decorative touches. The same thing can happen if you go overboard with natural fall décor.

I recommend finding ways to integrate natural fall décor into your existing vignettes. Take one or two natural elements and treat them as “hero pieces” in combination with other groupings of existing décor. Consider things like textures, colors, and size when you’re styling or arranging your spaces.

A cozy fall corner — heirloom pumpkin centerpiece beside a wingback chair and brass lamp, framed by autumn light.

Four Places to Add Natural Fall Decor

A brown transferware bowl filled with moss, seed pods, and a candle rests on a stack of well-loved books for simple fall charm.

Shop the Look

If you like the idea of decorating for fall using natural décor, but you don’t live in an area where you can find it on your own, I’m sharing some links for items that I recommend. I’ve curated a list of items you can use throughout the year, as well as some resources for natural items like shells and dried flowers.

You can find this list by clicking the image below or going directly to my curated LTK shop for fall.

Shop the look: timeless natural finds I recommend for autumn decorating. These pieces can be styled throughout your home and carried into other seasons with ease.

Looking Ahead: A Season of Charm

Throughout this eight-week Home for the Holidays series we’ll explore a few Southern holiday recipes, decorate our tables for special holiday meals, and explore easy ways to show hospitality and care to those around us this season.

I invite you to come back each Saturday for the next installment of Home for the Holidays: A Southern Season of Charm. Be sure to bookmark this website in your browser and follow along on Instagram for updates. Links to the other segments in this series will be added to the bottom of this article as we make our way through the holidays season together.

Closing Thought

When we choose to use natural décor in our homes it honors the environment around us. We’re at a time in history when home décor is being treated as though it is disposable. Walk into any craft store, and you’ll find shelves up to the ceiling that are lined with hundreds of identical decorations that will likely only be used for one season before ending up in the trash.

I want to encourage you to consider buying quality items that can be used in different ways every season, instead of something that can only be used for a couple of weeks. For example: A dough bowl can be filled with eggs in the spring, shells in the summer, acorns in the fall, and ornaments at Christmas.

Investing in quality décor saves money in the long run and decreases mental and physical clutter in our homes. Dante Alighieri said, “Nature is the art of God,” and I hope you have been inspired to bring nature into your décor this fall.  

Autumn elegance in the dining room — antler mounts, brown transferware, cabbage plates, and hydrangeas with velvet ribbon.
Autumn natural decor ideas illustration featuring seasonal elements such as magnolia stems, oak leaves, dried wheat, pumpkins, grapevine, dried hydrangeas, pheasant feathers, cotton stems, acorns, pinecones, dried seed pods, antler sheds, and oyster shells. Styled for fall decorating inspiration with a Southern touch.
Bring the outdoors in this autumn with simple, natural decor. From magnolia stems and acorns to antler sheds and oyster shells, these timeless touches add warmth, charm, and Southern character to any home.

Explore More from This Series

Each article in this series celebrates the beauty of Southern living through the seasons. You can find the full collection on the homepage under Home for the Holidays: A Southern Season of Charm.

Abby Smolarsky5 Comments