You don’t get much more Southern than this. I don’t think I would serve this if I was also serving a sweet potato casserole as a side dish. But I just might if I knew some of my guests loved sweet potatoes.
Filling
½ cup butter, melted
2½ to 3 pounds (6 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch rounds
¼ teaspoon salt
Crust
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
Topping
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the melted butter in a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. Cover with the sweet potato slices and sprinkle with the salt.
To make the crust: Mix the flour, shortening, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the milk. Flatten to a round disk and place on a piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll the dough on a lightly floured board to ⅛ inch thickness. Cut strips ½ to ¾ inch wide. Lay the strips of crust over the sweet potatoes, making a lattice design. Reroll the dough if additional crust is needed.
To make the topping: Put the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a bowl and stir to combine. Pour over the crust and bake for 1 hour.
Makes 10 to 12 servings.