Sweet Potato Jacks
- Carlena Davis
- 14 minutes ago
- 2 min read
For Black History Month, I wanted to honor this powerful food tradition in a simple but meaningful way with my fried sweet potato jacks.
This recipe celebrates the way sweet potatoes have always shown up for our community:
✔ Affordable
✔ Filling
✔ Full of flavor
✔ Easy to make at home
Crispy golden pies seasoned just right, fried until tender inside the same method generations before us used to feed their families.
Every bite is a reminder that what once started as survival food has become comfort food, celebration food, and memory-making food. This is what I mean when I say “Memories on a Plate.” When we cook these dishes, we’re not just making a meal.
We’re honoring ancestors who planted gardens when they had nothing else. We’re preserving traditions that were never written down but only lived. We’re teaching the next generation where their food (and strength) comes from.
Sweet potatoes are a perfect example of how Black history lives on in everyday cooking. From garden plots to soul food kitchens, sweet potatoes have fed bodies, families, and futures.
And today, with these fried sweet potato jacks, I’m proud to honor that legacy , one crispy bite at a time.
Ingredients For Sweet Potato Filling
2 large, sweet potatoes, roasted and mashed
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
2 tablespoons of melted butter
3 tablespoons of milk
Ingredients For Pie Crust
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons of powdered sugar
¾ teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
4 tablespoons of Crisco
½ cup of ice water + more if needed
In a bowl, add mashed sweet potatoes, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, cornstarch, butter, and milk. Mix well until fully combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl ( I used my Miss Lena's wooden dough bowl), add together flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter and Crisco until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water and mix well until a dough ball forms.
Divide dough in half and shape into 2 disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours or until needed.
On a floured surface, roll 1 disk of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4 1/2-inch round cutter, cut into rounds and set aside. Repeat process with remaining dough.
Place approximately 1 tablespoon peach filling in the center of each round. Fold rounds in half, pressing edges together with a fork to seal. Refrigerate pies for 1 hour. Please don't skip this step. The pies will taste better if you fry them chilled.
Add oil to the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Heat to 350° over medium heat. Fry chilled pies, no more than 3 at a time, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on a wire rack.
Below is the link to the grocery shopping list and the kitchen tools you will need for this recipe.