Sweet Potato Cookies

October 13, 2010 Laura

My father-in-law always arrives for visits with treats in hand for Scarlett. I don’t mind, it’s his right as a grandparent to indulge her. Over the summer, he gave her a bag of organic mini-chocolate chip cookies. These things were the size of a quarter, and she loved them. However, as chocolate chip cookies go, they tasted like cardboard. I think each cookie had room for maybe one chip. I figured the allure had to be the size. She could stuff four in her little hand, and loved the fact that she could pop them into her mouth in one shot.

When I found a recipe for pumpkin cookies in Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook, I was excited since it’s the season for all things pumpkin. However, like kale, sweet potatoes are a food I can’t find enough uses for. They can go toe-to-toe with carrots on beta-carotene content and are also rich in fiber, potassium and vitamin C. Why not throw them in cookies and make them mini? Since I was already switching up the recipe, I decided to sub in agave nectar instead of honey and added maple syrup. My mom’s sweet potato pie can’t survive without maple syrup, so I figured a sweet potato cookie couldn’t either.

Ingredients

1 large organic sweet potato, peeled, steamed and mashed
1/2 cup of agave nectar
1/4 maple sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 375.

With an electric mixer, beat the agave and butter until light and fluffy.

Pour in the maple syrup and blend.

Add the mashed sweet potato, egg and vanilla, mix until completely combined

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice and cinnamon. Slowly blend into the butter mix until combined.

On a large baking sheet, drop teaspoon size balls of dough.

Flatten each with the back of a spoon.

If you're making mini-cookies make them the size of a silver dollar or twoonie and bake for 5 to 7 minutes.

If not, bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a minute and then place on a rack to cool further.

Sweet Potato Chronicles

I flew solo on this one, but Scarlett did enjoy the eating process. So did I. I ate four out of the gate. These little bundles of sweet potato love were light, moist and sweetly delicious. I have to admit, I liked their bitsy size too. Maybe size does really matter?