Cinn-ful Sweet Potato Cookies

I love sweet potatoes. I usually eat the heck out of them around the holiday season, but heck, even in the Spring, I could go for a baked sweet potato with tons of cinnamon, a dash of sugar and of course, butter. This recipe for sweet potato cookies reminds me so much of those baked potatoes, except in a fluffy, cake-like form.

These cookies aren’t too indulgent, because they are pretty darn tiny and have a very light texture. You could totally make these a little healthier using the whole wheat flour (I’d do half white, half whole wheat though, since I’ve never really had luck completely subbing whole wheat for white flour.) as well as subbing straight up applesauce for all of the butter.

I made this for a recipe exchange on a cooking forum that I frequent. The theme was potato, and I was relieved to get a dessert. (Can’t go wrong with a dessert!) The only thing I added was an egg, because I just felt like that would make the cookie a better texture.

Cinn-ful Sweet Potato Cookies
Source: adapted from Cookies on Friday

• 2 cups AP flour or 1 cup AP flour & 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 large egg
• Optional: Pecan halves, for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy and light, about two minutes. Add the brown sugar and whip the mixture until well incorporated. Scrap down the bowl and add the sweet potato, maple syrup, egg and vanilla. Beat the mixture until everything is well blended.
2. In a separate small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt). Put the mixer speed on low and slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Chill the dough for one hour.
3. Once chilled, drop the dough by the heaping tablespoonful onto a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.  For an optional twist, you can top each cookie with a pecan half.
4. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies just start to brown along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on a rack before serving.