These sweet potato pecan cookies with maple cream cheese frosting are soft and fluffy and flavored with cinnamon and vanilla.
These cookies take the flavors of a sweet potato casserole and rolls them up into a soft fluffy cake-like cookie. It's a great way to get your vegetables.... in a cookie!
Everyone who tried these cookies simply fell in love, even the skeptics. It was probably the sweet and tangy maple cream cheese frosting that helped win them over.
These cookies are great for a holiday pot luck or for cookie tray gifts. This year I'll pair them alongside my melting snowman cookies, peppermint candy cane cookies, and spiced chocolate molasses cookies. I'm pretty sure the neighbors will love them.
For the sweet potato ingredient in these cookies, I baked a sweet potato in the oven and scooped out the pulp and mashed it in a bowl. I love the extra flavor that roasting brings to the potato.
If you are in a hurry, you can also microwave a sweet potato until it is soft. Just prick it with a fork all over, leaving the skin on, and microwave for 4 to 5 minutes. Another alternative is to use canned sweet potatoes.
You will need one cup of mashed sweet potatoes.
I topped each cookie with a Pecan half.
These cookies are really easy to make. They take about 40 minutes to make, plus cooling time before icing. They are so worth it!
To scoop this dough, I used a #16 portion scoop which will give you the scant 1/4 cup of dough you will need for each cookie.
This recipe makes about 25 cookies. You could also divide the dough into 25 pieces and then use the scoop to shape the dough into rounds.
These cookies are like little frosted cakes with a bonus pecan half on top. For even more flavor, be sure to lightly toast the pecan halves before topping the cookies.
I told some of my taste testers (mostly grandchildren) that they were pumpkin cookies because I knew they would turn their noses up at sweet potatoes. They loved these cookies.
If you're looking for a resource for Christmas Cookies, be sure to check out all of the recipes from everyone who is participating. We will be posting new recipes all week.Wednesday Christmas Cookie Recipes
- Almond Shortbread Bites by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie by Lemon Blossoms
- Christmas Checkerboard Cookies by Jolene's Recipe Journal
- Christmas Chippity Chip Cookies by Daily Dish Recipes
- Christmas Tree Cookies by Swirls of Flavor
- Frosty Ginger Cookies by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
- Italian Christmas Cookies by Blogghetti
- Meringue Christmas Trees Two Ways by Art of Natural Living
- New York-Style Black & Whites by Kate's Recipe Box
- Pecan Crescent Cookies by Palatable Pastime
- Pepparkakor by That Recipe
- Peppermint Cream Cheese Crushed Oreo Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Reindeer Haystacks by Leftovers Then Breakfast
- Soft Italian Wedding Cookies by Making Miracles
- Sweet Potato Pecan Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Turtle Cookies by An Affair from the Heart
- Zimstern - German Cinnamon Stars by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Sweet Potato Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
- 6 ounces softened cream cheese
- 1 /2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 25 pecan halves
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter for 30 seconds. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Beat in the sweet potato.
- Beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
- Drop a scant 1/4 cup of the batter onto the baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
- Frost with the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting and top with a pecan half.
- Beat the cream cheese with a mixer on medium until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, maple sugar, and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
Calories
190.60Fat (grams)
8.25Sat. Fat (grams)
4.38Carbs (grams)
27.52Fiber (grams)
0.50Net carbs
27.01Sugar (grams)
18.09Protein (grams)
2.17Sodium (milligrams)
194.62Cholesterol (grams)
26.57
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens 100 Best Cookies, 2015.
These look absolutely fabulous. I love sweet potato treats of all kinds and can't wait to make these yummy cookies!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Carlee!
DeleteOh yeah...so very happy to have a few sweet potatoes on hand right now after seeing this. Sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
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