Soft Sweet Potato Cookies With Peanut Butter

These sweet potato cookies will have you reaching for more! And you don’t need to feel guilty about it. They are full of healthy goodness!

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If you want to have a sweet tooth fix that doesn’t mess up your resolution of eating healthier, give these fantastic sweet potato cookies a go! They are full of healthy goodness, not too sweet, and you get a good dose of beta carotene, essential minerals and antioxidants as a bonus. What’s not to love!

Make Some Delicious Sweet Potato Cookies

If you’ve been reading my posts and newsletters, you know that I have a great love affair with sweet potatoes these days. Growing sweet potatoes is a new thing for me and having an abundance of greens throughout the season and baskets full of sweet potato tubers to store, did much to convince me to keep growing them. Sweet potatoes are super healthy and full of beta carotene. And having so many, got my creative juices reeling.

Why You’ll Love Sweet Potato Cookies

Most important, they are delicious! Whole food ingredients add a complex flavor, nuttiness and a wholesome toothsomeness that you don’t get from empty refined flours and sugars. 

Great for all occations! – Serve as a snack, put it in your kid’s lunch boxes, take it to the beach, or the park. Ideal for hiking and exploring in place of sugary granola bars. Take to a pot luck! Keep some in the freezer for unexpected guests. Great with coffee or tea! As a quick breakfast or dessert.

Fresh milled whole grain flour adds so many health benefits that get lost due to oxidation with pre-ground flours during storage. And you’re replacing an empty carb with a nutrient-dense, complex whole food that actually has its own delicious flavor. However, you can certainly make this recipe with pre-ground whole wheat or all-purpose flour.

Real butter and peanut butter are hard to beat for flavor in any cookie recipe and they add lots of healthy fat and protein.

Wholesome sweeteners come packed with important minerals, they are deeply flavorful, and have a subtle sweetness. You can use brown sugar instead, but I promise, if you try my version, you’ll know what I mean when I call out its deep, complex flavor.

It’s loaded with spices –  I like bold flavors in my spice cookies. Think mulled cider and German ‘Lebkuchen’ if you know them. Spices add lots of flavor, but they also have many health benefits!

A Little Reminiscence On Spice Cookies

I often think back to my apprentice year in the kitchen of a catholic hospital in Karlsruhe, Germany. There was an older nun working as the dietician, who created all the meals with healing herbs for those patients with special dietary needs or those who were very sick. 

She had also created her famous and beloved spice cookies with secret ingredients, that she always kept in stock. They were given to any patients that needed an immune boost or some extra strengthening after a strenuous surgery. She also dispersed them freely to any of us who felt the need for a pick-me-up. 

Well, I felt the need a lot, mostly because they were delicious! And they were loaded with spices for health. This set me up for the rest of my life to look at spices as more than just a flavoring. 

Alright nuff said! Time to make us some really tasty sweet potato cookies.

Equipment:

Grain mill – I highly recommend the Mockmill. I love mine!

2 bowls – One smaller one to mix the dry ingredients, one large bowl for making the batter.

A hand mixer – Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to cream your ingredients

Silicone spatula – A silicone spatula works best for folding in the flour and cleaning out your bowl.

Parchment – For easy cleaning and cookies that won’t stick, use parchment to line your baking sheet. Alternatively, you can skip this, and just very lightly grease and flour the baking sheet.

A cookie sheet – You’ll need at least one half sheet for these, but you’ll need two if you want the cookies to get nice and round and not touch.

2 dinner spoons – I like to use two spoons to form cookie balls. You could also use a cookie scoop to make it extra easy. Or use your hands, although that can get messy.

Ingredients:

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or claim to be qualified in any way to give medical advice. I am self-taught and this article reflects just my opinions, experiences with herbs, and what I’ve learned from research and years of studying herbalism, herbs and their uses. It is meant as an entertaining source for ideas and reference, and to encourage interest in herbalism. It is my hope to help you get to know and appreciate herbs and their traditional uses. Please do not use any of this information to replace professional advise!

Sweet Potato

We’ll have to prepare the sweet potato by steaming, or baking it first, then mashing it. You can easily do this with a fork, your hand mixer or a potato masher. You can also use a leftover cooked sweet potato.

Sweet Potato is the star of the show! This sweet tuber is packed with health benefits. Sweet potatoes are a great source of fiber, carbohydrates, protein, Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. The orange, and especially the purple varieties, are high in antioxidants too.

Purple sweet potatoes are rich in anthocyanin. The orange sweet potatoes are incredibly high in beta carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A. I try to add more sweet potato into my diet, especially now that I am growing my own!

Fresh-Milled Einkorn Flour

I chose einkorn flour, which is an ancient whole grain that works really well in baked goods, especially when you don’t want a robust whole wheat flavor and texture. It’s got a subtle nuttiness, a mild flavor and is much like a soft wheat. It is also the most tolerated grain by people with wheat sensitivities due to it’s genetic makeup.

You can choose any grain, but I think einkorn berries or soft white wheat work best for cookies. I grind my own. This makes a huge difference in flavor and health benefits. Whole grain flour starts to degrade pretty much immediately after it’s been ground. However, you can certainly use pre-ground einkorn flour or even any whole wheat or all-purpose flour, if you like.

You can prolong the freshness and retain the nutrient value if you freeze it. But when you buy it in a store, there is often no telling how long its been sitting on the shelf. Getting a grain mill is an investment, but if you bake a lot and want to make the healthiest foods possible, it will be worth it!

And consider that you can easily get your money back over the years if you buy grains in bulk for storage. They will keep for a long time if they are kept whole, and will be much cheaper than small amounts of the ground flour each time you bake. Then you can mill fresh for each recipe and reap the health benefits.

If you don’t have a grain mill yet, I highly recommend the Mockmill. It does not overheat the flour during grinding and can grind superfine, which is what I like for cookies.

Butter

Butter is one of the healthy fats, and even more so if it is grass-fed or pasture-raised, like Kerrygold. I use only unsalted butter. If all you have is salted, don’t add extra salt!

Butter is loaded with vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties, and so much more, here is a long list of benefits.

Butter has received a bad rap by the big corporations who were trying to push that other, unhealthy fat on us back in the day. They succeeded with deceitful advertising campaigns. But I think many people are getting the message now that we’ve been taken and that butter deserves our respect and a greater presence in our diet.

Peanut Butter

Unless you are allergic to peanut butter, it has an anti-inflammatory effect in your body. It has antioxidant properties, can help with blood sugar regulation, provides protein and minerals and creates a complete protein when paired with grain.

Do stay away from the stuff with added sugar and hydrogenated fats. Those are super unhealthy. Get the plain, single ingredient ‘naked’, or lightly salted peanut butter, and organic if possible. You can use crunchy or creamy. I used creamy because I grabbed the wrong jar, lol. Both are good! (source)

Panela Sugar

I stay away from white refined sugar, which is, in most cases, GMO-beet based. It’s an empty sugar with no benefits, and it really holds only harm for you. I like to make each ingredient count if I can and plain white sugar has lots of healthier alternatives, so IMO it’s not ever really needed. I use an organic version on rare occasions, but don’t remember the last one, lol.

The closest thing to white sugar is natural evaporated cane juice, which comes from sugar cane, is less refined, and contains some molasses and nutrients. It’s my go-to cheaper sugar for some more delicate baking. I also use it for fermented recipes, which eat the sugar, and for curing meats. But in this recipe, and for health, we can do better!

For baking and beverages that do not involve fermentation I like to use the more expensive but highly beneficial sweeteners if I can. Some are panela sugar, maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, etc. Unrefined foods that contain lots of minerals, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Now we’re talking VALUE!

In this recipe I use part panela sugar. If you can find organic, that would be best, because sugar cane generally is doused with pesticides when they are not organically grown. Panela sugar reminds me of coconut sugar in consistency. It has a prevalent molasses taste and a serious depth of flavor, that I adore. If you don’t care for that, I would substitute with either coconut sugar or evaporated cane juice crystals.

Maple Syrup

The other sweetener in this recipe is maple syrup. The reduced sap from the maple tree. It’s not refined and is full of minerals and vitamins. It is high in phenolic compounds that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. (source, source)

And maple syrup lends a rich flavor to anything it is added to. You can substitute honey instead of maple syrup, but I feel that the flavor of maple syrup goes extremely well with sweet potato.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is used for leavening

Ceylon Cinnamon

Ceylon cinnamon adds a warm, sweet flavor to baked goods. I love cinnamon and am often tempted to add too much. Cinnamon is anti-inflammatory and especially high in phenolic antioxidants. I use only Ceylon cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon (Korintje) is high in coumarin, which can be harmful in large doses. But if you use it occasionally in recipes, it’s just fine to use cassia. (source)

Cloves

Cloves have a very distinct flavor and can cause a numbing sensation in your mouth. They have a strong taste that can easily overpower your recipe if you add too much, so pay attention to the dose.

Cloves are another spice with a long list of health benefits, they are anti-inflammatory and antioxidant and may support liver health. (source)

Nutmeg

Nutmeg adds a comforting, warm flavor to spice cookies, teas, and is an ingredient in eggnogg. In Germany we used to put it in all our egg dishes.

Nutmeg is anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Nutmeg can possibly help with heart health and improve the mood. It can have toxic effects if over-consumed, but we don’t use nearly enough in this recipe. Of course, if you are allergic, do not use it. (source)

Cardamom

Cardamom is a warming spice that has a huge place in Indian and German baking. I feel it adds that something extra to really make spiced cakes and cookies pop. In Germany it was used just about as frequently as cloves and cinnamom in holiday bakery.

Cardamom has an impressive list of benefits. It has antioxidant, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, which can protect from chronic illness and it can also help with digestion. (source)

Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract adds a subtly floral taste and gives baked goods a beautifully rounded flavor.

It is not normally thought of as a health food, but it boasts some pretty impressive qualities. Such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, neuroprotective qualities that might help prevent Alzheimer’s, and it has a stress-reducing, calming effect. (source)

Sea Salt

If your peanut butter or butter contains salt, you can skip this. We’ll add a miniscule amount, just to help round out the flavor of these cookies. I don’t like my sweet foods to taste salty, so I tend to add just a small bit of salt to cookies. If you love salted cookies, then, by all means adjust to your liking!

Using a mineral salt, such as Redmond’s Real Salt or Himalayan pink salt, or another unrefined sea salt, can also add extra trace minerals that our body needs.

I like to avoid any ingredients that are stripped of these beneficial natural components. So table salt is not beneficial, but it would work as well.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare your cookie sheet(s) with a parchment. Alternatively, you could grease the cookie sheet and dust with some flour.

Grind your einkorn on the fine setting

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

With a hand mixer, beat the softened butter, peanut butter, and panela sugar until creamy. 

Add the maple syrup, sweet potato and vanilla.

Give it another beating to incorporate and get a smooth paste. 

Gently fold all the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, using long strokes with a spatula or a quick blend with your hand mixer. Do not over mix!

Once the flour is incorporated, take your cookie scoop or two teaspoons and form little balls, or you can take your hand. I don’t like how the dough keeps sticking to my hands, and prefer the spoon method. 

Drop each ball onto the parchment, then go back and flatten them all with an oily spoon or hand. Give them plenty of room to spread if you want pretty round shaped cookies. I had mine a little too close, which also increased my baking time and made them not so pretty.

Place into the oven or BBQ grill and bake for 10-15 min. Mine actually took 30 minutes, but it’s a bit of a challenge to regulate the temperature in a BBQ grill. Lots of variables. Nonetheless, they turned out great.

They are done when the edges are getting light brown and the cookies are looking dry. I usually press down lightly on one near the center, and if it seems pretty firm, they are done. In some Ovens you might have to rotate the sheet half way through so they bake evenly.

Serve them as is which is my favorite, or frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting, maple glaze, or buttercream frosting. 

Variations: 

Add 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground turmeric and a pinch of black pepper for more anti-inflammatory properties. It will turn these cookies even orangier!

Add Zante Currants for a bit of fruitiness. 

Add candied ginger for some ginger power.

Use all butter and no peanut butter if you’re allergic. They will still be super tasty.

Optional: Frosting For Your Cookies:

Here is a simple cream cheese spread recipe with homemade cheese:

Start with some unsalted chevre or queso fresco. Or use a fresh made clabber cheese.

Simply blend your choice cheese with powdered panela sugar, honey, or maple syrup to taste and add a teaspoon of vanilla if you prefer. Maple syrup or honey tend to soften the cheese a little much, so go sparingly on those. I make powdered panela sugar in my electric spice grinder.

You could also add cinnamon to your frosting for extra flavor.

Traditional cream cheese frosting recipe

Here is a quick traditional cream cheese frosting with butter. You can use any of the homemade cheeses or store-bought cream cheese:

Whip 8 oz cheese and 1/2 cup softened butter till smooth. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract, pinch of salt and 4 cups powdered sugar (or 500g very finely ground panela sugar to taste)

Your Questions Answered

Can you freeze Sweet Potato cookies?

You sure can! they will taste just as good as fresh. Plan on using them within a few months or the taste and texture will degrade. If you vacuum seal the freezer bags, they should last for a year in the freezer. This is a great way to have some ready made lunch-box stuffers, trail-food, or something to offer unexpected guests.

Which color sweet potatoes are the healthiest?

The purple ones are highest in anthocyanin. The orange ones are highest in beta-carotene. Any strongly colored sweet potatoes will be higher in health benefits than pale or white sweet potatoes.

Enjoy Your Sweet Potato Cookies!

I think you’ll love these soft sweet potato cookies for both their great taste and their healthy properties. It’s a great way to pack some healthy goodness into a food that can also satisfy your sweet tooth. 

If you made this recipe, let me know in the comments below. And if you have any questions about the recipe, I will be happy to answer them for you. 

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Head on over to my new post if you want some great Gift Ideas For Mother’s Day!

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Bonnyclabber – What is clabber milk and its uses – Learn to make bonnyclabber, the original cheese. Nature’s way of preserving milk. A tasty, creamy cheese that makes a really good frosting for einkorn zucchini bread.

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Grain mill
Panela sugar
Honey
Maple syrup
Evaporated cane juice
Coconut sugar
Redmond’s real salt
Himalayan pink salt
Celtic sea salt
Organic vanilla on amazon
Organic vanilla extract from Azure Standard
Hamilton Beach hand mixer
Kitchen Aid Stand mixer
Einkorn berries
Einkorn flour

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