Sassy Maple-Sweet Potato Sandies

I m planning on doing a post soon about my cooking and eats, now that I'm living on my own. One of the items that goes into my shopping cart every week has been sweet potatoes. They're affordable, healthy, quick, and delicious.

I come from a sweet potato lovin' family. They're always the most popular side dish at Thanksgiving, and we never had leftovers. Growing up, we often had baked sweet potatoes for dinner, served with a cinnamon-sugar shaker and a slab of butter. Don't get me started on how much we love sweet potato fries.

I LOVE sweet potatoes, if you couldn't tell already. They're great in pancakes, waffles, muffins, pizza, pies, cakes, and cookies.

Yes, cookies. Sassy Maple-Sweet Potato Sandies are pretty much the best cookies ever, I think. I'm almost positive.



You don't see grated sweet potato used in cooking much, so I thought I would use it in a cookie recipe. The grated sweet potato doesn't make the cookies overly moist, and it actually makes them a little chewy. Good chew - not bad chew.

I love maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar with sweet potatoes, and I used those ingredients in the cookies, as well as toasted pecans and toasted coconut.



I really liked these Sassy Maple-Sweet Potato Sandies, but I wasn't sure what other people would think about them. Using sweet potato in a cookie is a little odd. I was relieved when I received good reviews from the test-tasters. Everyone liked them and said they were irresistible and hard to stop eating.

Now that's what I like to hear, ya'll. Give these cookies a try. I recommend North Carolina sweet potatoes.

Sassy Maple-Sweet Potato Sandies (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated North Carolina sweet potato

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place pecans and coconut on a large cookie sheet. Bake 6-7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy - about 1-2 minutes; beat in maple syrup, egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until just combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in toasted pecans, coconut, and sweet potato until combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for 45 minutes, or until well chilled and firm.

Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, and place on greased cookie sheets, about an inch apart. Flatten balls slightly using palms of hands. Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Makes 30 cookies