Adapted from Heaven Recipes and Carrie Vasios. Carrie Vasios is the editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. Follow her on Twitter @carrievasios
OK—we here at Tea Magazine love us some pumpkin bread and spice cake. But let’s mix things up a bit! Looking for another easy, yet zesty dessert for your family gathering (and want to really impress those relatives with your baking prowess)? Try sweet potatoes! A nice alternative to pumpkin, these cookies have a unique autumnal flavor with combined with molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. These would pair well with a Darjeeling tea, or with a spiced masala chai.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 2 hours
Makes 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- 1/2 cup mashed sweet potato (see note)
Method
Note: To make mashed sweet potato, pierce a medium size sweet potato all over with a fork then microwave on high for 4 minutes. Turn potato over, then microwave for another four minutes or until fork tender. Let cool, then scoop out 1/2 cup of flesh. Have on hand: stand mixer, baking sheet, parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar, and light brown sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla, and molasses and beat to combine. Add sweet potato puree and beat until well incorporated. Add dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until it just comes together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap (it will be soft) and chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
- Adjust oven rack to upper and lower middle positions and preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets. Bake until browned and darkened at the edges, about 12 minutes.
- Let cool 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cooled cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
