It's been a while since I posted something sweet - you'll have my cravings to thank for that and my rigorous attempts to curb them. The lack of baking has been picked up on by the smaller people though, so they'll be happy when they come home from school today. However I've been recipe developing again, my brief being snacks this time, hence these golden beauties that have made an appearance into our lives at Casa Healing Family Eats.
If you've been following along for some time and you're the eagle eyed sort, you'll notice this post is the first inclusion of sweet potato on the blog. A gentle introduction to the repertoire that has the jury still out, as far as I'm concerned anyway but time alone will tell. If another sweet potato post appears, you know we're in the clear!
These cookies, with densely rustic texture and faint whiff of vanilla, are a little crackly on the top but I urge you not to give that a second thought, they taste sublime and by the time you take that maiden bite, any thoughts of a refined crust will be long gone. If you can restrain yourself at the point you take them out of the oven, these morish bites firm up somewhat on cooling and eat a little bit crispy on the outside, a little bit chewy in the centre. But honestly, they are yum-tastic whenever, even in their raw form or directly out of the freezer!
We're all excitement at the moment. Not because of eating sweet potato but the fact my boy represents his school in the Provincial Cross Country Championships this weekend. There is no doubting cookies will be a welcome pick me up after the event - not to mention the perfect antidote to the accompanying rain that's been forecast 🙁 ! So happy weekend to you all and don't forget to join in my Luminance 'clean' skincare giveaway - it ends Sunday night! Luminance are also kindly offering 15% off all orders until 13th November, if you quote HEALINGFAMILYEATS at checkout.
sweet potato, coconut and vanilla cookies
A word about coconut nectar. It is what I was asked to use for my recipe development and if you haven't come across it before it has the consistency of molasses. Sarah Ballantyne says coconut nectar is fine in moderation on the AIP but not for those with very leaky guts, those of you should use molasses instead but, even so, in moderation and you will have a darker cookie.
(makes 12)
Print the recipe here
1 cup sweet potato puree *
1/2 cup lard
2 tbsp coconut nectar **
generous pinch of sea salt
4 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp vanilla powder
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Preheat oven to 325F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Put the sweet potato purée, shortening, coconut nectar and salt into a mixing bowl and, using a stand or handheld mixer, combine until soft, pale and creamy. Sift in the coconut flour, baking soda and vanilla powder and add the shredded coconut. Mix again. The mixture should be fairly dry but if it isn't, add another tablespoon of shredded coconut.
Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, take heaped spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into 12 balls. Alternatively use 2 rounded tablespoons. Space them out onto the baking tray and flatten slightly with the underside of a glass or the palm of your hand. Put into the oven and cook for about 35-40 minutes until golden brown with a bit of give when gently pressed with a finger tip and a little crispy around the edges. Allow to cool on the tray for a minute or two before moving to a wire rack. They will firm up more on cooling.
Store in the fridge or freezer to prevent them going soft.
Tip: put some coconut flour into a small bowl. Dip a flat bottomed glass (if you can find one with a pretty edge that would be even better) into the flour and press down on the cookie ball. This becomes easier after the first one as the glass will be stickier for the flour to cling to. Dust off the excess from the the glass and push down onto the cookies, making sure they are all evenly sized.
* Pierce a medium sized sweet potato several times with a sharp knife, put onto a baking sheet and place in a 350F oven for around 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely, before taking off the skin and scooping out the flesh. Mash with a fork, you should be left with a fairly dry purée.
** Or use Blackstrap Molasses - see note at the top of this recipe for more information.
Kate, you've done it again. And I love that these can be "hidden" in the freezer. Almost finished my frozen teacake so these can be my new stash. Out of sight is out of mind for my sweet tooth
Hehe, Amanda, "hidden" indeed. 😉 🙂
I hope you enjoy them - they're a bit dangerously delicious so hide them well!!
Did I miss something? I prepared exactly as stated in the recipe, but even though I cooked them WAY longer than the recipe suggested, they were still mush. They never fully cooked but the edges started to burn.
I'm not entirely sure, but seeing as the mixture was "mush" it was too wet to begin with. Perhaps your sweet potato had a high water content? Are you sure you checked the ingredients that I linked to in the recipe, to make sure yours were the same? In any case, I hope you salvaged the recipe and made it into something else.
What can you substitute shredded coconut with?
Thank you!
I'm not really sure the recipe's adaptable to be honest. You could try shredded tigernuts and tigernut flour instead of the coconut flour but, truly, you would be recipe testing and there are no guarantees.
such perfect timing for the holidays! and sweet potato + vanilla is a delightful combination.
i find that staying low-histamine for much of the day helps me feel better overall. sad because i've cut down on my cauliflower consumption, but i guess i'll survive. hope you're doing well! xo
Interesting what you say about low histamine helping you, I've recently had a couple of reactions that I'm putting down to histamines and the more I read up on them, the more I think they affect me. Glad to hear you're surviving, albeit on reduced cauliflower 🙂
All well here thanks - hoping it's the same for you xo
Is cauliflower high in histamines?
Hi Kim, cauliflower is not high in histamines. It is a high FODMAP food though - that's what Amanda was referring to. 🙂
These sound amazing, I can't wait to try! I don't do well with baking soda, how do you think these would fare without? Thank you!
I haven't tried them without but I have a good feeling it will be fine 🙂
Nice Kate, just what I needed. It's a good day to stay home and bake here in Vancouver. How's your boy at running in wellies?? Hope he does well!
Isn't it foul? I've just spent the morning out in the pouring rain and can hardly move my fingers. No baking for me today, it's washing muddy kit for me 🙂 . And yes he did really well, thanks Samantha! Enjoy your baking day 🙂
These look so good Kate :)! Can't wait to make them. Amazon won't ship the palm shortening to where I live, do you suppose coconut oil might work? Sending lots of good wishes to your son this weekend! Hope he has a ton of fun 🙂 Tammy
Thanks Tammy! I haven't tried with coconut oil but I think it should be just fine and delicious. Just to let you know if you're interested in getting hold of the shortening, I have had it sent over from Vitacost before. They don't charge a fortune for shipping and I didn't get landed with a bill for duty. Maybe I was lucky, I don't know but here's the link for you http://www.vitacost.com
My son had a great run, thanks - I'm hoping all the mud will come off his kit and his runners don't shrink in the wash 😉
these came out really nicely! but they were a bit too salty for my tastes- next batch I think I'll use half the amount of salt. thank you so much!!
You're welcome 🙂
Hi Kate! Today I made these beauties and turned out really well. I couldn't resist the temptation of trying them before they were completely cool, and they tasted gooooood, even though the texture was on the chewy side. I'll try to wait until they are completely cool to see if they get firmer. I used coconut oil instead of the shortening (1 cup), but next time I will use less (maybe 1/2 or 3/4 cup) because they were a bit oily.
The amount of coconut oil would be 1/2 cup maximum, the same as for the shortening in the recipe. Don't forget the texture is chewy, although the cookies do firm a bit more on cooling and yep, the taste is pretty yum, no? 🙂
This morning I made your apple & cranberry "oatmeal" recipe and it was so good! Thank you for the great idea, I was getting tired of meats for breakfast. 🙂 Now I am eyeing this cookie recipe... Can I use honey instead of molasses?
Great to hear you enjoyed your breakfast 🙂 and yes, although I haven't tried, honey will be fine in the cookies but remember it is sweeter than molasses and has a different flavour. Enjoy!
I used all molasses and boy are they dark but boy are they good!
And boy, that's GOOD to hear. Thanks!! 😉
I wonder if these can be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters into shapes. Looking for an AIP or at least eggless paleo recipe to cut out some Christmas shapes.
I haven't yet tried it myself but I definitely think it would be worth a try.
Can't get the powdered vanilla - would the liquid vanilla work? It's pure, not artificial.
If you are on the strict AIP absolutely certain it is pure, then adding a small amount would be fine. I have stopped using and linking to the extract I have as it turns out the formula may be soy-based (the manufacturers were unclear). Personally I would make them up without the vanilla (in the absence of powder) altogether or add in another flavouring you fancy such as a pinch of ginger, cinnamon or even lavender.
1 tesp. salt seams to be way to salty is there a mistake.
Hi Phyllis, 1 tsp salt is correct, however if you drill into the salt I use you will see it is coarse sea salt. If you were to use fine salt then obviously you would need to use less.
Hi Kate, I just found your site & this recipe (lucky me!). Cannot wait to make these cookies. I'm going to omit the shredded coconut. Do you think I need to adjust any of the other ingredients? Thanks in advance!
Hi Jill, welcome 🙂
If you omit the shredded coconut you will definitely need to replace it with something else to bulk up the cookies. I would start with a couple more tablespoons of coconut flour and see what the texture is like, you need it to look fairly dry or the cookies won't hold together, so you may need to add more. I haven't tested the recipe without the shredded c so it'll be trial and error I'm afraid.
Let me know how they go?
Thanks, Kate. I will let you know how they turn out. Does the shredded coconut add any sweetness I should also adjust?
The shredded does add sweetness but then so does the flour. I would taste the mixture and see what you think, I imagine it'll be fine. Enjoy 🙂
Are you allowed baking powder if you are AIP?
Many thanks,
B
Hi Brenna, baking powder is not AIP-friendly as it is more often than not derived from corn. You can use baking soda though - that's what is used in this recipe.
I subbed cassava flour for the coconut flour (I'm fine with the flakes but the flour doesn't sit well. Can't explain it). This substitution does not work!!! Just FYI 🙂 Might try tigernut next time... did not hold together and ran all over! One giant, thin, burnt cookie 🙂
Hi Rachel, coconut flour is so different from any of the other gluten free flours because it is so absorbent so you won't be able to substitute anything else without rewriting the recipe I'm afraid. Thankfully you'll find plenty of cassava recipes out there I'm sure. 🙂
I was wondering - if not doing AIP, could maple syrup be used instead of the coconut nectar or molasses? (I don't know enough of AIP to know if maple syrup is okay or not.)
Hi Marie, maple syrup is AIP-friendly so you could definitely experiment with that.
Hi Kate! CAn you tell me if I can substitute the palm shortening with lard for this recipe? What is the difference between the two in your experience with baking?
Looks delicious!
Hi Genevieve, lard and shortening are pretty much interchangeable for this recipe. I wrote it originally for a family who doesn't eat pork but to be honest I'm a big fan of baking with lard. I don't tend to use shortening these days but it has its uses when cooking something a little more delicately flavoured - but there's heaps of flavour in these cookies so you don't need to worry. 🙂
Thank you for the info! Tried your lemon tart as a practice for Christmas treat and it's a success, I'll definitely be repeating it for Christmas!
Oh that's good to hear. I do love a slice of lemon tart for a treat. Enjoy! 🙂
Kate, thank you for the recipe! I've done it today and the cookies turned our just perfect! I ate 5 of them in a row. It's hard to resist 🙂
Oops, seems like you really did like those cookies, hehe 😉 . Glad you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
So, I am apparently missing something. This recipe was so salty I threw the entire batch out. Is it really one teaspoon salt? Any insights as to what I must have done wrong? I was pretty careful with the measurements, or so I thought. Thanks.
I imagine you used a different type of salt to the one I used. The one I use and link to is Maldon, which is a coarsely flaked sea salt so if you used fine salt, then yes your batch would be way too salty. I've changed the recipe now to say a large pinch so thanks for mentioning it and I'm sorry you had a ruined batch.
Beautiful recipe, Kate! I used 1 tbsp molasses as I don't have coconut nectar and coconut oil for the same reason. Plenty sweet for me as i try to be mostly sugar free. Do you know how molasses compares to nectar or rice malt (Not AIP) or honey? Wondering if I should be reducing it even more. Delicious out of the oven and hoping they are still yum tomorrow. 😉
Thanks Joy. Coconut nectar is sweeter than molasses and because I'm sugar free this recipe would be too sweet for me now as well. You could quite happily cut the sweetener altogether, or perhaps just add a teaspoon if the mixture isn't holding together.
I used grass fed butter and raw honey. They were nice but still quite soft. However, my mix was fairly moist so will try adding extra coconut as suggested next time.
Yes, the secret is in the consistency. I bet yours tasted good though!!
Thank you for this recipe! Do you find using room temperature palm shortening or cooled (hardened) works best?
Hi Emily, you'll need it to be at room temperature (I always keep mine at room temp), or you'll have trouble mixing it. Enjoy your cookies 🙂
I just made these cookies yesterday (I started w/ a 1/2 recipe to make sure I liked them). I used coconut oil, maple syrup, and organic alcohol-free vanilla extract. I even toasted my coconut before adding to the mixture. WOW oh WOW are these cookies amazing!!! I am so happy I stumbled across this recipe. I am Paleo and do not have a need to eat AIP, but I have shared this recipe w/ 3 friends already who are AIP and they are very excited to make as well. Thank you so much Kate!!! <3
They sound delicious Laura, I'm so pleased they were a success. I saw and shared your pic on Instagram. Stunning!
I was told coconut is high histamine, so wouldn’t that change the recipe to higher histamine? I know histamine charts can be contradictory
Coconut isn't a high histamine food, but it is a grey area for some people with gut issues because of the inulin content. You will need to go on your own symptoms, and eat in moderation if tolerated.
Un desastre la receta dice 40' minutos de horno y solo dejé 20' y se quemaron eso que puse el horno a la temperatura que dice acá.
I'm not too sure what could have happened because the recipe has worked for others. Perhaps your mixture was much drier, or the oven temperature higher?