Soft, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, with chocolate chips in every bite. These cookies are everything a chocolate chip cookie should be, plus a whole lot more. Not only are they free of eggs, dairy, gluten, oil, or butter, they also have a not so secret “secret” ingredient. No, your eyes weren’t deceiving you when you read the title, sweet potatoes are a main ingredient in these classic-tasting chocolate chip cookies.

There are already oodles of yummy vegan chocolate chip cookies out there, but I wanted to try something a little different. In case you hadn’t noticed, I like to throw a little nutrition into my treats. It isn’t that I think having a truly sweet and delicious treat occasionally is a bad thing. It’s just that I think you can make a truly sweet and delicious treat without hoards of sugar and oil, while using healthy ingredients like rolled oats, raw almonds, and, in this case, root vegetables! Recently my daughter and I went to an all vegan event in our area and picked up some vegan and gluten free chocolate chip cookies. The first bite was so good, but after we shared about half of a big cookie, I felt sick to my stomach, and so thirsty from the overpowering sweetness. Our fingers were visibly oily from holding the cookie. These were very popular cookies I might add, and the vendor had a long line of fans waving their cash and happily scurrying away with their bag of treats. I have no doubt these were high quality baked goods. Like I said, that first bite was delicious, but who can stop at one bite? Certainly not me.

I can attest to the fact that you can eat two… ok, even three, of these cookies and they won’t give you the yucky belly and sugar coma that accompany some conventional sweets (even those that are vegan and gluten free). These are treats I feel fine about giving my little one, because they’re made with whole food ingredients, and aren’t just a cookie shaped lump of sugar and oil. I’ve also made these with even less sugar, and added some nuts and raisins, for more of a breakfast cookie. We love breakfast cookies, but usually they’re made with bananas and, well, call me picky, but sometimes I don’t want my healthy cookie to taste like bananas. That’s where sweet potato comes in. It adds the perfect amount of moisture, replaces some of the fat, as well as the eggs, adds a little natural sweetness, and has no detectable flavor. Oh yeah, this is some veggie magic at its finest.

Seeing as there are less two weeks until Christmas, I think it is safe to say we are in the thick of the cookie season. These healthier chocolate chip cookies are an awesome choice for the holiday season, and just might become your go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe year-round. This year, think outside the sweet potato casserole, and make some holiday magic by putting some tasty tubers in your cookies too!

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies – vegan, gluten free, and delicious!

Makes 16-18 small cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cooked sweet potato, mashed (I highly, highly recommend using white sweet potatoes with either white skins or purple skins, these are sweeter and more neutral flavored than the orange variety, although any variety will work)
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar or date sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp almond butter, I use raw almond butter
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup rolled oats, blended or processed into a fine flour (use certified gluten free oats if needed)
• 1/2 cup almond meal, I also make this myself by blending or processing raw almonds into a flour
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Cook your sweet potato. Sometimes I do this the night before. I like the results best when I roast the potato(s) in the oven at 400 for about an hour. I just rub the skin with a little coconut oil and set it right on the rack. Then I scoop the flesh out and discard the skin and measure out the 1 cup of sweet potato. Let cool, or refrigerate in a container to use the next day. 1 very large sweet potato is about right.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prep a large cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper.
3. Add the first 5 ingredients to the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth. In a large bowl combine the oat flour, almond meal, flax, baking soda and salt and whisk well.
4. Scrape the sweet potato mixture into the large bowl and combine well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop my tablespoons onto the prepped cookie sheet. These won’t spread a lot, so I tried to smooth them out a little before baking, and they can be placed relatively close together.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown. they may seem way too soft/underdone when you take them out but they will firm up. Take out of the oven and leave them on the cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes, before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Store in a container for a couple days, after that, keep them in the fridge. Or you can freeze them.

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as we did!

 

Tell me, what is your favorite holiday cookie?

I have a few more cookies and seasonal treats to share, so stay tuned!