Vegan Sweet Potato Breakfast Cookies

Last week, I opened a can of sweet potato puree to bake a batch of doughnut muffins. Since then, I’ve been desperately brainstorming ways to use up the rest of the can. I thought about baking sweet potato yeast bread since we finished the challah bread in a mere 3 days, but I wanted to make something that didn’t take hours.

I found a recipe for Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies, which I adapted to make Sweet Potato Cookies. Don’t let the “cookie” part of the name fool you though. These cookies are packed with whole grains, making them a great choice for breakfast.

Vegan Sweet Potato Breakfast Cookies

Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup sweet potato puree
• 2 TBSP ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. In a large mixing bowl, mix together sweet potato puree, ground flax seed and almond milk. Add in the remaining wet ingredients and mix well (oil, syrup, and vanilla). Sift in spelt flour, ww pastry flour, spices, soda, and salt and stir until fully incorporated. Fold in the oats, pecans and dried cranberries.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop cookie dough and drop on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave 2″ of space between each cookie. Press down the scoops to form a flat patty. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are a light golden brown.

Makes ~20 cookies

Note: You can substitute pumpkin puree for the sweet potato. Be sure to add more sweetener to make up for the substitution.

Unlike Cookie Crisp Cereal (my favorite cereal as a child!), these cookies are very filling and nutritious. I ate a few fresh outta the oven for breakfast this morning and I am borderline stuffed. Although, I wouldn’t turn down a bowl of Cookie Crisp right now. I haven’t had that in years! Perhaps that’ll be my next baking project.