Soft, chewy, naturally sweetened, and incredibly delicious vegan sweet potato cookies! They’re healthy enough for breakfast and tasty enough for dessert.
This recipe was originally published in May 2018. It has been updated for content and photos.
Not only are these vegan sweet potato cookies nutrient-dense and scrumptious, but they’re easy to make (no bowl needed) and they’re allergen-friendly too! Perfect for school or workplace-safe snacks.
Adding veggies to your cookies might sound odd, but just think about how sweet a sweet potato is! It makes a great base for healthy cookies.
Sweet potatoes are wholesome and versatile, with several great uses for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and yes, even dessert. For more awesome ways to use this versatile vegetable, browse this collection of healthy sweet potato recipes.
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Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this delicious sweet potato cookies recipe.
- Sweet potatoes: Cook and mash your sweet potato, or use canned sweet potato puree.
- Flour mixture: I use a mix of oat and rice flour that I make myself by grinding brown rice and oats in my blender. You may also use store-bought.
- Banana: Use VERY ripe bananas for the best flavour and natural sweetness.
Instructions
(This is a summary with step-by-step photos, full recipe measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Add your peeled and cubed sweet potato to a pan covered with water.
Cook until soft, then drain, and mash the potatoes very well.
Add the banana and dry ingredients to the pan with your mashed potato.
Then mix well until combined. The batter will be very thick.
Scoop the cookie dough onto your prepared baking tray.
Then gently press each cookie down with a fork to flatten and shape them.
NOTE: Make smaller cookies for little hands, or an afternoon snack. Or make larger cookies for adults or breakfast cookies. The recipe makes about 22-24 small cookies or 11-12 large.
Substitutions + Variations
- If you’re not avoiding gluten you may use all-purpose whole wheat flour to replace both flour options with similar results, with the wheat option being slightly softer and chewier.
- The rice and oat flour combo keeps these cookies gluten-free but also adds a more crumbly texture.
- For banana free, you may use ½ cup of unsweetened apple sauce instead of mashed banana with similar results. You may also try mashed pumpkin, however, this won’t be as sweet.
- To jazz up your vegan sweet potato cookies add any of the following fill-ins:
- ¼ cup (or more) dairy-free chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (or more) dried cranberries or raisins
- 3-4 tablespoons of unsweetened shredded coconut
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Up to ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ground ginger, and/or cloves
Storage
Leftover sweet potato cookies will keep at room temperature for 1-2 days or refrigerated for 3-4 days.
To freeze the cookies, cool to room temperature first. Then store them in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Expert Tips
- Use very ripe bananas with brown spotted skins. Since these cookies are naturally sweetened, you want to use very ripe and sweet bananas.
- If possible, use a scale to weigh your ingredients for the best results. If you do not have a kitchen scale, spoon and level your flour into your measuring cup. Don’t scoop from the bag, or you may end up with too much.
- If you don’t have oat or brown rice flour, you may use all-purpose whole wheat flour with similar results. Use 110g (approx ¾ cup) only if you’re not avoiding gluten.
- You can make brown rice flour and oat flour if you don’t have any on hand. I grind the ingredients in my Vitamix.
- These healthy cookies are great for babies, kids, and adults alike. To make them for toddlers and little ones, use a smaller cookie scoop to make around 22-24 bite-sized cookies. They’re also great for baby led weaning, just skip the optional maple syrup, if preferred.
More delicious healthy cookie recipes
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Buon appetito
Rosa
📖 Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.25 cups mashed sweet potato from approx 1 large potato (2.5 cups cubed)
- ½ cup mashed banana from approx 2 medium bananas (use RIPE bananas)
- 70 grams oat flour approx ½ cup + 2 tbsp, use gluten free if preferred
- 50 grams brown rice flour approx ¼ cup (or use more oat flour)
- 70 grams rolled oats approx ½ cup
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup optional
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375℉/190℃, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Peel and cube your sweet potatoes, place them in a pan or pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until soft, approx 8-10 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Then mash well using a potato masher.
- Add all the remaining ingredients to the pan with your mashed sweet potato and mix well. The batter will be thick.
- Use a cookie scoop to make your cookie balls and place them on your baking tray. Then, gently press each one down with a fork to flatten and shape them. Bake the sweet potato cookies for 15-18 minutes, until golden.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes and enjoy.
Notes
- Use very ripe bananas with brown spotted skins. Since these cookies are naturally sweetened, you want to use very ripe and sweet bananas.
- If possible, use a scale to weigh your ingredients for the best results. If you do not have a kitchen scale, spoon and level your flour into your measuring cup. Don’t scoop from the bag, or you may end up with too much.
- If you don’t have oat or brown rice flour, you may use all-purpose whole wheat flour with similar results. Use 110g (approx ¾ cup) only if you’re not avoiding gluten.
- You can make brown rice flour and oat flour if you don’t have any on hand. I grind the ingredients in my Vitamix.
Noelle
Yes!! Love this recipe, so good!
rosa
Thanks Noelle!
Deeana
They looked promising so I made a double batch. No regrets!! Thanks for this tasty healthy cookie recipe Rosa.
Rosa
Thanks so much for sharing Deeana. Thrilled you enjoyed.
Oana
I made these amazing cookies few weeks back in a double portion (one had to go to work to make my co-workers taste the amazingness) and now I’m making again a double portion 🙂
Easy to make and really healthy and tasty. I find them sweet enough from the banana and the potato but my co-workers would have wanted to be more sweet. I guess it’s because they eat lots of sugar everyday 🙂
rosa
Aw thanks so much for the feedback Oana! So glad you enjoyed these cookies. 🙂
Mary
I made them with the applesauce instead of banana, it worked great, thanks for a great recipe!
rosa
So glad to hear that Mary! I truly appreciate you taking the time to come back and let me know your feedback. Glad you enjoyed! 🙂
Mary
Hello, this recipe looks great but I’m frustrated because every time I find a gluten free, nut free “allergy friendly “cookie, they always have bananas in them. I can’t eat bananas because of an allergy. Do you have any recommendations on what I could sub for the banana? I appreciate any help 🙂
Thanks!
rosa
Hi Mary, I can certainly understand how that would be very frustrating. Bananas are in so many things which is why I recently came out with a ‘no-banana’ smoothie! To replace the banana in this recipe, I would suggest 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce. Although I haven’t tried it this way, I do believe it would work well. I often use applesauce in desserts with much luck. If you try it this way, I’d love to hear your feedback!
Jen
Made these cookies for my 8 month old daughter and she loves them!! Thank you!!
rosa
Thanks for the feedback Jen. So glad to hear. 🙂
Toni
These are so perfect! I can’t stop eating them!
rosa
Yay so glad to hear Toni!
Brenda
How many cups mashed sweet potatoes does a ” medium size” sweet potato equate to? Just wanna be sure, we get a huge variety of sizes here.
rosa
Hi Brenda, it will be roughly 1.25 cups of mashed sweet potato. Hope you enjoy this recipe. 🙂
Brenda
Thanks Rosa for the quick response. Glad I asked my sweet potatoes are definately on the small side. Does the recipe work with white rice flour, or is it too gooey?
rosa
No problem Brenda. I haven’t tried this one with white rice flour so I can’t say for certain. I’ve tried whole wheat flour which works, but only if you’re not avoiding gluten. If you do try white rice flour, I’d love to hear how they turn out!
Rebecca
Can you use regular flour for these? We aren’t so concerned with gluten free as we are dairy/egg free, so I don’t have either of those flours on hand, nor do I want to make/buy it. Thanks!
rosa
Hi Rebecca, I’ve tried these with whole wheat flour which also worked well. I haven’t tried with white flour but usually that’s an easier flour to work with so I suspect it would turn out just fine with it. If you do try with a different flour, I’d love to hear how they turn out! 🙂
Vin
Hello There‼️
Just need clarity on the Sweet Potato Cookies. The recipe lists steel cut oats for both grinding in the Vitamix and as an uncooked mix-in prior to baking. I think this must be a typo as old fashioned oats would need to be used for the mix-in. Steel cut take a greater amount of liquid and time to eat, thus leaving the coarse groats intact for the most part in the final cookies It’s also quicker to grind up old fashioned in the Vitamix. Outside of a slight glycemic index variable, both types of oats are nutritionally identical.
Your thoughts
Respectfully,
Vincent
rosa
Hello Vincent,
Thank you for your comment. It’s not a typo, I did use steel cut oats for both grinding and as a mix in. I tend to use steel cut oats often in my baking and get great results. That being said, feel free to sub for old fashioned oats if you’d prefer. I’d love to hear how they turn out. 🙂
Rosa