Why You’ll Love This Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Unbelievably Soft & Moist. The mashed sweet potato works its magic by keeping these cookies incredibly tender for days. They have this lovely, almost muffin-like crumb that just melts in your mouth.
- A Nutrient-Packed Twist. While it’s definitely a dessert, you can feel good about the extra dose of vitamins and fiber from the sweet potato. It’s a clever way to add a little something extra to a classic treat.
- The Perfect Balance of Sweet. The natural sweetness of the potato means you can often use a touch less sugar than in a standard chocolate chip cookie. The result is a more complex flavor that isn’t one-note sugary.
- Surprisingly Easy to Make. Honestly, if you can mash a potato and stir a bowl, you can make these. There’s no fancy equipment or complicated techniques required—just straightforward, comforting baking.
Ingredients & Tools
- 1 cup mashed, cooked sweet potato (cooled completely)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
Tools: A large mixing bowl, a hand mixer or stand mixer, a baking sheet, parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, a cookie scoop (highly recommended!).
Getting the sweet potato right is key here—you want it smoothly mashed with no stringy bits, and completely cool so it doesn’t melt the butter. And using a mix of brown and white sugar gives you that perfect chewy-yet-soft texture we’re after.
Serves: 18 cookies | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 10-12 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes (plus cooling)
Before You Start: Tips & Ingredient Notes
- How to prepare the perfect sweet potato. The absolute best method is to bake a medium sweet potato at 400°F (200°C) for about 45-60 minutes, until it’s fork-tender. This caramelizes the natural sugars and gives the deepest flavor. You can also steam or boil it, but baking is superior. Let it cool completely before scooping out the flesh and mashing it until smooth.
- Room temperature ingredients are non-negotiable. Using a room temperature egg and softened butter is crucial for proper emulsification. This means the fat and liquids will blend together smoothly, creating a uniform dough that bakes up evenly. If your butter is too cold, you’ll have a crumbly dough; if it’s melted, the cookies will spread too much.
- Don’t skip the chill time. This dough is quite soft thanks to the sweet potato. Chilling it for at least 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours) firms it up, preventing the cookies from spreading into thin puddles in the oven. It also allows the flavors to meld together beautifully.
- Choose your chocolate wisely. I’m a firm believer in using a good quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate chip here. The slight bitterness is a fantastic counterpoint to the sweet potato’s earthy sweetness. Feel free to use chunks for bigger, gooier pools of chocolate!
How to Make Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies
Step 1: Cream the Butter and Sugars. In your large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat them together on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes. You’re looking for the mixture to become light, pale, and fluffy. This step is important because it incorporates air into the dough, which helps with the cookie’s rise and texture.
Step 2: Incorporate the Wet Ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the room-temperature egg and the vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until everything is just combined. Now, add your beautifully mashed and cooled sweet potato. Mix again until the sweet potato is fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth. It will look a bit like a thick, orange-hued batter at this point—that’s exactly what you want.
Step 3: Combine the Dry Ingredients. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. This whisking action ensures the leavening agent and spices are evenly distributed throughout the flour, so you get a consistent bake in every cookie.
Step 4: Bring the Dough Together. With your mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix only until the flour streaks have just disappeared. Be careful not to overmix! Overmixing develops gluten, which can lead to tough cookies. Now, switch to a spatula and gently fold in the chocolate chips until they’re evenly distributed.
Step 5: The Essential Chill. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. If you’re in a hurry, you can pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes. This rest time is what gives you a thick, bakery-style cookie instead of a flat one. The dough will firm up significantly.
Step 6: Preheat and Scoop. While the dough chills, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Using a cookie scoop (a #40 scoop, which holds about 1.5 tablespoons, is perfect), portion out the dough onto the prepared sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie as they will spread a little.
Step 7: Bake to Perfection. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The trick is to take them out when the edges look set and are just starting to turn golden brown, but the centers still look slightly soft and underdone. They might look a little puffy when you first take them out—this is normal. They will settle as they cool. Don’t wait for them to look fully cooked in the center, or you’ll lose that wonderful softness.
Step 8: Cool and Enjoy. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. This allows them to set up enough to be moved. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely… or, you know, dig in while they’re still warm and the chocolate is gloriously melty.
Serving Suggestions
Complementary Dishes
- A scoop of vanilla bean ice cream — placed on top of a slightly warm cookie for an instant, decadent ice cream sandwich experience. The cold creaminess is a dream with the soft, spiced cookie.
- A warm mug of chai tea — the spices in the chai—cinnamon, cardamom, ginger—echo the warm notes in the cookie, making for a perfectly cozy pairing on a chilly afternoon.
Drinks
- A tall glass of cold milk — it’s a classic for a reason. The richness of the milk cuts through the sweetness and complements the chocolate perfectly.
- A bold cup of coffee — the bitterness of a good dark roast coffee provides a fantastic contrast to the sweet, earthy flavors of the cookie, making each bite feel balanced.
Something Sweet
- A simple fruit salad with oranges and pomegranate — the bright, acidic freshness of the fruit provides a lovely palate cleanser and keeps the whole dessert feeling light and not overly heavy.
Top Mistakes to Avoid
- Mistake: Using warm sweet potato. If your sweet potato is even slightly warm when you add it to the creamed butter and sugar, it will melt the butter. This will result in a greasy, overly spread-out cookie. Patience is key—let it cool completely.
- Mistake: Skipping the chill time. I know, waiting is the hardest part. But this dough is very soft. If you bake it right away, the cookies will spread thin and burn on the edges before the centers are cooked. Chilling is not a suggestion; it’s a requirement for the right texture.
- Mistake: Overbaking. These cookies continue to cook on the hot baking sheet after you take them out of the oven. Pull them out when the centers still look a little soft and underdone. They will set up perfectly as they cool, giving you that dreamy, soft-baked texture.
- Mistake: Overmixing the flour. Once you add the flour, mix only until it’s *just* combined. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which can make your cookies tough and cakey instead of tender and soft.
Expert Tips
- Tip: Brown your butter for a deeper flavor. Take the extra 5 minutes to melt your butter in a saucepan until it turns a golden brown color and smells nutty. Let it cool slightly before using. This adds an incredible, rich, toffee-like note that pairs wonderfully with the sweet potato.
- Tip: Use a cookie scoop for uniformity. Not only does it make the process faster and cleaner, but it ensures all your cookies are the same size. This means they will bake at the same rate, so you don’t end up with some burnt and some undercooked.
- Tip: Add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Right when the cookies come out of the oven, gently press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops and finish with a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt. It enhances every single flavor in the most magical way.
- Tip: Freeze the dough for future cookies. Portion the dough into balls and freeze them solid on a baking sheet. Then, transfer the frozen dough balls to a zip-top bag. You can bake them straight from frozen, just adding 1-2 minutes to the baking time. Fresh cookies on demand!
FAQs
Can I use canned sweet potato puree?
You can, but be very careful to get 100% pure sweet potato puree, not the canned pie filling which has added sugar and spices. Also, canned puree often has a higher water content. To compensate, place the canned puree in a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl for about 30 minutes to let some of the excess liquid drain out. Honestly, the flavor from a freshly baked sweet potato is far superior, but in a pinch, canned will work.
Can I make these cookies gluten-free?
Absolutely! I’ve had great success using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. Look for one that contains xanthan gum, which helps mimic the structure that gluten provides. The texture might be a tad more crumbly, but they will still be deliciously soft. Be sure not to overmix the gluten-free flour, as it can sometimes become gummy.
Why are my cookies cakey and not chewy?
A cakey texture usually points to a few things: too much flour (always spoon and level your flour, don’t scoop directly from the bag!), overmixing the dough after adding the flour, or potentially the sweet potato itself making the batter wetter. These cookies are naturally on the softer, cake-like side, but ensuring you measure accurately and mix minimally will give you the perfect balance.
Can I reduce the sugar in this recipe?
You can experiment a little, but be cautious. The sugar doesn’t just add sweetness; it contributes to the spread, texture, and browning of the cookie. I wouldn’t recommend reducing the total sugar by more than a quarter of a cup. The brown sugar is especially important for moisture, so if you reduce anything, maybe start with a tablespoon or two less of the granulated sugar.
How should I store these cookies, and how long do they last?
To keep them soft, store the completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll be perfect for about 3-4 days. If you want to keep them longer, you can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm them gently in the oven. The dough balls also freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, as mentioned in the tips above.
Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies
Discover the secret to incredibly soft sweet potato chocolate chip cookies! This easy recipe uses mashed sweet potato for a moist, cake-like texture & subtle sweetness. A game-changing twist on a classic.
Ingredients
Ingredients
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1 cup mashed, cooked sweet potato (cooled completely)
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1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened (1 stick))
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1/2 cup light brown sugar (packed)
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1/4 cup granulated sugar
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1 large egg (at room temperature)
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
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1/2 teaspoon baking soda
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1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1/4 teaspoon salt
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1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
Instructions
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Cream the Butter and Sugars. In your large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat them together on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes. You're looking for the mixture to become light, pale, and fluffy. This step is important because it incorporates air into the dough, which helps with the cookie's rise and texture.01
-
Incorporate the Wet Ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the room-temperature egg and the vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until everything is just combined. Now, add your beautifully mashed and cooled sweet potato. Mix again until the sweet potato is fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth. It will look a bit like a thick, orange-hued batter at this point—that's exactly what you want.02
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Combine the Dry Ingredients. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. This whisking action ensures the leavening agent and spices are evenly distributed throughout the flour, so you get a consistent bake in every cookie.03
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Bring the Dough Together. With your mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix only until the flour streaks have just disappeared. Be careful not to overmix! Overmixing develops gluten, which can lead to tough cookies. Now, switch to a spatula and gently fold in the chocolate chips until they're evenly distributed.04
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The Essential Chill. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. If you're in a hurry, you can pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes. This rest time is what gives you a thick, bakery-style cookie instead of a flat one. The dough will firm up significantly.05
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Preheat and Scoop. While the dough chills, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Using a cookie scoop (a #40 scoop, which holds about 1.5 tablespoons, is perfect), portion out the dough onto the prepared sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie as they will spread a little.06
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Bake to Perfection. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The trick is to take them out when the edges look set and are just starting to turn golden brown, but the centers still look slightly soft and underdone. They might look a little puffy when you first take them out—this is normal. They will settle as they cool. Don't wait for them to look fully cooked in the center, or you'll lose that wonderful softness.07
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Cool and Enjoy. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. This allows them to set up enough to be moved. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely… or, you know, dig in while they're still warm and the chocolate is gloriously melty.08
