SWEET POTATO PIE COOKIES

Sweet Potato Pie Cookies image

If sweet potato is your pie of choice then these cookies are for you: They channel all the flavor of that Southern favorite in a fun two-bite package. The crust comes together quickly and gets pressed into a mini-muffin tin, no rolling necessary. We bake the crumble topping separately to keep it crisp and easy to put on the cookies after they come out of the oven. Any extra would be great on ice cream, yogurt or fruit-or make a double batch and keep it on hand for a quick topping for a future baked dessert.

Provided by Food Network Kitchen

Categories dessert

Time 3h

Yield 24 cookies

Number Of Ingredients 26

Previous Next

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Nonstick cooking spray
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (see Cook's Note)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Steps:

For the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prick the sweet potato in several places and place it on a baking sheet. Bake until very tender, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool. Scrape the flesh into a bowl and mash until smooth. Measure out 1 cup purée; reserve the remaining purée for another use.
Place the 1 cup sweet potato purée in a medium bowl. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, cream, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
Meanwhile, for the crust: Spray a 24-cup mini-muffin tin with cooking spray. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the granulated sugar and butter in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low just until combined to form a smooth dough.
Roll the dough into 24 (1-tablespoon size) balls. Press a ball into each muffin cup, covering the sides and bottoms to make cookie crusts. Refrigerate to firm up the crusts, about 30 minutes.
While the crusts chill, make the crumble topping: Toss the flour, pecans, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl. Drizzle with the melted butter and toss well with a fork until the mixture clumps together with some crumbs and some larger clumps. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F until golden and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool.
Pour the filling into the chilled cookie crusts and bake at 350 degrees F until the crusts are golden and the filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes.
Let the cookies sit in the pan until cool enough to handle, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack. Press the cooled crumble topping onto the cookies and let cool before serving.