PB Cookies with Sweet Potato Flour
Holiday baking is a great time to play with new flours! These cookies, for example, are made with a combination of sweet potato flour and raw buckwheat flour. I use the latter all of the time — it’s my go-to flour thanks to its low glycemic load and smooth, neutral flavor — but I haven’t made too many baked goods with sweet potato flour. I decided to add it to PB cookies on the theory that lots of West African dishes are made with peanuts and sweet potatoes, so why not try translating a savory concept into the world of sweets? And I threw in some ginger, too, since that’s also a common ingredient in African cuisine. (And in cookies. Nice how that works out!)
You can definitely taste the sweet potato flour in these button-sized cookies, but the PB keeps the sweet potatoes in check. Using sucanat as the sweetener adds a slight caramel aspect that is a happy partner to the main ingredients. I made these with just 1/2 cup of sucanat since I like my sweets not so sweet, but you could use 3/4 cup if you’re accustomed to sweeter cookies. Or keep them minimally sweetened and think of them as breakfast cookies. Sweet potato is of course mildly sweet on its own, and I find that top-notch organic PB also tastes rather sweet. It’s all about the quality of your ingredients, folks!
One-half cup of sucanat for 84 cookies is a LOT less sugar than you’ll find in cereals, low-fat yogurt, and breakfast bars, all of which are filled to the brim with sweeteners. Let’s do the math: each of these cookies has 0.76 grams of sucanat in it (when you use 1/2 cup sucanat total, which is 110 grams), whereas 8 ounces of low-fat yogurt has 33 grams of sugar in it. You would have to eat 43 of these cookies to equal the sugar that is in a single serving of low-fat yogurt. I highly doubt you would eat 43 of these cookies at one sitting.
Note: if you’re having trouble finding sweet potato flour, you might want to order it online. I adore the line of South American flours made by Zócalo: http://www.culinarycollective.com/product/zocalo-peru-sweet-potato-flour/.
PB Cookies with Sweet Potato Flour
Makes about 7 dozen cookies.
3/4 cup sweet potato flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour, preferably raw buckwheat (OR sorghum OR brown rice flour)*
1 T. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ginger
1 cup peanut butter, preferably organic (no matter its organic/non-organic status, the ingredient list should read “peanuts” or “peanuts and salt”)
3 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
1/2 cup sucanat (or 3/4 cup if you prefer sweeter cookies)
1 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and spices. If you’re using unsalted PB, you might want to add a pinch of salt to your flours.
In a large bowl, beat the remaining ingredients together until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture. Use a small regular spoon to scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets, shaping them into small balls of about 1 tablespoon as you go along. Once the first baking sheet is full (leave about 2″ between balls), use your fingertips to lightly press down on the balls to flatten them. Pop that sheet in the oven and bake the first batch for 12 minutes while you shape the dough into balls for the second baking sheet. Press down lightly before baking, again for 12 minutes.
Repeat until the cookies are all baked. Completely cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 2 weeks.
Enjoy!
* These are gluten-free flours. If you’d prefer to make wheat-based cookies, use 1/2 cup of kamut, spelt, or whole-wheat flour.
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Tags: breakfast cookies, buckwheat flour, cinnamon, cookies, eggs, ginger, gluten-free, natural sweeteners, nut butter cookies, PB, sucanat, sweet potato flour, vanilla
