Gluten Free Sweet Potato Power Cookies

My kids have officially lost it! They are refusing sweet potato fries. They will only have regular russet fries. Of course, this is just a phase considering all of them are boycotting them together, but it is really annoying me. I even made them Sweet Potato Cornbread Pancakes the other day and they scarfed them down because it was 'corn on the cob'. The moment I mentioned the sweet potatoes they quietly pushed them to the side of their plates! Grrrr....

I had one lone sweet potato in the pantry. We have had the week from hell fighting the kids about food, so I decided not to push it with sweet potato fries again. Instead, I decided to make some cookies. Last week, I made a really delicious batch of oatmeal peanut butter cookies. I figured I could squeeze in the sweet potato to those and make them even better.

I will be the first to admit that I am not a great baker. Usually, when I have an idea, I have to bake it a few times before I get the consistency and flavor correct. Maybe it was the luck of making them the week before, but this batch was a winner from the beginning. I was out of baking powder, changed up the amount of eggs and decided to make them gluten-free ... and it all worked! Needless to say, I was very proud of myself!

I struggle to even call these a cookie. They are more like a bite size granola bar. Loaded with great protein from the nut butter and almond meal, alongside the shredded coconut for some energy, these cookies are actually healthy! However, that makes them even better in my book. Do you find that with so many recipes? It's so hard to label anything anymore. Things crossover to different categories all the time. For instance, these are gluten-free but add AP flour instead of almond meal and they are gluten-filled. They aren't vegan, but you quickly change the egg for a flax egg and vegan it is!

Regardless how you label them, my kids ate the sweet potatoes and loved it ... Step 1: Accomplished Now, to see if that angle works next time I make them sweet potato fries and tell them they liked the sweet potato cookies. Any bets that it's not going to work?!

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Power Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 egg (or flax egg)
1/2 c maple syrup
1/2 c cashew butter (or other nut butter)
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 c almond meal
1 c oats, old-fashioned
3/4 c chocolate chips (vegan or regular ... optional)

Preheat oven for 350º.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook sweet potatoes until they are completely tender.

In a bowl, mix all ingredients.

Prepare a baking sheet with sprayed parchment paper. Scoop out 1 1/2 T of dough and place them on the baking sheet.

Bake for 18-20 minutes and enjoy! If you don't use parchment paper, they start to get dark on the bottom so I take them out around 12-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them.