GLUTEN-FREE SPICED SWEET POTATO AND CANDIED GINGER COOKIES
Who doesn’t like to indulge in cookies? These are Gluten-free Spiced Sweet potato cookies, it’s a winter weather healthy sweet treat, that benefits your body and brain as a whole, and are just perfect as a grab and go breakfast. It's also an adequate nutritional lunch box snack.
Classical versions of cookies would mostly be made with refined flour and I tried replacing it with oats flour and gluten-free flour. Removing the gluten from cookie makes it slightly guilt free, though I used butter in the recipe
YIELDS: 20-24 pieces
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
BAKING TIME: 18 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 38 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 medium sweet potato kumara, peeled and chopped (it should be 1 cup quantity of cooked and mashed potatoes)
185g butter, room temperature
200g or 1 cup soft light brown sugar
1 egg
Zest of 1 orange
180g gluten-free flour
100g oats flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
50g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
50g dark chocolate buttons (I used Hershey’s semi-sweet)
METHOD
Preheat the oven at 180°C. Grease and line the baking sheet/tray with baking paper. Set aside.
Steam the chopped potatoes in a double boiler, for 10-12 minutes, until soft and cooked. Remove from boiler and spread on a plate and let them cool completely. Once cooled, place them on paper towel and let the excess moisture absorb on it. Mash them to a smooth purée.
Beat butter and sugar together until pale and creamy, add egg and zest and beat for a minute. Stir in the mashed potatoes until well combined.
Sift together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg and salt. Tip in the chopped macadamia nuts and ginger, then gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine well.
Drop tablespoon full of the mixture on to the prepared baking tray keeping a distance of at least 2 inch in each cookie dollop. Press lightly and bake them for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack.
Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl, melt chocolate in a double boiler over a pan of barely simmering water. Pour it in a piping bag and drizzle over cooled cookies. Set aside for 30 minutes to set.
COOK'S NOTES:
You can always use store bought pumpkin purée. It’s generally quiet soft as the water content is more, soak that extra moisture on the absorbent paper or kitchen paper roll and use it as written in recipe.
Preserve the cookies in airtight box for up to 2 weeks.
