These 4-ingredient Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cookies are the easiest healthy breakfast cookies loaded with nutrients from oats, sweet potato, and bananas. They are oil-free, low in saturated fat, and egg-free vegan cookies.
Oatmeal cookies are perfect for breakfast, like my Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies, Protein Oatmeal Cookies, or Coconut Flour Oatmeal Cookies, but what about a cookie that adds some vegetables to your day!
These sweet potato cookies are all about adding natural sweetness and nutrients from sweet potato to your breakfast routine.
What Are Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cookies?
It’s a simple breakfast cookie recipe that adds mashed sweet potato to your cookies.
Sweet potatoes are packed with beta-carotene that the body converts to vitamin A, a vital vitamin for a robust immune system.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
These cookies taste delicious and are naturally:
- Egg-free
- Dairy-free
- Oil-free
- Vegan
- Gluten-free friendly
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need are:
- Sweet Potato Puree – You can make your own mashed sweet potatoes from boiled, steamed, or air-fried sweet potatoes. Take the sweet potatoes puree to room temperature before using it. Measure the amount listed in the recipe card by packing the puree in the measuring cup to ensure the best texture and flavor.
- Mashed Bananas – the ripeness of the bananas will define the sweetness of the cookies. They are perfect with yellow bananas that have just a few dark spots.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats or quick oats. Both oat options work.
- Maple Syrup – You can use traditional maple syrup or any similar liquid sweetener such as coconut nectar or brown rice syrup.
How To Make Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cookies
It takes just 20 minutes to make these oatmeal cookies with sweet potatoes. The two best ways to cook your sweet potato to bake goods are with an oven or an air fryer.
- Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, prick their skin, and rub water around the sweet potatoes.
- Line a baking sheet with oiled parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), and place the sweet potato halves flesh down on the tray.
- Bake them for 40 minutes or until they are soft in the center.
- Let the sweet potatoes cool down on a cold plate flesh down.
- When the sweet potatoes have reached room temperature, remove the dry skin that forms on the flesh and discard or compost it.
- Scoop out the flesh, and mash it with a fork on a chopping board or with a potato masher.
- In a mixing bowl, add the mashed sweet potato, mashed bananas, and maple syrup. Top with the dry ingredients: rolled oats and cinnamon.
- Stir to combine and form a moist and consistent batter. Stir in any extra ingredients now, like vanilla extract, chocolate chips, or chopped nuts.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a cookie sheet with lightly oiled parchment paper.
- Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter and release it on the cookie sheet.
- Wet your hands to flatten the cookie batter and form a cookie shape. The water on your hand helps the ingredients stick and hold together.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until the sides of the cookies are golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool down at room temperature on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes.
- Then, slide a spatula under each cookie to transfer on a wire rack. The cookies harden at room temperature.
Air-Fried Sweet Potatoes
If you don’t want to bake your sweet potatoes, you can also air fry them:
- Place the sweet potato halves flesh down on the air fryer basket.
- Air fry the sweet potatoes at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes or until a knife goes through their flesh easily.
- Let them cool down flesh down on a cold plate – this keeps the sweet potatoes moist.
Oatmeal Cookies Flavors
You can tweak these easy 4-ingredient oatmeal cookies by adding some of the below ingredients for a boost of flavor:
- Vanilla Extract
- Pinch of Cinnamon, or allspices
- Dark Chocolate Chips
- Chopped Nuts like walnuts or pecan
- 1/4 cup of Oat Flour or almond flour to firm up the cookies.
Storage Instructions
You can store these oatmeal cookies for up to one week in the fridge in a cookie jar.
You can also freeze them in silicone bags and thaw them the day before at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, make sure you use certified rolled oats for this recipe.
Yes, you can replace the maple syrup with the same amount of peanut butter, almond butter, or more mashed banana.
The sweetener adds some crispiness to the sides of the cookies, so any changes to the sweetener will turn their texture into a softer, more fragile oatmeal cookie.
No, the best sweet potatoes to bake cookies are orange sweet potatoes, also known as garnet sweet potatoes or yams.
They are sweet with a moist low-starch texture that makes them perfect for baking sweet treats or replacing eggs in baking.
Yes, you can, but you will have to drain the boiled sweet potato entirely before making it to remove any water left in the vegetable.
Boiling also removes some nutrient and decrease the lovely flavor of the vegetable.
Yes, puree canned sweet potato puree with no added sugar will work.
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
If you like cookie recipes with oatmeal, you’ll love these:
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Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Mashed Orange Sweet Potato - , baked, at room temperature
- ½ cup Mashed Banana
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup - or agave syrup
- 2 ½ cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
Optional flavors
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ⅓ cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper: one to bake the sweet potatoes and make mashed sweet potatoes and one to bake the cookies. Lightly oil the paper with coconut oil. Set aside.
- Slice an orange sweet potato lengthwise, prick its skin, rub it with water, and place it upside down on a baking sheet. Bake it for 40 minutes or until a knife goes through the sweet potato easily. Cool it down on a plate, flesh down. When it reaches room temperature, scoop out the flesh and mash it with a fork to make a puree. Measure the amount required by the recipe. Set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients: mashed sweet potato, mashed banana, maple syrup, oats, and any additional vanilla, cinnamon, or chocolate chips. Stir until fully combined. The batter should be moist but hold together if squeezed between wet hands.
- Scoop out 1/4 cup of batter on the prepared tray.
- Use slightly wet hands to shape cookies, the water helps the batter stick together and form round cookies.
- Flatten each cookie dough ball with the palm of your hands. The thinner, the drier they will be. Keep them thick for a moist cookie. They won't spread in the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes, they should be golden brown on top but still moist in the middle.
- Cool on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack for 30 minutes. They hold their shape perfectly after cooling down so be patient.
Storage
- Store for up to 1 week in the fridge in a cookie jar. You can freeze them in silicone bags and thaw them the day before at room temperature.
Yum! I scaled back on the oats But they turned out great! Thanks.
These were really nice! Nothing unhealthy about them. Love it. We added baking powder, cacao powder, and hemp seeds.
I was hesitant on how the texture would be without baking powder since I’m new to baking.
It took me a bit longer than 15 minutes to get them golden brown, but everything else worked perfectly! I need lots of low-fat food for my friend who is sick and misses his favourite food, and I am really grateful for this recipe!
Hi these didn’t really bake properly and tasted doughy – is that right?
It should be soft but if doughty it means you didn’t bake them long enough or there’s too much moisture/dry ingredients. Maybe add more oats or bake them longer next time,
hi – i love the idea of a healthy breakfast cookie but is there something i can swap for the banana as i don’t buy them.
thanks.
You can use unsweetened applesauce instead