4-Ingredient Frosted Soft Sweet Potato Cookies
These 4-ingredient sweet potato cookies feature a soft cake mix cookie base topped with tangy cream cheese frosting. They’re the perfect dessert for any fall gathering!
I’m not going to lie, the first time I heard someone say they made a sweet potato cookie recipe, I did not think that sounded appetizing. However, sweet potato cookies are actually a great way to sate that sweet tooth. The texture of these cookies is pillowy soft, and the creamy frosting is literally the icing on top!
This easy sweet potato cookies recipe actually combines two 2-ingredient recipes: a recipe for cake mix cookies, and a recipe for simple cream cheese frosting. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as it makes lovely chewy cookies with a burst of tangy sweetness on top.
One last thought — this would make a great recipe for leftover sweet potatoes. I think this is my preferred method for dealing with those leftovers. Happy baking!
What’s in 4-ingredient sweet potato cookies
While sweet potato is the main ingredient, this recipe features a kitchen shortcut and a simple frosting recipe!
- Canned Sweet Potatoes: The star of the show! You can also used fresh mashed sweet potato for this, or your own homemade sweet potato puree You’ll need 2 cups mashed, which is exactly what’s in a 29 oz can. Since these are cookies, I love that the canned sweet potatoes have a little added sugar to their natural sweetness.
- Cake Mix: A box of cake mix is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe easy! I used yellow cake mix for a simple, sweet cookies, but you could also use spice cake mix or butter pecan. I’ve never tried it, but I bet a chocolate sweet potato cookie using chocolate cake mix would be great!
- Cream Cheese: You’re going to use 1/2 of an 8 oz block of cream cheese in this recipe. You can sub Neufchâtel cheese here, but the frosting will be a little thinner.
- Powdered Sugar: This is the other half of the icing recipe. There’s not really a sub for this — it gives the frosting it’s lightness and sweetness!
Making soft sweet potato cookies
Step 1 | Make the cookie dough
Start by draining your canned sweet potatoes in a colander. Mash them with a fork or a potato masher, then measure out 2 cups.
Add the mashed sweet potato to the large bowl. Add the cake mix, then beat it until it turns into a sticky dough. If you’d like, you can also add a few warm spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for some fun fall flavor.
Step 2 | Bake the cookies
Drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined or greased baking sheets. You could also use a cookie scoop to get uniform cookies. Once your cookies are on the pan, bake them at 350° for 8-10 minutes. You can add extra minutes if the tops aren’t slightly springy and golden brown.
Remove your cookies from the oven, take them off the cookie sheet, and cool them completely on a cooling rack.
Top Tip: If your cookies got humps in the middle during baking, you can press them more flat on the top while they are still warm.
Step 3 | Make the frosting
While your cookies are baking, place your softened cream cheese and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, then beat them using either a stand or hand mixer until you get an icing consistency.
You can play around here — while regular cream cheese frosting is delicious, you can add vanilla extract, fall spices, a little brown sugar, or other flavors!
Step 4 | Put it all together
Once your cookies are baked, cool them completely to room temperature, then frost them with the cream cheese frosting. I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon to these for the aesthetic appeal!
Step 5 | Enjoy!
These cookies are fantastic for Thanksgiving dessert, for any fall gathering, or even for a decadent afternoon snack. If you bring them to the latest potluck, get ready for oohs and aahs!
Variations
Cake mix cookies offer a great base to create some other delicious fall flavors:
- Frosted Pumpkin Cookies: Pumpkin and sweet potato can be subbed for each other in baking! Just exchange the mashed sweet potato for an equal amount of pumpkin puree, and you’ve got pumpkin cookies!
- Applesauce Cookies: Sub applesauce for the sweet potato puree to make a lovely apple-flavored fall dessert!
- Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies: Instead of frosting these guys, you can go the mix-in route and add chocolate chips to the batter before baking. These would taste great with dark chocolate or even white chocolate chips!
More Delicious Cookie Recipes
FAQs
Yes, since the frosting contains cream cheese, it’s best to store the frosted cookies in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They’ll stay fresh for up to 3-4 days.
Yes, you can freeze the unfrosted cookies for up to 3 months. Once thawed, you can frost them with fresh cream cheese frosting.
Absolutely! You can fold in chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate chips into the batter for added texture and flavor.
Yes, while spice or yellow cake mix pairs well with sweet potatoes, you can experiment with other flavors like vanilla or carrot cake mix.
4-Ingredient Sweet Potato Cookies
Ingredients
- 29 oz can sweet potatoes
- 1 box yellow or spice cake mix
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Drain sweet potatoes, then mash. Measure 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes, then add them to mixing bowl.
- Add cake mix to mixing bowl, then beat sweet potatoes and cake mix until a sticky dough forms.
- Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown.
- While cookies are baking, add cream cheese and powdered sugar to another mixing bowl. Beat until frosting consistency is reached.
- When cookies are finished baking, cool them to room temperature. Frost them using cream cheese frosting. Cookies are ready to eat after frosting.
