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These sweet potato cookies are easy, soft-baked cookies made with sweet potato purée, fall spices, and gooey pockets of sweet cream cheese in the middle!
If you’re looking for more fall baking ideas, try my pumpkin cinnamon rolls, classic apple crumble, and pumpkin bars next.
I couldn’t resist stuffing these cookies with a sweet cream cheese filling. Like my strawberry cheesecake cookies, it’s a fun surprise when you bite into one! The sweet potato cookies themselves are soft, chewy, and flavored with cozy spices. It’s the perfect fall cookie recipe.
The best part about this recipe? Easily swap sweet potato for pumpkin purée, and tada! You’ve made pumpkin cream cheese cookies instead.
What Makes These Sweet Potato Cookies So Good
- Cheesecake-style filling. I think the cream cheese filling is a different and delicious way to make sweet potato cookies. If you want to skip the cream cheese, however, you can. The soft, spiced cookies are irresistible as-is.
- Soft-baked and chewy. The sweet potato makes these cookies extra moist, chewy, and flavorful. Meanwhile, a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg brings subtle pumpkin pie flavors.
- Easy to make. These bakery-style sweet potato cookies are actually very simple to make, even if you’re new to baking!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make These Cookies
You need a can of sweet potato purée and simple pantry ingredients to make this easy sweet potato cookies recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for the printable amounts and step-by-step recipe instructions.
- Sweet Potato Purée – You can use canned or homemade sweet potato purée. In both cases, I recommend using paper towels to press out as much excess moisture from the purée as possible.
- Dry Ingredients – Flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Be careful not to overmeasure the flour, and check the dates on your baking powder and soda to ensure they’re fresh.
- Spices – Ground cinnamon and nutmeg, or you could use pumpkin pie spice.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter, softened to room temperature.
- Sugar – You can use granulated or brown sugar here.
- Eggs – Just the egg yolks, for extra richness in the cookie dough. Like the butter, bring the eggs to room temperature.
- Vanilla – Use pure vanilla extract or an equal amount of vanilla paste.
- Cream Cheese – To combine with sugar and vanilla to make the filling. Make sure that the cream cheese is COLD from the fridge. For the creamiest filling, full-fat cream cheese is best.
Drain the Sweet Potato Purée
For perfectly chewy, soft cookies, make sure there isn’t excess liquid left in your sweet potato purée. An easy way to remove excess moisture is to spread the sweet potato on a plate. Then, place paper towels on top of the purée, and leave them to absorb. You may need to replace the paper towels more than once to make sure there’s no liquid leftover.
Easy Cookie Variations
- Add flavor and crunch. Before baking, roll the cookie dough in cinnamon sugar for extra texture and a sparkly finish.
- Use marshmallows. Instead of cream cheese, fill your sweet potato cookies with mini marshmallows for some retro sweet potato casserole-inspired vibes.
- More add-ins. Add semisweet or white chocolate chips to the cookie dough. Chopped pecans or spiced nuts would also taste amazing in these cookies.
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Sweet Potato Cookies
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 6 ounces cold cream cheese
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cookies:
- ½ cup canned sweet potato puree, drained to remove extra moisture
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the filling. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese with sugar and vanilla extract. Take 2 teaspoons of the mixture and drop it into a mound on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer while you prepare the cookie dough.
- Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Stir together the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour with cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg.
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream the butter with sugar using a handheld mixer. Gradually add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sweet potato puree. Stir well.
- Mix the cookie dough. Fold the dry ingredients; fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture and stir until just combined.
- Shape the cookies. Scoop the dough into 16 portions. Roll the portions into balls, then flatten each ball. Place the cream cheese in the center of the dough. Then close the cheese ball with the dough and roll the dough into a ball again. Make sure the cookie dough completely covers the cream cheese ball.
- Bake. Place the cookie balls onto the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes.
- Cool. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment
Notes
- Drain the puree. For the best results, make sure there is no excess liquid in your sweet potato puree. To remove excess liquid, spread the sweet potato puree on a plate. Lightly top it with paper towels so they can absorb the liquid. Repeat a few times if needed.
- Leave out the filling. If you’d like to omit the cream cheese filling, you can.
- Filling options. Instead of cream cheese, you can also use miniature marshmallows.
- For extra flavor, roll the cookie dough through the mixture of sugar and cinnamon just before baking.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Sweet Potato Cookies Stuffed With Cream Cheese
First, I like to drain the excess moisture from the sweet potato. Meanwhile, I’ll mix the cream cheese filling and chill it in the freezer. Let’s get baking:
- Prepare the cream cheese filling. Beat the cream cheese with sugar and vanilla. Then, using a small spoon or cookie scoop, scoop the mixture, 2 teaspoons at a time, onto a lined baking sheet. Afterward, place the pan into the freezer while you make your cookie dough. Chilling the sweet cream cheese helps prevent the filling from leaking out of the cookies while they bake.
- Mix the cookie dough. Now, whisk the dry ingredients for the dough in one bowl, and cream the butter and sugar with the wet ingredients in another. Add the sweet potato purée and vanilla to the wet ingredients, followed by the dry ingredients. Mix just until the dough comes together.
- Stuff the cookies. Next, portion the dough into 16 even-sized cookies. Roll and gently flatten each cookie dough ball, and place a chilled cream cheese mound in the center of each cookie. Seal the cream cheese inside the dough and roll it into a ball.
- Bake. Arrange the filled cookie dough balls on your baking sheet. Bake these sweet potato cookies at 350ºF for 12-14 minutes. Afterward, cool the cookies for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack.
How to Store
- Refrigerate. If you’ve filled your cookies with cream cheese, it’s best to keep them in the fridge. If not, you can store the sweet potato cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freeze. To freeze these cookies, store them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. They can be frozen for up to 2 months and thawed at room temperature when it’s time to serve.
