Sweet Potato Cookie Bars

It’s Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas series on the blog–if you haven’t already, go back and check out the recipe for Day 1, where I also give a description of the series in general for those of you who may be new here.

I think that I mentioned in a post from a a couple weeks ago that I’d been doing a bit more baking with sweet potato as an ingredient as of late and as a result, I’d be posting some more sweet potato recipes here on the blog. Today’s recipe is one of the further proofs of that.

Sweet potato pie is easily in my Top 5 ranking of pies. It’s not number #1 or #2 (those spots go to Pecan and Strawberry-Rhubarb, respectively), but sweet potato is definitely up there.

One of the reasons I prefer pie to other desserts like cake is the textural element. I like contrasting textures in my food so that everything doesn’t necessarily taste ‘one note.’ And although I loveloveLOVE the flavors of sweet potato pie, I think it’s a few rankings beneath others because texturally, it can be a bit ‘one note’.

Sweet potato pie filling is ideally supposed to be very smooth, and pie crust itself is supposed to be flaky and melt in your mouth. That leaves little room for much ‘chew’ in the dessert itself, which is the only downside to sweet potato pie if I had to give one. This is one of the reasons why I’m rather geeked to be sharing today’s recipe with you all; it’s an automatic and pretty delicious ‘correction’ to what I see as the only minor ‘problem’ with sweet potato pie.

Rather than a pie crust base, this recipe has a pâte sablée cookie crust that’s pre-baked once, then twice again with the sweet potato filling on top. Apart from the fact that the cookie is delicious enough all on its own, it’s thick and chewy enough to give a fantastic textural contrast with the smooth and spiced sweet potato filling . They checked all the boxes for me and although they’re not a pie, I dooooo think they make for a solid contender against the real thing. Try em out.

Stay tuned for more recipes for the 12 Days of Christmas…

Day 1: Winter Spice Sausage Rolls

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Sweet Potato Cookie Bars

Recipe Adapted from Bake from Scratch

Ingredients

For Pâte Sablée Cookie Crust

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt

For Sweet Potato Filling

2 cups warm mashed baked sweet potato (make sure it’s completely mashed/smooth, with no chunks throughout)
1 cup evaporated milk
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

For Cookie Crust:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a handheld one with the beater attachments), beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add egg and egg yolks, beating until combined. Beat in vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined.

For Sweet Potato Filling

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend over sides of pan; lightly spray with cooking spray.
Press Pâte Sablée cookie crust into bottom of prepared pan. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Using a fork, prick the dough about every 1 inch.
Bake until light golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together warm mashed sweet potato and all remaining ingredients until well combined. Pour filling onto warm crust.
Bake until filling is set and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 175°F (79°C), 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Using excess parchment as handles, remove from pan. Trim edges, and cut into bars as desired using a hot, dry knife.