Lightly sweet cinnamon-flavored sweet potato and oat based cake bites. The light sweetness comes from the sweet potato, maple syrup, dairy-free mini chocolate chips, and a bit of maple sugar. These cake bites can be eaten as a snack or small dessert. Imagine sitting down to enjoy one or two with a cup of coffee or tea!
2cupsbaked sweet potatoes, cooled, peeled & mashedabout 2-3 sweet potatoes, depending on the size
3Tbspcocoa powder, unsweetenedcacao powder would work here too
1tspcinnamon, ground+ more for coating, see below
1tspvanilla extract
¼tspsalt
⅓cup natural peanut butter*
⅓cup maple syrup
1tspbaking powder
1 ½cupsoat flour*
½cupmini dairy-free chocolate chipsI used the "Enjoy Life" brand
Maple cinnamon coating
½cupalmond flour
2 Tbspmaple sugar*or date sugar, see note
1tspcinnamon, ground
Instructions
Prepare your 'mise en place'
Prep & measure out all of your ingredients ahead of time ('mise en place' = everything in its place) to make the cooking process more enjoyable. You can prepare your parchment-lined baking sheet at this point too.
Preheat your oven to 350° F (176° C)
Combine sweet potato mixture
Place all of the sweet potato mixture ingredients except for the mini chocolate chips into a large bowl and stir to combine.Next, stir in the mini chocolate chips until evenly combined.
Combine maple cinnamon coating mixture
Place all of the maple cinnamon coating mixture ingredients into a small bowl and stir or whisk to combine. Be sure there are no lumps.
Roll the sweet potato mixture into balls
Roll the mashed sweet potato mixture into balls (the size of ping pong balls, about 2 Tbsp each). Use your hands to roll into balls. Wetting your hands occasionally may help prevent sticking. Place each ball out spaced evenly on your parchment-lined baking sheet. Tip: if you have a 2nd helper available, your helper could move on to the next step & roll the balls in the maple cinnamon coating before placing them on the baking sheet.
Roll the sweet potato balls in the coating
Roll each ball lightly in the maple cinnamon coating before placing back on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven & enjoy!
Place the pan of cake bites in the preheated 350° F (176° C) oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until several of the cake bites begin to crack on the surface. Then, remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes & enjoy!
Notes
Note: Natural peanut butter is made of ground peanuts only (& possibly a little salt). It can typically be found in the refrigerated section of grocery stores. Alternatively, you can place peanuts in a high-speed blender to make your own.Note: Oat flour is made of ground oats. It can typically be found in the natural foods section of grocery stores. Alternatively, you can place rolled oats in a high-speed blender to make your own.Note: Maple sugar is crystallized maple syrup. You may find it in your grocery store but if not, it's available on Amazon. I have used date sugar (which is made of dehydrated & ground dates) in the coating for this recipe as well but I prefer the slight additional sweetness and maple flavor of the maple sugar. I think the maple sugar brings out the cinnamon flavor a bit more as well.