Mbatata cookies
Sweet potato cinnamon cookies
Mbatata: Malawian soft sweet potato and cinnamon cookies
Mbatata simply means sweet potato in Chichewa, and these orange-flecked cookies are what Malawian mothers bake from leftover boiled sweet potato, sold too at Lilongwe and Blantyre bakeries alongside the tea urn. They come out soft and cakey rather than crisp, with a gentle sweetness from the potato, warm cinnamon and a buttery crumb. Serve them with milky tea at mid-morning or slip them into school lunch boxes. The recipe contains egg. Watery mash is the common pitfall, giving a sticky dough and flat cookies, so mash the potato dry and let it cool before mixing. Chef's tip: roast or steam the sweet potato rather than boiling it, for a deeper colour and a firmer dough.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Serves
- 20
- Per serving
- 95 kcal
Ingredients
- 10 ½ oz sweet potatosteamed or roasted, peeled and mashed until smooth, then cooled (about 250 g mashed)
- 2 ⅞ oz buttersoftened, or margarine
- 2 ⅞ oz sugar
- 1 eggbeaten
- 9 oz plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp milk (optional)only if the dough is dry
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (325°F fan) and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Step 3: Beat in 1 egg, then the cooled 10 ½ oz sweet potato, until the mixture is smooth and evenly orange.
Step 4: Sift 9 oz plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1 pinch salt over the bowl and fold in until you have a soft dough that holds together. If it is crumbly, add 2 tbsp milk a spoonful at a time; if sticky, a little more flour.
Step 5: Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, set them 4 cm apart on the trays and press each one down lightly with a floured fork.
Step 6: Bake until the cookies are golden underneath, firm at the edges and spring back when pressed in the middle.
15 minStep 7: Leave them on the trays for 5 minutes to firm up, then move to a rack to cool. They keep for 3 days in an airtight tin.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 95 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 15 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mbatata cookies take?
- About 35 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 20 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of sweet potato?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
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