From Fudgy Brownies to Silky Pies, Here Are 26 Sweet Potato Desserts You’ll Love
We’re always happy to see a sweet potato, be it baked and slathered with butter or roasted with garlic and herbs. That said, we often overlook sweet potato’s dessert potential—even though it’s right there in the name—and we’re here to right that wrong. Presenting, a round-up of sweet potato desserts that are too delicious to turn down.
RELATED: 28 Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes That Never Get Old
1. Sweet Potato Sugar Cookies with Marshmallow Topping
Here, a deliciously moist sweet potato cookie with a cake-like texture and sweet, melty marshmallow frosting. Suffice it to say, this is not your average sugar cookie.
2. Sweet Potato Brownies with Date Caramel Frosting
A healthy, low-calorie baked good that you actually want to eat? It sounds like an impossibility, but these decadent sweet potato brownies will make you a believer, whilst giving you a solid dose of beta-carotene to boot. (The date caramel frosting is just there for your sweet tooth.)
3. S’mores with Homemade Sweet Potato Graham Crackers
Good news for the gluten-free: You don’t need to sit and stare sadly into the flames while everyone else enjoys a s’more—just make a batch of these sweet potato ‘graham crackers’ and you’ll be sinking your teeth into a classic campfire treat in no time.
4. Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potato Fries with Vanilla Icing Dip
Sweet, salty, crunchy—we’re big fans of sweet potato fries in general, but this spin on the classic has us a bit outside our comfort zone...in the best possible way. Bottom line: You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a plate of shoestring sweet potato fries doused with cinnamon-sugar and icing.
5. Sweet Potato Pie Oats
Is it dessert? Is it breakfast? We’ll let you decide—but we can promise that this deconstructed pie is downright delicious (and the oats will do you good at any time of day).
6. Classic Sweet Potato Pie
Move over, pumpkin pie—this gently spiced sweet potato version of the classic holiday dessert is every bit as rich and delicious.
7. Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Maple Icing
An impossibly moist and tender sweet potato bundt cake, finished with a maple glaze so yummy you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful.
8. Carrot Cake Flavored Orange Smoothie
Raw sweet potato and carrots go for a spin in the blender along with walnuts, vanilla and spices (among other things) to make this very convincing and guilt-free alternative to a slice of a carrot cake. Bonus: There’s no grating involved.
9. Sweet Potato Pecan Pie
This hybrid pie boasts a silky sweet potato filling and a crunchy, candied pecan topping. Decadent, but not cloyingly sweet—serve yourself a slice of this guy and we guarantee you’ll clean your plate.
10. Maple Sweet Potato Pie
If you didn’t know that sweet potato pie was a thing, you definitely do now. Here, the secret ingredient is maple syrup—just a touch added to the filling yields swoon-worthy results.
11. Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding
It might sound like blasphemy, but the silky-smooth custard of this baked sweet potato pudding is (dare we say it?) better than pie.
12. Spiced Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Rich, creamy and sinfully delicious with an ever-so-subtle earthiness; if you’ve never put sweet potato into a cheesecake before, you’ve been doing it all wrong.
13. Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls are never a hard sell, but these ones are truly special, thanks to the sweet potato built into the batter. The end result is much like the classic, but with a complexity you just don’t find at Cinnabon.
14. Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramel Drizzle
Presenting your new cream cheese-frosted favorite. Warm fall spices and subtle earthy flavor give these cupcakes a similar taste to carrot cake, but with an incredibly moist and tender texture that only sweet potato can achieve.
15. Sweet Potato ‘Goguma” Green Tea Latte
If you want to finish off your meal with a little something sweet, but don’t want to venture into full-blown dessert territory, we strongly suggest you snuggle up with a mug of Goguma—a type of Korean latte that consists of pureed sweet potato, milk and honey. Here, the comforting beverage gets an extra kick from green tea.
16. Sweet Potato Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Cinnamon swirls and sugary icing—you really can’t go wrong with coffee cake, and this sweet potato version is truly an upgrade on the classic. Here, the sweet potato puree produces a cake that’s so tender and fluffy you could rest your head on it. (Sensing a theme?)
17. Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Pecan Crumble
No list of sweet potato desserts would be complete with a good ol’ sweet potato casserole. This buttery mash, topped with brown sugar pecan crumble, checks all the boxes.
18. Sweet Potato Mousse Cups
Sweet potato puree and Cool Whip are a match made in heaven, as evidenced by this airy and creamy mousse. Just add gingersnap crumbs and marshmallow frosting to complete this deconstructed pie, and you’ll be rewarded with a next-level dessert.
19. Sweet Potato Ice Cream with Toasted Marshmallows
After all the warm, rich baked goods you’ve enjoyed over sweet potato season, you might be craving a palate cleanser—a refreshing scoop of sweet potato ice cream, perhaps?
20. Cozy Bourbon Old Fashioned with Sweet Potato Simple Syrup
For those who like their dessert in the form of a nightcap, this bourbon Old Fashioned will do the trick. (Hint: It’s the sweet potato simple syrup you’ll be buzzing about.)
21. Fluffy Almond Butter Sweet Potato Muffins
In this recipe, almond butter and sweet potato combine to make a mean muffin—moderately sweet, fluffy and flavorful. (And did we mention gluten-free?)
22. Sweet Potato Double Chocolate Cookies
Sweet potatoes are great, but sometimes you just want chocolate. Good news: You actually can have your cake (or cookie, as it were) and eat it, too.
23. Fondant Slow-Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Enjoy these fondant sweet potatoes for dessert and you’ll be all kinds of confused...and very happy. The potatoes themselves are cooked in a savory style to great effect, emerging as golden nuggets that will melt in your mouth; once you drench them with the rich maple syrup pecan sauce, well, you’re looking at dessert.
24. Sweet Potato Souffle in Orange Cups
Fresh orange juice makes sweet potato sing in this fluffy souffle, while the candied pecans provide a pleasant textural contrast, and an extra dose of sugar, of course. Serve this to guests and you’ll look fancy.
25. Sweet Potato Doughnuts
We love a good apple cider donut, but if you prefer your fried dough a bit less (er) dry, sweet potato doughnuts are the solution. Don’t think you can fry your own? Fear not: These glazed beauts are a cinch to make on the stovetop.
26. Sweet Potato Cake with Marshmallow Frosting
Nutmeg, cinnamon, marshmallow buttercream...Oh, my! This tender sweet potato cake melts in your mouth and tastes like fall.
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