The Best Adorable Sweet Potato Pie Cookies

What if you could capture all the warm, spiced, and deeply comforting flavor of a classic Southern Sweet Potato Pie, but in an adorable, easy-to-eat, two-bite cookie? Get ready to meet your new favorite holiday treat! These incredible Sweet Potato Pie Cookies are a brilliant and delicious mash-up of a tender cookie cup, a creamy pie filling, and a crunchy crumble topping.

This isn’t just a recipe; it’s a guide to creating the most fun, festive, and crowd-pleasing dessert for your Thanksgiving table. We’ll show you how to create three perfect components from scratch: a soft and buttery spiced cookie crust, a silky-smooth sweet potato custard, and a super-crunchy pecan crumble. It’s the perfect, portable way to enjoy a holiday classic, and it’s guaranteed to be a huge hit with both kids and adults.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: Your Favorite Holiday Pie, in a Cookie!

What makes these Sweet Potato Pie Cookies so spectacular is their perfect combination of three distinct and delicious textures: a soft and tender cookie cup, a rich and creamy filling, and a wonderfully crunchy topping. The recipe cleverly has you bake the crumble topping separately, which is the secret to a perfectly crisp, never-soggy result. It’s a fantastic, make-ahead-friendly baking project that will be a unique and memorable addition to your holiday dessert spread.

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	2 hours 30 minutes (includes cooling)
Active Prep Time	45 minutes
Difficulty Level	Intermediate
Servings	24 cookie cups

The Essential Ingredients for These Festive Treats

This recipe is made from three delicious, from-scratch components.

• The Creamy Sweet Potato Filling: This is the smooth, rich, and custardy heart of our cookie cups.
  • Fresh Sweet Potato: Using a freshly roasted sweet potato is the key to the most intense, naturally sweet, and flavorful filling. Roasting the potato concentrates its flavor in a way that canned purée cannot.
  • The Custard Base: A classic and rich custard is made with light brown sugar, an egg, and heavy cream, and it’s perfectly seasoned with warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
• The Spiced Cookie Crust: This is a soft, buttery, and tender cookie cup that is the perfect vessel for our creamy filling.
  • Room Temperature Butter: It is crucial that your unsalted butter is properly softened to room temperature. This is the secret to the “creaming method,” which creates a smooth, emulsified dough and a wonderfully tender final cookie.
  • Warm Spices: A blend of cinnamon and nutmeg in the cookie dough itself adds a lovely, warm, and festive flavor that complements the filling perfectly.
• The Crunchy Pecan Crumble Topping: This is the irresistible, crunchy finish. The genius of this recipe is that the crumble is baked separately on a sheet pan until it is perfectly golden brown and crispy, ensuring it never gets soggy. It’s a simple, stir-together mixture of flour, pecans, brown sugar, and melted butter.

Step-by-Step to the Perfect Sweet Potato Pie Cookies

This is a fun and rewarding baking project with a few distinct parts. Follow these detailed steps for a perfect result.

Part 1: Make the Sweet Potato Pie Filling

Step 1: First, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Scrub your large sweet potato, prick it in several places with a fork, and place it on a baking sheet.

Step 2: Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the potato is very tender. Let it cool until you can handle it.

Step 3: Carefully scrape the sweet potato flesh into a bowl and discard the skin. Mash the flesh until it is completely smooth. Measure out exactly 1 cup of the smooth sweet potato purée and reserve any remaining purée for another use.

Step 4: In a medium bowl, add the 1 cup of sweet potato purée, the 1/4 cup of light brown sugar, the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the 1 large egg, the 1/4 cup of heavy cream, the 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, the 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and the 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg. Whisk everything together until the mixture is completely smooth. Set this filling aside.

Part 2: Create and Chill the Cookie Crusts

Step 1: Spray a 24-cup mini-muffin tin generously with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2: In a medium bowl, stir together the 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour, the 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, the 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, the 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and the 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Step 3: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the 2/3 cup of granulated sugar and the 10 tablespoons of room temperature butter on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the 1 large egg and the 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Beat until the mixture is smooth.

Step 4: With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and beat just until a smooth dough is formed.

Step 5: Roll the dough into 24 uniform, 1-tablespoon-sized balls. Press one ball into each of the prepared mini-muffin cups, pressing it down on the bottom and up the sides to create a small cookie crust.

Step 6: Place the entire muffin tin in the refrigerator to firm up the crusts for about 30 minutes.

Part 3: Bake the Crispy Pecan Crumble

While the crusts are chilling, make the crumble topping.

Step 1: In a medium bowl, toss together the 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, the 1/3 cup of chopped pecans, the 1/4 cup of light brown sugar, the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, the 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, and the 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

Step 2: Drizzle the 4 tablespoons of melted and cooled butter over the mixture and toss well with a fork until the mixture clumps together.

Step 3: Spread the crumble on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes, until it is golden brown and crisp. Let the crumble cool completely.

Part 4: Assemble, Bake, and Top Your Cookie Cups

Step 1: Remove the chilled muffin tin from the refrigerator. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the prepared sweet potato filling into each of the chilled cookie crusts.

Step 2: Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cookie crusts are golden brown and the filling is set.

Step 3: Let the cookie cups sit in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, until they are cool enough to handle. Then, carefully remove them from the pan and place them on a wire rack.

Step 4: While the cookies are still warm, gently press the cooled, crispy crumble topping onto the top of each one. Let the cookies cool completely before serving.

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Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

These Sweet Potato Pie Cookies are a fantastic make-ahead treat for the busy holiday season.

• Make-Ahead: You can prepare all the components for this recipe up to 2 days in advance. Store the sweet potato filling, the raw cookie dough, and the baked crumble topping in separate, airtight containers in the refrigerator. On the day you want to serve them, simply press the dough into the pan, fill, and bake!
• Storage: Store the finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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Creative Recipe Variations

This fun and festive cookie is a wonderful base for your own delicious and creative twists.

1. Classic Marshmallow Topping: For a fun twist that mimics the other classic sweet potato casserole, you can omit the crumble topping. Instead, after the cookies have baked and cooled, top each one with a mini marshmallow and use a kitchen torch to toast it until it is golden brown and gooey.
2. Use a Different Nut: If you’re not a fan of pecans, you can easily swap them in the crumble topping for an equal amount of finely chopped, toasted walnuts or even hazelnuts.
3. Make it a Pumpkin Pie Cookie: For a different but equally delicious fall flavor, you can substitute the 1 cup of roasted sweet potato purée with an equal amount of canned, 100% pure pumpkin purée.

Enjoy Your New Favorite Holiday Cookie!

You’ve just created a wonderfully fun, creative, and delicious cookie that is sure to be the star of your Thanksgiving dessert table. These Sweet Potato Pie Cookies are a perfect harmony of a tender cookie crust, a creamy custard filling, and a crunchy crumble topping. It’s a sweet and simple way to celebrate the cozy flavors of the season in a perfect, two-bite package.

We hope you and your family love making—and eating—this adorable new tradition!

If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who is looking for a fun holiday baking project!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)