Cookie of the day · Thursday, November 12, 2026
Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole Oatmeal Cookies
These chewy brown-sugar oatmeal cookies get warm spice from sweet potato and crunch from pecans, and each one has a toasted vegan marshmallow top. It's the whole Thanksgiving casserole in a cookie you can eat with one hand.
- Total time
- 1 hr 35 mins
- Makes
- 20 cookies
- Oven
- 350°F
- Ingredients
- 15
Includes 30 min chill and two 13-min bake rounds.
About these cookies
This cookie takes the best parts of sweet potato casserole: a soft, cinnamon-spiced brown sugar base, a crunchy pecan top and a pillow of toasted marshmallow. All of it sits on a chewy oatmeal cookie. The sweet potato makes the centers moist and tender, the oats give it chew, and the marshmallows go on near the end of baking so they puff up and turn golden instead of melting away. Stack them on a platter for Friendsgiving and watch them go before the pie does.
Steps
- Tap a step to check it off.
Tips for success
- Use thick sweet potato purée, either canned or baked and mashed. Boiled sweet potato holds extra water, which makes the cookies cakey and causes them to spread.
- Don't skip the 30-minute chill. This dough is soft because of the purée, and chilling keeps the cookies thick and chewy instead of flat.
- Add the mini vegan marshmallows only after the first 10 minutes of baking. Vegan marshmallows melt faster than gelatin-based ones, so if they bake the full time they turn into puddles.
- Pull the cookies when the centers still look a little underdone. They keep setting on the hot sheet during the 5-minute rest, and that's what keeps them chewy.
- For extra color, use a kitchen torch on the vegan marshmallows after baking. Hold it a few inches away and keep it moving, because they go from golden to scorched in seconds.
Swaps
- Pumpkin purée: swap it 1:1 for the sweet potato. It's a bit looser, so add 1 extra tablespoon of flour. The cookies will taste more like pumpkin pie and be slightly less sweet.
- Refined coconut oil: use 7 tablespoons of solid (not melted) refined coconut oil instead of the vegan butter. The cookies will be crisper at the edges and a little less rich, and the chill is extra important.
- Walnuts: use them in place of the pecans in both the dough and the topping. The cookies will taste a bit more earthy and slightly bitter.
- Gluten-free: use certified gluten-free rolled oats and a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour that contains xanthan gum. The cookies will be a little more tender and crumbly, so let them cool fully on the sheet.
Storing
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, with parchment between the layers so the marshmallows don't stick together. They'll get softer and stickier over time. You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 2 months; thaw them at room temperature, then warm them on a parchment-lined sheet at 300°F (150°C) for 3 to 4 minutes to soften the marshmallows and crisp the edges again.
This recipe was developed with AI and checked for vegan ingredients and sensible baking times, but it hasn’t been test-baked in our kitchen yet. How our recipes are made.
