Name: Pannelet Cookies With Sweet Potato and Coconut
Yield: Makes 36–40 cookies
Ingredients: 1 cup (8 ounces) mashed or puréed baked orange-fleshed yam (see Cooks' Note), such as jewel or garnet; 2 cups (6 ounces) unsweetened dried shredded coconut, toasted (see Cooks' Note); 1 1/3 cups (9.3 ounces) sugar; 2 large egg whites; 3/8 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest; 1 cup (5 ounces) whole almonds, with or without skin; Sugar or Cardamom Sugar (see below) or turbinado sugar for rolling; Cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper or greased; food processor

Medrich's version of these golden orange yam and coconut cookies from Spain is delicate and flavorful.

Ingredients

Makes 36–40 cookies

1 cup (8 ounces) mashed or puréed baked orange-fleshed yam (see Cooks' Note), such as jewel or garnet

2 cups (6 ounces) unsweetened dried shredded coconut, toasted (see Cooks' Note)

1 1/3 cups (9.3 ounces) sugar

2 large egg whites

3/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 cup (5 ounces) whole almonds, with or without skin

Sugar or Cardamom Sugar (see below) or turbinado sugar for rolling

Special Equipment

Cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper or greased; food processor

Step 1
In a medium bowl, whisk the yam, toasted coconut, sugar, egg whites, salt, and lemon zest together.
Step 2
In a food processor, pulse the almonds to an uneven meal ranging in texture from very fine (mostly) to finely chopped. Stir the almonds into the batter. The dough will be very soft and sticky. Chill for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days to allow the coconut to absorb moisture from the yams.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Scoop level tablespoons of the soft dough and roll into balls about 1 1/4 inches. Roll the balls in sugar (or, if using turbinado sugar roll only the top half of each ball in sugar to avoid oversweetening). Place 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined or greased cookie sheets.
Step 4
Bake for 18 to 24 minutes, until the cookies are slightly crusty on the surface (though still very tender and moist inside) and deep golden brown on the bottom. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. For lined pans, set the pans or just the liners on racks to cool; for unlined pans, use a metal spatula to transfer the cookies to racks. Cool the cookies completely before storing. May be kept in an airtight container for up to 4 or 5 days.
Variations
Step 5
Cardamom Pannelets: Omit the lemon zest. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom, 2 teaspoons grated orange zest, and 2 teaspoons orange flower water to the yam mixture.
Step 6
Masala Pannelets: A little Spanish/Asian fusion cookie and very good. Omit the lemon zest. Add 2 teaspoons garam masala to the yam mixture. Roll in plain sugar or cinnamon sugar.

Cooks' Note

To bake the yam: Wash, prick, and cook a large yam on high in the microwave, turning it a couple of times until easily pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes. Or bake until tender in a 400°F oven, 45 to 60 minutes.

To toast the coconut: Have a medium bowl ready near the stove. Spread the coconut in a wide heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly until the coconut begins to color slightly. Turn the heat down (once hot, coconut burns quickly) and continue to stir until the coconut bits are mostly light golden brown flecked with some white. I often take the pan off the heat early and continue to stir, letting the residual heat of the pan finish toasting the coconut slowly and evenly. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes. Immediately scrape the coconut into the bowl.

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Reviews (7)

I’ve made the cardamom version half a dozen times now by request- it’s that good. Once subbed leftover pumpkin puree for the sweet potato and had to add more coconut to absorb the extra moisture. Could easily reduce the sugar a bit.
- mawrter
- Maryland
- 4/3/2021
Reminded me of a macaroon, very chewy-coconutty. But the flavor is just outstanding and fresh. Big hit during the holidays
- Anonymous
- Hoboken, NJ
- 3/8/2021
Could you tell me how much almond flour to use as opposed to the whole nuts. I make my own almond milk and have tons of ground almonds to make almond flour with.
- Anonymous
- Grass Valley, Ca
- 1/14/2020
Very forgiving recipe. I only had sweetened coconut so just cut back on the sugar. My old NYC oven heats from the bottom so everything tends to over-brown the bottom of before the tops are done. So any suggestions? Should I put an empty tray on the lower shelf to act as a barrier? I tried doubling up on parchment paper but that really didnt work that well.
- noie
- NYC
- 10/28/2019
A subtly flavored winner, using the orange cardamon version. A cross between a cookie and a muffin bit. I did add 1/3 cup coconut flour after reading the reviews and flattened them down a bit. They stayed moist all week.
- cincisusan
- Cincinnati OH
- 10/8/2018
These were delicious! The preparation was a bit labor-intensive, but they are worth it. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, with a natural sweetness.
- miriamk
- North Bend, WA
- 11/23/2017
A most awesome recipe!! I've made it now a half dozen times, varying the contents each time, and have not been disappointed once - except when they're all gone... My best: use sweet potato (yellow ones), tho the yam version is most excellent, too. Add about a half cup of coconut flour, this reduced the extreme gooeyness, roll them in sesame seed and just a wee bit of sugar - I prefer my cookies not-so-sweet and then, freeze them! Eating them several days later allows the flavor to meld. If you flatten them into a 'cookie' shape, they tend to be a bit chewier in the middle. I've recently discovered my ancient roots to be Catalan, so my next try will be the original ancient recipe. Definitely try this if you love the sweet potato and yam, you will not be disappointed. If there were five forks, this recipe would get them.
- chrispegues
- Portland, OR
- 5/14/2017