Love may not necessarily be “in the air” for me, but the aroma of cookies definitely is. I don’t usually celebrate Valentine’s Day since, a) I’m a single lady, and b) it’s my furbaby’s birthday (he’s 14 now). This year, I made a slight exception and made a batch of Mbatata cookies from Malawi. These heart-shaped cookies are made with sweet potatoes, but I have to admit that it wasn’t all that sweet about the process of making these cookies. 

Unlike my previous batches, there’s not many recipes for Mbatata cookies. I could only find 2 recipes for this cookie and because the ingredients differed, I decided to try both recipes. Here are the links to both recipes:

R1: https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/mbatata-malawian-sweet-potato-cookies/

R2: https://www.internationalcuisine.com/malawian-mbatata/

Before I delve into the cookie-making details, the Mbatata is a Malawian sweet potato cookie. For those unfamiliar with Malawi, it’s a very small country in southeastern Africa. It’s one of the least developed countries as well as very poor, with its economy heavily reliant of agriculture such as sweet potatoes. In spite of their economic challenges, the people of Malawi are known to be very hospitable and friendly, and the landlocked country is known as the “Warm Heart of Africa”. It is traditional for the Mbatata cookies to be heart-shaped, representing the people and character of Malawi. 

Now onto the recipes. Both are pretty much the same, except R2 has milk and one egg. Since I already had eggs and the majority of the other ingredients on hand, I just needed to purchase the milk and the sweet potatoes. Disclaimer: I did omit the raisins from both recipes because I’m not a fan of them whatsoever. After boiling and mashing the sweet potatoes, I started with R1 and found that the dough was very crumbly, but I could still mold it to fit in my new cookie press to make the hearts. While R1 was in the oven, I then started making R2. As there were more moist ingredients, the dough ended up being very sticky. I thought that I could chill the dough to firm it up a little more, but to my disappointment it did not. In fact, it was so unworkable that I decided to not use this dough at all, and ended up throwing it away. I probably could have tried adding more flour, but thought that doing so would make them more like scones instead of cookies. To make up for the loss of R2’s dough and use more mashed sweet potatoes, I made more of R1 which would become my only recipe for these cookies.

So how did mine turn out??

My hearts didn’t come out perfect, but I’m not all about how they look as much as how they taste. They were softer than I prefer in a cookie, and the sweet potato and cinnamon gave the Mbatata cookies a naturally sweet flavor. Some even said they would consider these healthy cookies, although that didn’t stop anyone from enjoying them. I would make them again and probably can make another batch now since I still have so much leftover mashed sweet potatoes. Reminder: Google how long do mashed sweet potatoes stay good. 

Carnival of Brazil is happening at the end of this month (Feb 28) and I’ll be slightly venturing away from cookies next time with the traditional Brazilian dessert, the Brigadeiro.

References

R1: “Mbatata (Malawian Sweet Potato Cookies)”. Curious Cusiniere. https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/mbatata-malawian-sweet-potato-cookies/. Accessed 13 February 2025

R2: “MALAWIAN MBATATA (SWEET POTATO COOKIES)”. International Cuisine. https://www.internationalcuisine.com/malawian-mbatata/. Accessed 13 February 2025