Baked Sweet Potato Falafels
I love featuring recipes on this site just as much as I like coming up with my own. You should see my cookbook collection!
The other day I had the idea to make sweet potato falafels, so I did some googling for inspiration, and these beauties were featured on at least three different sites. And for good reason! They are insanely easy to make and super delicious. I didn't have fresh cilantro as was called for in the original recipe called, so subbed scallions instead. You could honestly use cilantro, scallions, or parsley with great results - a combination of all three would be divine too!
Leftovers freeze well and reheat beautifully in the toaster oven. I love them on top of a salad or served as part of a big mezze spread for dinner.
Baked Sweet Potato Falafels
Makes 18 falafel (Serves 4-6)
Recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 small cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 large handfuls fresh cilantro, scallions, or parsley, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
one scant cup chickpea flour
salt + pepper, to taste
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender (about 45 minutes to 1 hour). Then, turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, and peel.
Place the peeled sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, coriander, fresh herb of choice, lemon juice, and chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well with a good pinch of salt + several grinds black pepper. Then, mash until the mixture is smooth with no large chunks of potato. Place the dough into the fridge for one hour to firm-up. The final mixture should be sticky, not wet. If needed, add an additional tablespoon or so of chickpea flour.
Turn the oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease with a drizzle of olive oil.
Scoop rounded tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the baking sheet. (Try using two soup spoons for this. Use one to scoop the dough, and the other to help shape the balls and push them onto the baking sheet.)
Drizzle the tops of each ball with olive oil and sprinkle with seasame seeds.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.
Serve warm or room temperature. They will keep for several days in the fridge and reheat beautifully in the toaster oven. You can also freeze, well wrapped, for several months.
