These Sweet Potato Coconut Balls, steeped in childhood memories, are the simplest, most nutritious dessert I can ever think of! VEGAN+GF!

When I was growing up, every Sunday afternoon we’d go visit my maternal grandmother after lunch. It was fun, because like all grandmothers, she absolutely spoiled us with all kinds of food. She even invented a new dish for my brother – Poori stuffed with kesari! I’ll explain that another day. But amongst all the delicacies, this Sweet Potato Coconut balls stands out, just because of its sheer simplicity.

If you’ve been a regular reader on this blog, you’ll know my long-standing affair with sweet potato. It is soo much more nutritious than a regular potato, and my mother insisted we include it in our regular diet. And rightly so, the woman is always right!

And even if you’re not a big fan of sweet potato, I beg you to give this one a try. I’ve always made this simple, nutritious, 3 ingredient dessert using Asian sweet potatoes (which have purple skin and a white-ish interior) because that’s the kind we got in India. But I’m sure the orange-ish sweet potato should work just as fine in this.

Why is it shaped into a ball? Because my grandmother lived in a huge house with a large compound that we spend hours running around on, climbing trees, jumping off ledges, etc. And these Sweet Potato Coconut balls were more portable to enjoy on the move! Not a huge fan of getting your hands dirty? Serve it up on a plate and eat with a spoon. Tastes just as good. Ok nope, all of that was poppycock. We had way more fun eating it while running around as only kids could on a Sunday afternoon.

Yumm! And very, very nutritious. Did I also mention 3 ingredients? Serve it up chilled on a warm day, with the coconut and sugar coating giving a gorgeous contrast in texture to the creamy smooth sweet potato!

Note: While cooking the sweet potato, do not slice or poke holes. We don’t want to introduce any moisture to the potato. It would get too runny to be able to shape into balls. I use a pressure cooker to cook my potatoes (1-2 whistles should do)

When you make these (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here and will share it with pride on my social media feeds.

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