I love Stokes organic purple sweet potatoes for their beautiful vibrant deep purple color and mildly sweet creamy taste-- and of course the healthy antioxidants. I've written about them before in this post on vegan purple sweet potato bao buns.
So, I'm always on the look out for good purple sweet potato recipes.
I came across this recipe for baked sweet potato mochi balls that did not use mochiko flour (glutinous rice flour). Instead, it used tapioca starch. Really? I've never seen a mochi recipe that didn't use glutinous rice flour. Cool! Apparently, these sweet potato balls are a very popular DEEP FRIED street food in Taiwan, but this recipe bakes the balls for a healthier treat. Ha, low fat and low sugar, but still yummy, is my kinda dessert!
Time to test it out!
Indeed, the inside of these sweet potato "mochi" balls were bouncy, similar to tapioca boba pearls in tea drinks, but a bit softer and less chewy. However, I didn't quite care for the outer texture of the baked mochi balls. It had a chalky taste to me. So on my next try, I coated the balls with sesame seeds and sprayed a light coating of oil on the balls and baked at a higher temperature to minimize the chalky outer shell.
It turned out pretty good and definitely something I would make again, as it's relatively healthy. You can also omit the sesame seeds and just give the rolled balls a light spritz with cooking oil and bake at the higher temperature to get rid of the chalky outer coating.
Here's how I made them. (**By the way, I steamed double the amount of sweet potatoes in the picture, cuz hey, I had the steamer going anyways. I only needed one and a half sweet potato to make 1 cup of mash called for in the recipe.)
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| steam sweet potatoes |
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| remove skin and mash |
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| while warm, add butter, salt and sugar |
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| Mix |
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add tapioca starch |
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mix
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Recipe adapted from Easy Baked Mochi Balls with Sweet Potato
Yields 12 balls
Ingredients:
- 1 c mashed purple sweet potato (about 0.5 lb, 1 to 2 small sweet potatoes)
- 2 T butter
- ¼ c sugar
- ¼ t salt
- ½ c tapioca starch
- 2 T water
- 3 T sesame seeds (optional)
- oil spray
Procedures:
1. Steam the purple sweet potatoes until fork tender (about 30 minutes).
2. Remove and discard the skin of the sweet potatoes. Mash the flesh of the sweet potatoes with a spoon and measure out 1 cup of mash.
3. Add the butter, sugar, salt, tapioca starch, and water while the sweet potato mash is still warm (otherwise the butter won’t melt and blend properly), and mix until a dough forms.
4. Take a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into a 1.5 inch diameter ball. You should get around 12 balls.
5. Roll the balls in sesame seeds, if using, and place on a parchment lined (or silicon mat) baking tray. Spray the balls with some neutral oil to lightly coat.
6. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before eating or it may burn your tongue. Any leftovers can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Reheat in the microwave for 10 seconds for each ball to regain that bouncy texture.