In our previous posting on the Global Kitchen, we gave you the recipe for Hot Yam Soup. Still remaining with the yam theme, we bring you something for desert. Our recipe this time is for Yam Cookies.

Yams can be used in many different ways. In this simple recipe, the yam flour is used to make cookies which can be eaten as special delicacy or used for desert.

Whole Yam

The yam is a very important crop in West Africa. Among the Igbo people, it is considered the king of crops which is traditionally cultivated by men. It has the same place in the farming communities of eastern Nigeria that cattle has among the nomadic Fulani of northern Nigeria and the Maasai of East Africa. In Eastern Nigeria the harvest time for the new yam is traditionally considered the beginning of the new year. That indicates the importance of yams in the life of the farming communities. You may read more about the yam and its place in the African world in the novel March of Ages.

 

Yam Cookies

For our recipe, you need the following:
Main Ingredients

      (1) Yam Flour — 250g or 3 cups (yam flour is available at your local African food store. Ensure you are getting pure yam flour, not a mixture of yam and other flour.)
      (2) Butter — 250g or 1/2 lb
      (3) Sugar — 200g or 0.44 lb
      (4) Whole Eggs — 3
      (5) Milk —
      (6) Baking Powder — 1 teaspoon
The Preparation:

Melt the butter (margarine may be used as a substitute) and add to the sugar in a large bowl.

Stir the sugar and butter mixture until it becomes creamy.

Break the eggs and add all three to the sugar butter mixture. Stir vigorously until the eggs are properly mixed into sugar-butter cream.

When the mixture becomes fluffy, add the baking powder and yam flour and kneed until the dough reaches the firm and soft consistency of cookie dough.

If the dough is too dry, add milk, a little at a time, and continue kneading.

Place the dough on a floured board and, using a roller, flatten the dough to between half and quarter inch thickness.

Cut the dough with a cookie cutter and place the cutouts on a greased baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in a pre-heated 250 degree Celsius oven.

Let cool and serve as desert or special treat.
Bon appétit!

 

 

 

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