Sweet Potato Oatcakes: Stealthy-Healthy Treats

The other day, I was craving sweets in the worst way, but darn if I was going to go after those chocolate chip cookies that were sitting on the counter staring at me temptingly... Not a chance. So, I consulted my stash of random ingredients. Welp, there was that lovely big tub of dates from Costco (great value by the way), some assorted cans of fruit, and a couple sweet potatoes that needed to be used before they made friends with mold. I always have oatmeal or scotch mix (I'll wax poetic on scotch mix at a later date) on hand... et voila! Sweet potato and tropical fruit oatcakes. Sweets without feeling too horribly guilty!

The goods:
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 can sliced peaches, drained & rinsed
1 can chunk pineapple, drained & rinsed
1 large mango
1 cup dates
1 1/2 cups oatmeal or scotch mix
4 egg whites
1 tbsp + 1 tsp vanilla extract



Make it happen:
Preheat oven to 350

Peel & dice the sweet potatoes, put in a 2qt saucepot with just enough water to cover, boil until soft
While the sweet potatoes are cooking, dice the peaches, pineapple and mango, combine in a bowl. Mince the dates and set aside.
Once the sweet potatoes are done, drain them well and put in a second bowl. 
In the same pot, bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil, add 1 cup of the oats, the chopped dates and 1tsp vanilla extract. Cook until the oats are soft and dates are blended. Add to the mashed sweet potato and allow to cool.
Once cool, add the fruit and 1/2 cup dry oats to the mixture. Lightly beat the egg whites with 1tbsp vanilla extract, add to ingredients. Mix well. 
Drop 1/4 cup at a time onto parchment paper (I used an ice cream scoop) and form into cakes. Bake for 45 minutes or until set and the oats begin to brown. Cool and enjoy