Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, rack in the middle position.

½ cup (1 stick, 8 Tablespoons, 4 ounces) salted butter, softened

1 and ½ cups brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

2 large eggs

4 teaspoons baking powder (that’s 1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon)

½ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest (zest is the yellow part of the lemon peel, finely grated)

1 and ¼ cups mashed yams or sweet potatoes (You can buy these in the produce department, cook, peel, and mash your own OR use canned yams that you drain, pat dry, and mash.)

2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

¼ cup chopped dried papaya (If you can’t find this in your store, you can substitute chopped and dried almost anything—I’ve used chopped and dried dates, chopped and dried apricots, and chopped and dried candied ginger—all were delicious)

½ cup chopped pecans

Approximately 30 marshmallows, cut in half horizontally. (I used kitchen scissors dipped in water to cut these.)

Hannah’s 1st Note: This is much easier if you use an electric mixer, but you can also mix up the cookie dough by hand.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the softened butter and the brown sugar together until they are light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing them in thoroughly.

Mix in the baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Beat until everything is well blended.

Mix in the lemon zest.

Once your yams or sweet potatoes are mashed, measure out one and a quarter cups. Add them to your mixing bowl and blend them in.

Add the flour a half-cup at a time, mixing after each addition.

Mix in the dried papaya and the half-cup of chopped pecans.

If the cookie dough is too sticky to work with, cover it with a piece of plastic wrap, pressing it down around the dough itself, and refrigerate it for one hour. (Overnight is fine, too.)

Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you decided to refrigerate your dough, don’t forget to shut off your oven and preheat it again right before you take your chilled cookie dough out of the refrigerator.

Prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray or lining them with parchment paper and spraying that.

Drop the cookie dough by rounded Tablespoon onto the cookie sheet, 12 cookies to a sheet. (Lisa and I use a 2-Tablespoon scooper down at The Cookie Jar when we make these.)

Use the back of a small spoon or your impeccably clean thumb to make an indentation in the center of each dough mound.

Press a half-marshmallow, cut side down, into the indentation.

Bake the Yummy Yam Cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the side of the cookie feels firm when lightly touched with a fingertip.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: Approximately 5 dozen soft and tasty cookies, depending on cookie size.

Hannah’s 3rd Note: Andrea says Tracey’s friends love these because of the marshmallows and they don’t realize they’re eating vegetables that are good for them.