Sweet Potato Muffins

Thanks to their natural sweetness, orange vegetables lend themselves well to making sweet recipes.

While carrots and pumpkin are what we usually associate with sweet recipes, sweet potatoes are just as delicious and easy to work with to make muffins, pies, and quick bread.

This blog post will show you how to use sweet potatoes to make the easiest sweet potato muffins recipe ever. The recipe is naturally vegan and dairy-free as there's no need for eggs or butter.

Sweet potatoes do a great job at holding the muffins together; they keep them moist for days and confer a pleasantly sweet and earthy taste.

We spice the muffins with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract to make us feel cozy and warm, and add a handful of crushed walnuts for crunch and a delectable nutty flavor.

Our sweet potato muffins are perfect as a quick breakfast on the go, a mid-morning snack, and a sweet afternoon treat during the holidays with a cup of tea.

Let's see how to make them in less than 30 minutes with 10 simple ingredients!

Sweet potatoes

Use orange sweet potatoes with brown-reddish skin. They are the most common in western supermarkets, so finding them shouldn't be a problem.

If you have leftover sweet potato puree or mash, you can use that too, as long as it's not too watery and is sweet, not savory. You can substitute pumpkin or carrots for sweet potatoes.

Note: in the USA, sweet potatoes are often incorrectly labeled yams in supermarkets, so you might find them under that name.

Flour

We use all-purpose flour. For gluten-free sweet potato muffins, use gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour.

To increase the fiber content of the muffins, you can substitute ½ cup of oat flour, almond flour, or whole wheat flour for ½ cup of all-purpose flour.

Sugar

We use organic brown sugar, but other granulated sugar works, including coconut sugar, palm sugar, and white sugar. We haven't tried syrups such as maple syrup or agave syrup.

Oil

We use oil to replace butter in this recipe. Our oil of choice is canola oil; however, any other vegetable oil would work. Olive oil and coconut oil work too; however, they will make the sweet potato muffins a little heavier.

You can substitute dairy-free or vegan butter for the oil if you like. To do so, multiply our oil quantity by 1.30.

Milk

Almond milk is the best for sweet potato muffins as almonds are a perfect flavor match with sweet potatoes. You can substitute any other milk for almond milk.

Spices

We add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, grated or ground nutmeg, and vanilla extract. That's all you need.

Baking powder

We use baking powder to help the muffins lighten up and rise. You can combine baking powder with half a teaspoon of baking soda if you are used to that, although that's not necessary as modern baking powders already contain baking soda.

You can substitute cream of tartar for baking powder, but in this case, you'll need to add half a teaspoon of baking soda.

Salt

We think that a pinch of sea salt or kosher salt lifts the flavor of the sweet potato muffins, making them tastier. But, of course, you can omit salt if you are on a low sodium diet.

Add-ins

We add crushed walnuts to make the muffins more nutritious and fulfilling. Other great add-ins are dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries, raisins, chopped dates, and pecan nuts.

Preheat the oven to 340°F or 170°C. Line a 12-muffin tin (or two 6-muffin tins) with muffin liners or 5-Inch squares of parchment paper.

Prick your sweet potato with a fork, then microwave it at full power for 5 to 6 minutes, or until tender inside (a knife should slide in easily).

Note: The best way to cook sweet potatoes for making muffins is in the microwave because it cooks fast it gets perfectly tender without being overly moist.

The second best way is whole, in the oven, but that takes about 45 minutes to one hour to thoroughly cook. We don't recommend boiling the sweet potatoes as they get too watery, and the muffins won't be as good.

Cut the sweet potato in half with a knife, then scoop out the flesh and add it to a blender.

To the same blender, add the wet ingredients: almond milk, canola oil, sugar, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.

To a large bowl, add the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Whisk well to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula until combined, without overmixing.

You should have a thick and sticky batter.

Add crushed walnuts and give it another quick mix (or any other add-ins).

Scoop the batter into the muffin pans. The mold should be ¾ full.

Bake in the oven at 340°F or 170°Cfor 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Take out of the muffin pan and let cool down completely on a cooling rack - about 30 minutes to an hour.

Enjoy them for breakfast, mid-morning, mid-afternoon, post-workout snacks with nut butter on top, or as a sweet treat after dinner.

We like to keep our sweet potato muffins simple and healthy-ish; however, if you'd like to make them a little more decadent, you can add:

Streusel topping: mix 1 ½ tablespoons of melted dairy-free butter, 3 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of the sweet potato muffins before baking them.

Ginger, cranberries, and pecan: add 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger and ⅓ cup of dry cranberries to the batter, alongside the other ingredients (including cinnamon and nutmeg). Sprinkle the muffins with crushed pecan before baking. These are our favorite for the winter holidays when it's cold and snowy outside.

Chocolate chips: add ⅓ cup of dark chocolate chips into the batter. Then sprinkle more chocolate chips on top of the muffins before baking them. Sweet potatoes and dark chocolate are a delicious combination, and we are sure you'll love them.

Our sweet potato muffins are perfect for making ahead and eating throughout the week or whenever you want to. The muffins stay moist and tender for about 4 to 5 days in a plastic bag on the kitchen counter.

They are also freezer friendly. Let them cool down completely, then put them in a freezer-friendly bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw for a few minutes in the microwave, and they are as good as freshly baked.

Storage

Store sweet potato muffins in a plastic bag on the kitchen counter for up to 4 to 5 days. Freeze for up to 3 months—Thaw in the microwave.

If you like muffins with veggies, check out our:

• Deliciously moist zucchini muffins with chocolate chips
• Nutritious oat flour muffins
• Muffins from our carrot cake recipe
• Savory chickpea flour muffins with veggies

Healthy, nutritious, and delicious, sweet potatoes are a versatile superfood that tastes great in all shapes and forms. For more sweet potatoes ideas, check out our:

• Super easy 3-ingredient sweet potato gnocchi
• Delicious sweet potato mash
• Oven-roasted sweet potatoes and sweet potato wedges
• Quick and tasty air fryer sweet potatoes
• Easy 5-minutes microwave sweet potatoes (with toppings)
• Mediterranean-inspired lentil sweet potato salad
• Wholesome and fulfilling sweet potato salad
• Easy one-pot chickpea and sweet potato stew