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If you’re looking for a morning muffin recipe that is oil-free, low in sugar and filled with nutrition, these sweet potato muffins are the perfect treat! They’re vegan, easy to whip up with everyday ingredients and have a sweet and satisfying taste that kids and grown-ups alike love!
Because of the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes, you’ll use way less sugar than most muffin recipes. And the outcome is a moist and delicious muffin you can enjoy for breakfast, snack or even dessert. I add these healthy sweet potato muffins to my kids lunchboxes, and they are perfect for school.
How to make sweet potato muffins
The first step to making sweet potato muffins is to cook the sweet potatoes. While this is a great recipe to use leftover sweet potatoes, roasting them in the oven gives a smoky sweet flavor that truly makes the recipe delicious. Roast at 425°F for 45-50 minutes. About 2 medium sweet potatoes should get you about 2 and half cups of sweet potatoes.
Allow the sweet potatoes to cool, while preparing the wet ingredients in a blender and the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then add the flesh of the sweet potatoes to the blender along with milk and vanilla extract, and blend until it’s well combined. You can do this with a whisk or handheld mixer. But the blender does the job so efficiently!
Now you’ll want to pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and mix until well combined. It’s ok if it’s a little clumpy, but make sure there are no more streaks of flour left.
Transfer to a muffin pan…wait ever so patiently…test the muffins…maybe wait again a little more patiently and there you have it – healthy sweet potato muffins made [patiently] by YOU!
I don’t bake much, so I tend to celebrate the results dramatically when I do. Hey, you should too! There’s some magic that happens in that oven.
Optional Add-Ins
It’s so fun experimenting with add-ins for healthy muffins. When I first made these I tested them with raisins, chocolate chips, granola and almond butter. I loved the almond butter the most, but the kids loved the chocolate chips…obviously! Here are some fun topping ideas though:
- Chocolate: chips, chunks, nibs…you name it!
- Nuts: walnuts, almond or pecans
- Dried fruit: Raisins or cranberries
- Fresh fruit: Bananas or blueberries
- Something savory: Spinach or corn
Can you freeze sweet potato muffins
- Roast the sweet potatoes ahead of time. While this is a super quick recipe, roasting the sweet potatoes is the most time consuming part. I roast it at 425°F for 45-50 minutes. Then allow it to cool so it’s easier to handle. This is great to do when you have other food in the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Just mix until you don’t see any more flour streaks. If you overmix the batter, the muffins may bake unevenly or become extra chewy and tough.
- Customize with add-ins. Feel free to fold in chocolate, chopped nuts or fruit after you’ve mixed the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.
- Use parchment paper muffin cups. This batter tends to be pretty moist so some sticking may occur if you use traditional muffin liners or no muffin liners. I recommend the parchment paper ones for best results.
- Allow muffins to cool before removing from pan. It’s tempting, I know. But when you give it time, the steam that condenses around the muffins actually makes it easier to remove from pan. And then don’t forgot to cool them on the wire rack for a total of 15-20 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Cool the muffins in the pan for a few minutes. Then transfer them to a wire wrack and cool them completely.
Then you’ll want to place the muffins in an airtight container. But it’s important to add a paper towel under the muffins to absorb any moisture that they release. This helps keep them fresher longer. And you won’t get any soggy muffins on day 2 of enjoying these goodies!
Then you’ll want to place the muffins in an airtight container. But it’s important to add a paper towel under the muffins to absorb any moisture that they release. This helps keep them fresher longer. And you won’t get any soggy muffins on day 2 of enjoying these goodies!
I love how easy these muffins are to make and how healthy and delicious they are! It’s a vegan recipe without any hard-to-find ingredients. In fact, it’s mostly ingredients you probably have in your pantry. And the result is a super moist and nutritious sweet potato muffins recipe that everyone will love!
For more muffin recipes:
- Chai Spiced Vegan Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Cranberry Lemon Muffins
- Kid Friendly Muffins
- Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Sweet Potato Muffins recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups sweet potatoes cooked and mashed
- ¾ cup coconut milk carton/refrigerator (not canned)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- Almond butter for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and add muffin liners to a muffin tin.
- Place the cooked mashed sweet potatoes with the coconut milk and vanilla extract in a blender and blend until smooth and consistent.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Transfer the sweet potato mixture from the blender to the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
- Spoon batter into muffin tins lined with parchment paper cups (for best results) until filled to the top. Then add a teaspoon of almond butter onto the center of each muffin and gently swirl around with a toothpick or knife.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted inside comes out clean.
- Let them cool down for 15-20 minutes before cutting them open.
Video
Notes
- I would not recommend using yams instead of sweet potatoes. They have more starch than sweet potatoes so they won’t lend enough moisture to the recipe as sweet potatoes do.
- Instead of coconut milk, you can use any other plant-based milk or regular milk.
- I tested this recipe with a whole wheat white flour, but it will work with any other all purpose flours.
- To make this gluten-free, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix. Do not substitute only almond flour or only coconut flour.
- Replace coconut sugar with other types of granulated sugar
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Flavor is great but this my second time making them and again they are more of a bread pudding than a muffin. I followed the measurements and baked them 40 minutes. Not putting these in muffin cups again but may try it as a bread pudding in a few months. Taste is amazing!
So glad you enjoyed the taste! It may require a few extra minutes in the oven so they firm up like a muffin and not bread pudding.
What is the measurement of how much mashed sweet potato goes into these? The measurement says 2.5 cups but I’m assuming that is the raw cubed measurement and not the cooked/mashed measurement. I have already mashed sweet potato in the freezer so I want to use that!
It is 2 ½ cups sweet potatoes that have been cooked and mashed.
I love these! They are nutritious and delicious. Instead of almond butter on top, I typically min in chopped pecans. I’ve also added raisins before (but I know not everyone likes raisins….). Anyways, these are great and easily 5 starts. Loved by my carnivorous husband and vegetarian daughter as well ❤️
Yay! Love the sound of those toppings!
What non gluten flour would you recommend using instead of whole wheat flour?
FYI – I used a gluten free baking flour (pre-made) and it worked well. Taste was very good, most likely due to the chocolate chips that I added. Still very moist! Loved this recipe and will be passing it on.
Can you replace the what flour with either coconut or almond flour? I’d love to make these for my son but he can’t have wheat.
I would not substitute the flour for only almond flour or only coconut flour.
I had some leftover sweet potatoes that I did not want to use again for dinner. These were such a great option. I loved the nut butter on top. These are great no-oil vegan muffins. Yum!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that!
Hi there! Can we substitute sugar with honey and baking powder with baking soda? 🙂
I would recommend replacing coconut sugar with other types of granulated sugar to retain a similar texture. I would also stick to baking powder, as the two work differently in recipes.
Perfect! Thank you for responding! Going to make this today with my son. 🙂
Sweet Potato Muffins- so good! Can’t have nuts so I used cookie butter.. YUM!! It’s almost a muffin/soufflé! So easy too.
I love the sound of that! Thank you!