Sweet Potato Muffins

These sweet potato muffins are loaded with pecans and topped with a cinnamon sugar coating. 

 

These muffins are slightly sweet, cinnamon-y, and super moist, especially if you use the red-orange variety of sweet potato. 

You can also use the lighter-fleshed sweet potato, which has a texture more like a russet potato after cooking. I really experienced the difference in baking when I made bolo de caco, a Portuguese roll, and tried the recipe with each kind of sweet potato. 

The darker sweet potato definitely brings a lot more moisture. If you experiment with each with this recipe, let me know! 

Note: In the U.S. we often refer to the darker, red-skinned sweet potatoes as a "yam," even though, technically, a true yam is different.

In fact, if you use canned sweet potatoes for these muffins, they might be labeled as yams. 

Ingredients:

These muffins are loaded with nutritious sweet potatoes and pecans. In fact, you could probably serve them as a side dish for dinner. It's a great way to get some sweet potatoes into your kids! 

You probably have the rest of the ingredients, flour, eggs, milk, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, salt, and neutral oil. 

In addition, I added a small amount of orange oil to the batter. If you don't have orange oil, you can add orange zest instead. 

I topped these with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar, which adds a nice crunch to the top. 

To make these muffins, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium bowl and then mix the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, and oil in another bowl. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, fold in the pecans, and portion the batter among the cavities of a muffin tin. 

Easy peasy!

Recipe Variations: 

You can add a teaspoon of vanilla along with (or instead of) the orange oil. 

These muffins aren't that sweet on their own, so you can skip the cinnamon sugar topping for a more savory muffin. 

To save time, you can also use canned sweet potatoes. You'll probably need about 10 to 12 ounces by weight after draining. 

You could also bake the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them. 

Equipment You May Need:

To puree the sweet potatoes, I used a mini food processor but my standard food processor is probably better because of the volume of potatoes. The smaller one is just easier to lift and wash. A potato ricer might not work as well because of the high fiber in the sweet potatoes. 

Storage:

These muffins are so moist that storing without the muffins getting soggy (sometimes an issue with fresh fruit filled muffins as well) can be a challenge. To prevent this from happening, line the bottom of an airtight container with a paper towel, add the muffins, and then top the muffins with another two layers of paper towels. 

The muffins will keep this way for up to four days at room temperature. If you keep them in the fridge, you can skip the paper towels. 

You can also freeze them for up to ninety days. 

More Sweet Potato Recipes You May Also Enjoy:

Twice-baked Sweet Potatoes with Shallots, Thyme, and Brie

Scalloped Potatoes with Sweet Potatoes, Fennel, and Leeks

Spiralized Sweet Potato Macaroni and Cheese

Sweet Potato Tart

Bolo de Caco Bread

• Fresh Mint Muffins with Chocolate Chips from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lemon Crumb Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Lemon Mascarpone Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Mexican Street Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Streusel Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sweet Potato Muffins with Cinnamon Crunch from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. 

Sweet Potato Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 50 Min

These sweet potato muffins are loaded with pecans and topped with a cinnamon sugar coating.

Ingredients

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Muffins

• 14 ounces orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (about 2 potatoes), peeled and cut into chunks
• 260 grams (1 3/4 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 100 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup neutral oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon orange oil or the zest of an orange
• 90 grams (3/4 cup) chopped pecans

Instructions

To Make the Topping

1. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

To Make the Muffins

1. Bring a 3 quart saucepan of water to a boil and add the sweet potato chunks. Lower to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork. Drain and let cool a bit.
2. Place the cooked potatoes into a food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and spray a 12-cavity muffin tin with nonstick spray or grease with butter.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, milk, and orange oil (or zest) until fully combined. You can also use a hand mixer.
6. Add the flour mixture and fold everything together until just combined. Add the pecans and gently fold them in. Do not over mix.
7. Use a heaping #16 cookie scoop (or 1/4 cup measuring cup) to portion the batter into the muffin pan.
8. Generously sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the batter in the muffin tin.
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean, or with just a few crumbs.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

263.52

Fat (grams)

11.48 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.31 g

Carbs (grams)

36.49 g

Fiber (grams)

2.46 g

Net carbs

34.03 g

Sugar (grams)

13.59 g

Protein (grams)

4.84 g

Cholesterol (grams)

32.22 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2023/05/sweet-potato-muffins-muffinmonday.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

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Recipe adapted from Williams Sonoma Muffins (2003).