Sweet Potato Muffins
These sweet potato muffins are soft, warmly spiced breakfast muffins built on a base of mashed sweet potato, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom, finished with mini chocolate chips. They come together in one bowl of dry and one bowl of wet ingredients, and you can make them fully plant-based by swapping the eggs for a flax “egg.” Make them when you want a breakfast or snack that feels like a treat but still leans wholesome.
If you love sweet potatoes as much as I do, then you will definitely fall in love with this recipe. Before you say anything, I know this may sound weird to some people, as sweet potatoes are not exactly the first ingredient that comes to mind when you think of desserts. But just like carrots, they are amazingly versatile and go incredibly well in lots of recipes, both sweet and savory. The point I am trying to make is that sweet potatoes offer an excellent base for some sweet meals including smoothies, muffins, and my sweet potato pancakes.
Wake up, brew some coffee, pour yourself some cereal, repeat every morning. Sometimes this can get boring, and I get it. I think we should all try our best to diversify our breakfast from time to time, and, why not, make it a little more fun. Most store-bought cereals are highly processed and rely heavily on sugar, so baking a batch of these muffins is a nice way to take back a bit of control over what goes into your morning.
What goes into these sweet potato muffins
Nothing here is hard to find, but a few ingredients are worth a note so you get the texture right:
- Mashed sweet potato is the star. You want one cup of smooth, cooked mash. In order to get the best out of them, I suggest you cook the sweet potatoes in the oven rather than boiling them, since roasting keeps them from turning watery and concentrates their natural sweetness. This, my friend, is a life-changer.
- Warm spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom do the heavy lifting on flavor. The cardamom is what lifts these above a plain spiced muffin, so do not skip it if you have it.
- Eggs or a flax egg. The recipe uses two eggs, or you can replace them with four tablespoons of ground flax seeds (or psyllium husks) soaked in the orange juice to make it vegan. Both bind the batter.
- Coconut oil and coconut sugar keep things dairy-free and add a soft, rounded sweetness. Brown sugar works in place of coconut sugar.
- Blood orange juice both hydrates the flax and adds a subtle citrus note in the background.
- Mini chocolate chips turn these into a treat. Choose dairy-free chips if you are keeping the batch fully plant-based.
How to make them vegan
This recipe is written to go either way. For the vegan version, skip the eggs and make a flax “egg” instead: stir four tablespoons of ground flax seeds into the six tablespoons of blood orange juice (or plain water) and let it sit while you measure everything else. In a few minutes it thickens into a gel that binds the batter the same way eggs would. Pair that with the coconut oil, coconut sugar, and dairy-free chocolate chips already in the recipe, and every ingredient is plant-based. These should be an essential part of any vegan’s diet, in my opinion. If you enjoy this kind of baking, my vegan pumpkin muffins run on the same warm-spice idea.
Tips for the softest muffins
- Do not overmix. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients slowly and stir just until combined. Overworking the batter develops gluten and gives you dense, tough muffins instead of tender ones.
- Let the flax egg gel first. If you are going vegan, give the flax and juice a real few minutes to thicken before it goes in, otherwise the batter will not bind well.
- Fill about ten cups. The batter makes roughly ten medium muffins. Filling the liners a little over two-thirds full gives you a nice domed top with room to rise.
- Watch the color, not just the clock. They bake in about 20 minutes at 180 C, but ovens vary. Pull them when the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Scatter the chips on top. Topping each muffin with chocolate chips before baking, rather than only folding them in, keeps them visible and stops them all sinking to the bottom.
Ways to change them up
These are not like regular muffins, and by that I mean they are way better because they are pretty healthy as well. As for flavor, you can either leave the composition plain or add dried fruit such as raisins, cherries, papaya, or figs, coconut flakes, or, as here, chocolate if you are turning these into a treat. If you want to lean fully into the chocolate side, my chocolate chip coconut muffins are a close cousin, and you can browse more ideas among my vegan chocolate recipes. They are also a hit with little ones, so they fit right in with my other vegan recipes for kids.
Storing, freezing, and serving
Keep the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days, or in the fridge for a bit longer. When I bake them, I like to leave a stack in the freezer. This way I know that whenever I am not sure what to have for breakfast, for a snack, or even for dessert, my back is covered. Freeze them once fully cooled, then thaw at room temperature or warm briefly before eating.
Did I mention that they are amazing to take on the go? I cannot count the times I have traveled with a bunch of these in my hands. You can serve them in the morning with coffee, because muffins and coffee are a match made in heaven, but you can also have them as an in-between-meals snack or a 4 PM pick-me-up for when you have a sweet tooth.
If you bake a batch, I would love to know how they turned out for you. Rate the recipe below and leave a comment telling me whether you kept them plain or loaded them with chocolate, and any little tweak you made along the way.
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Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¾ tsp ground cardamom
Wet ingredients:
- 2 eggs or replace with 4 Tbsp psyllium husks / ground flax seeds for vegan version
- 6 Tbsp blood orange juice
- ½ cup coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ⅔ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 cup sweet potatoes mashed
Topping:
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- Make the flax egg – mix the ground flax seed with orange juice (or use water). Set aside.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
- In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, mix all wet ingredients until well combined.
- Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir until well combined.
- Divide the batter mixture between muffins, about 10 medium ones.
- Top each of them with chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden.
Frequently Asked Questions
They can be. The recipe is written to go either way: use two eggs, or replace them with four tablespoons of ground flax seeds (or psyllium husks) soaked in the orange juice to make a flax egg. With the flax egg, coconut oil, coconut sugar, and dairy-free chocolate chips, every ingredient is plant-based. Choose the flax version and dairy-free chips for a fully vegan batch.
Roasting is the better choice. Cooking the sweet potatoes in the oven rather than boiling keeps them from turning watery and concentrates their natural sweetness, which gives you a richer, less soggy batter. You need one cup of smooth mash for the recipe.
The batter makes about ten medium muffins. Fill the liners a little over two-thirds full so the muffins dome nicely as they rise, and top each one with chocolate chips before baking.
Bake at 180 C for about 20 minutes, but watch the color rather than only the clock since ovens vary. They are ready when the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Yes, they freeze very well. Let them cool completely, then freeze in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature or warm them briefly before eating. Keeping a stack in the freezer means you always have a quick breakfast or snack ready to go.
You can leave the batter plain or fold in dried fruit such as raisins, cherries, papaya, or figs, plus coconut flakes. Chocolate chips turn them into more of a treat, but any of these mix-ins work with the warm cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom base.
Loved this recipe thanks!
thank you for the one more wonderful muffin recipe.
Hi. What does it mean when you say:
1 3/4 cups flour?
https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/cooking/cups-grams.php
Some of the best muffin recipes I ever tried, just perfect for breakfast. Will do them again this weekend. Thank you!
Thank you! Happy to hear you liked the recipe!
Delicious healthy breakfast and treat! Made these with 3/4 wholemeal flour and xylitol. Had to add some plant milk to get right muffin batter consistency, but probably my sweet potato puree was about thick. Kids loved these! Thank you for sharing! Will try pancakes next. Great way to get kids to eat sweet potato!
Thank you! Happy to hear you liked the recipe!