Squash-based treats are all the rage in the autumn months, but sometimes it feels like a lot of work to cut, seed, bake, and skin your favorite gourds before even starting a recipe. If you love fall fare but are just a little bit lazy, these sweet potato muffins are just what the doctor ordered.
Fans of sweet potato pie, take note. These muffins are warm, spicy and moist, and, I think, perfectly autumnal.
To prepare the sweet potato puree that is the basis of these muffins, poke some holes into a couple of sweet potatoes with a fork, and bake them until soft. Peel the skins off and mash them up real well; you don’t want any lumps. I don’t recommend putting them in a blender, as in my experience, this results in a gross, gluey mess.
Sweet Potato Muffins
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
- 1 c + 2 Tbsp sweet potato puree
- ¾ c coconut milk
- ⅔ c brown sugar
- ⅓ c water
- ¼ c oil
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 c flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 c fresh or dried cranberries, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F and lightly oil a muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, mix together sweet potato puree, coconut milk, brown sugar, water, oil, maple syrup, and lemon juice.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices.
- Combine wet and dry mixtures until just moistened.
- Spoon batter evenly into prepared pan.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let muffins rest a moment in the pan, then cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.
48 comments
Kay says:
Sep 22, 2012
These muffins sounds delicious. My 15 year old daughter has become vegan and I am always searching for ways to turn old favorites into food she can eat. Your blog and recipes like this are so helpful. Do you think pumpkin can work instead of sweet potato? My thinking is that sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie share the same ingredient profile,so, perhaps either gourd could be used with this recipe? (My daughter loves pumpkin)! Thanks for sharing!
claryn says:
Sep 22, 2012
Absolutely! Obviously it will taste different, but as you know, the two operate similarly in baked goods. I do have a number of pumpkin-based quick bread recipes coming up this next month, too, so keep an eye out!
Carrie says:
Oct 31, 2012
I’ve made these twice, loved them both times. This recipe’s definitely a keeper.
Tricia says:
Nov 24, 2012
I was looking for a way to use up the 15 sweet potatoes that came in my co-op basket. (There’s only so much sweet potato mash you can eat!) My family’s not vegan but I’m always looking for ways to use less animal products. These muffins were DELICIOUS. My two kids and I ate almost half the batch the same morning I made them. We’ll definitely make more with the rest if the sweet potato mash I froze! (Btw, I subbed half the white flour with whole wheat and they were still very light and fluffy.) thanks again for the recipe!
Dee says:
Nov 25, 2012
Just made these this morning. Fantastic easy to make recipe! Absolutely delicious!
Anne says:
Dec 11, 2012
I just made these. And ate one. They are amazingly moist and delicious. I used almond milk instead of coconut milk and coconut oil for the oil. I’m happy to have discovered this blog and will be back soon! Thanks for sharing!
alicia says:
Dec 20, 2012
Everyone ate these up!
The Muffin Man | To Second Chances says:
Mar 1, 2013
[…] Courtesy of one of my two favorite baking sites Hell Yeah it vegan and lunchbox, this one is by Claryn. […]
Linz says:
Mar 13, 2013
Yum! These were very good! Thank you for the recipe. I am not vegan just wanted to make muffins and we didn’t have any eggs! 🙂
Jennifer says:
Apr 16, 2013
Deeeelicious!! My kids loved them too. Used coconut oil, almond milk and agave nectar b/c that’s what I had in pantry. Awesome! Will be making these often!
A White Christmas | Artbook says:
Aug 18, 2013
[…] day. He baked Sweet Potato muffins (vegan). They were amazing! He found the recipe aquí. […]
Renee.swisher@hotmail.com says:
Sep 10, 2013
Just made these…
I used canned pure sweet potato puree, I subbed the syrup for agave and used almond milk for my vegan milk. I also used half whole wheat flour. I didn’t have cranberries on hand so I used a cup of organic raisins..
They came out great!!!!! They look gorgeous and taste wonderful.
I am so glad I stumbled onto this blog.
Thanks for all you do!!
Chantelle says:
Oct 1, 2013
These muffins were awesome! I made them a week ago and the whole family has been thinking of them since! I skipped the oil and added a can of premium ( almost half oil) canned coconut milk and subbed half whole wheat. My kids LOVED them. Just turning on the oven to get some sweet potatoes going! Thanks for the recipe!
internal Flame says:
Oct 25, 2013
Excellent! I made a few modifications to make the recipe gluten-free and lower sugar. I dropped the sugar and used stevia, replaced the flour with a fine ground oat flour/ flax mixture and eliminated the baking soda by adding apple cider vinegar. I added a few pecans on top for a little texture too! Turned out well… just a bit denser due to the flour substitution.
Darrin Tidrick says:
Oct 30, 2013
I have some leftover vegan marshmallows and was wondering if sticking a small piece of marshmallow in the middle of these muffins would be reminiscent of the marshmallow topping a lot of people fondly remember before they were vegan. Thoughts?
claryn says:
Nov 3, 2013
Haha! I’ve never done it myself, but you could certainly try it. I did a little googling, and it looks like the result is typically that the marshmallow melts into the batter. Yahoo!’s got your back: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111223103405AAfyRPu
Pumpkin Spice Sweet Potato Pulp Muffins (vegan, gluten free, oil free) | says:
Nov 18, 2013
[…] Recipe adapted from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan! […]
Katie says:
Dec 3, 2013
This recipe looks yummy! Just one question… when you say coconut milk, do you mean coconut as in non-dairy alternative? Or, coconut milk in the can like in the Asian food aisle?
claryn says:
Dec 3, 2013
In a can!
Nancy says:
Jan 12, 2014
These muffins were absolutely delicious. I added ground cardamom to the ginger/cinnamon/nutmeg trio. YUM.
Johanna says:
Jan 14, 2014
These muffins are delicious! My 3-year old niece said they were great! I added raisins instead of cranberries since that’s what I had. Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Cisslan says:
Feb 22, 2014
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’ve made these twice now, both times as mini muffins so they’re a better size for my 2.5-year-old daughter, and they’ve been absolutely delicious!! I made them sugar-free by using 1 cup of chopped dates in place of the brown sugar and syrup, and whizzed these in a blender with the milk just before adding to the rest of the wet ingredients. I also subbed 1/3 oat flour and used standard cow’s milk as we’re not vegan. The mix made 36 mini muffins, which I then baked in the oven for about 12 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius.
Cisslan says:
Feb 22, 2014
Oops, forgot to add a rating – 5 stars!
Rocio says:
May 13, 2014
Ohhhh delicious !! I have to make them!! Thank you
Jewel says:
May 22, 2014
Any day I can bake without egg replacer is a good day. And, my good day was made better once I tasted this moist deliciousness. I used half wheat n half white flour, coconut oil, and left out the cranberries. These earned me a high five from my one year old. 🙂
claryn says:
May 31, 2014
Haha! Nice work 😉
dina says:
Jun 3, 2014
Can I refrigerate the muffins?
claryn says:
Jul 10, 2014
Yep!
Anthea says:
Jul 19, 2014
OMGollygosh. These were gorgeous.
Thank you to the genius who created these.
My world is now a better place.
xxx
Yuri says:
Oct 7, 2014
I really want to try these since fall is here 🙂 but is it ok if I omit the maple syrup? And also the nutmeg and ginger?
claryn says:
Oct 8, 2014
You can certainly give it a try, Yuri. If you aren’t intentionally cutting down on the sugar, you might substitute brown sugar or another sweetener for the maple syrup. That said, removing the nutmeg, ginger, and maple syrup would do away with some of the flavor in these muffins, so you might want to add some additional spice(s).
Suzanne says:
Mar 8, 2015
These muffins were fabulous~ I also substituted half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour, used the new flax milk instead of coconut milk, and added 1/2 cup mini vegan chocolate chips instead of the cranberries. They were totally fluffy and awesome!
Addicted to Plastic | Breast Cancer Ready or Not says:
Apr 1, 2015
[…] so we would have something for with a cuppa while our guests are here. I got the recipe from the ‘Hell yeah its Vegan’ blog I am not vegan by the way, but they are delicious and have no butter or eggs if you have allergic […]
Vegan Before Six says:
Apr 20, 2015
really fabulous in flavor, fragrance and texture – subbed 1/2 c minced candied ginger in place of the cranberries – and added 1/4 tsp cardamon – proclaimed uber delcious by my non-vegan family members, too!
sniff.tiff says:
Apr 24, 2015
these were easy and awesome. and I cook horribly. they were a success.I couldn’t mess them up. thank you.
claryn says:
May 25, 2015
Haha! Aw, I’m glad they worked out for you.
Laura says:
May 1, 2015
Love that it’s egg free and milk free. I did sub rice milk for coconut milk
Mar'Kell says:
Jul 27, 2016
What type of flower do I use specifically ???
claryn says:
Jul 31, 2016
Mar’Kell, you can use whatever flour you prefer, bearing in mind that different flours produce different flavors and textures. That said, I use unbleached all-purpose flour for most things (including these muffins)!
Karen says:
Aug 5, 2016
What would be a good grain free flour sub? If there’s not a good grain free option then what is best gluten free sub?
Thank you.
Sarah says:
Nov 13, 2016
Delicious! We aren’t vegan, but look for good pareve recipes (kosher) and I like to lower how much eggs we eat. Didn’t rise very much, but tasted great and were very fluffy. I substituted half the oil for applesauce and used water in place of the coconut milk since milk is manintl water anyways! So good! Like a healthy delicious muffin that isn’t overpoweringly sweet.
Winnie says:
Jan 1, 2017
Can I not add these?
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
Kara says:
Apr 22, 2017
I completely bastardized your recipe, but without it as a jumping off point I would have been without some fantastic muffins. I have full confidence the recipe as it stands is great.
I made these for my son, so we cut way back on the sugar to 1/6 of a cup, and added 1/2 cup almond butter for some fat and to replace some of the volume. We omitted the 2tbs extra sweet potato, and sprinkled almonds on mine. I also subbed apple cider vinegar for the lemon juice since I didn’t have any. We did these with whole wheat flour, and added 1/8 cup flax for the omega 3’s. They are the fluffiest vegan muffins I’ve ever had, and I’ll be coming back to this recipe many times as a starting point. I’ll try making them for reals for the folks at work one day.
Thanks x a million!!!!
Nic says:
May 12, 2017
anyone tried to make those gluten- and nut-free? did you just sub the flour with commercial gluten-free flour mix?
Julie says:
May 21, 2017
I made these, subbing cassava flour for the wheat flour, but it didn’t turn out as I’d hoped. They smelled amazing, and tasted great, but the texture on the inside was like mochi. That wasn’t the fault of the recipe though. It was my first attempt st baking with cassava flour, and I will have to experiment a bit more to see if I can get a better texture. Have you used it before? Any suggestions?
Marj says:
Nov 24, 2017
Coconut milk in a can, got it, but, please, low- or full-fat? Thanks!
claryn says:
Nov 25, 2017
I use regular cans (i.e. full-fat), but I actually think the reduced fat kind would work just fine. Just bear in mind that more fat does help keep baked goods taste fresher for longer.
Adyre says:
Dec 14, 2017
I made these and hey were great and spongy. I put my baked sweet potatoes in the food processor with 4 oz. of kite hill vegan almond cream cheese. I also omitted the cranberries. They were amazing!