Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins made with wholesome ingredients for a gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free treat! The best way to start the day!
The first time I made these easy sweet potato muffins, I ate 7. And it felt so right.
I just couldn’t tell myself no because I got a kick out of the taste and texture and I was confident the ingredients wouldn’t launch me into a sugar coma.
Made with all mindful ingredients like mashed sweet potatoes, almond butter, and pure maple syrup, I love that these muffins come with health benefits. Featuring a nice source of dietary fiber, healthy fats, and some vitamins, with less sugar.
Inspired by my Double Chocolate Sweet Potato Muffins (which was in turn inspired by my Healthy Sweet Potato Brownies, I wanted to make a version without chocolate with less sweetener.
The texture is light and spongy with warm cinnamon and ginger flavors.
All things considered, these healthier sweet potato muffins are flourless, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and paleo friendly.
They can also be made nut-free by using sunflower seed butter or tahini instead of almond butter.
Let’s dive into the details of the basic ingredients for sweet potato muffins. You’ll notice there’s no flour or oil necessary!
All grocery stores carry every thing you need to make this sweet potato muffins recipe.
Ingredients for Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins:
Sweet Potato: A medium-sized sweet potato gets cooked and mashed into sweet potato puree to take the place of all purpose flour and butter in this healthy muffin recipe.
You can also use pumpkin puree if you prefer. If you have leftover sweet potatoes, this is a great way of using them up!
Unsweetened Almond Butter: Acting as the fat content and a portion of the moisture, almond butter (or any nut butter) brings richness to the muffins.
You can use sunflower seed butter or tahini if you’d prefer. Just note that you’ll be able to taste whatever nut or seed butter you use.
Peanut butter works but overshadows any sweet potato flavor.
Large Eggs: A couple chicken eggs help these muffins rise and give them a beautiful texture.
I haven’t tested an egg-free version yet but I believe flax eggs would cause the muffins to turn out too dense with an underbaked texture.
If you have the time, take the eggs out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before baking to bring them to room temperature.
Pure Maple Syrup: Used in place of cane sugar, I use pure maple syrup to sweeten these muffins. The natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes eliminates the need for excess sugar.
These muffins aren’t super sweet so you may consider adding a few tablespoons of brown sugar or coconut sugar if you like your treats to be very sweet.
Vanilla Extract: A touch of vanilla extract brings a warm flavor that we all love in baked goods.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The combination of baking powder and baking soda leavens the muffins so that they rise and have a moist crumb.
Ground Cinnamon and Ground Ginger: I highly recommend adding the ground cinnamon and ground ginger because they add a warmly-spiced flavor to make these muffins taste so cozy. If you have pumpkin pie spice on hand, feel free to use it here.
Sea Salt: A pinch of sea salt enhances all of the flavors.
Chocolate Chips (optional): A sprinkle of chocolate chips adds little gooey pockets of chocolatey goodness to the muffins. They also taste great without the chocolate chips but aren’t as sweet without them.
Toss in 2/3 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts for a little nutty crunch.
This easy recipe for sweet potato muffins makes 10 muffins. You can make a double batch or triple batch if you want lots of leftovers.
Now that we’re experts on the simple ingredients, let’s bake some grain-free sweet potato muffins!
How to Make Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins:
Cook the sweet potato using your preferred method. I like to peel a large sweet potato, chop it into chunks, and boil it for about 20-25 minutes.
You can also roast the sweet potato. You can cook the sweet potato up to 5 days ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tray with muffin papers.
Once cool enough to handle, mash 1 cup worth of sweet potato using a potato masher. Transfer the pureed sweet potato to a large mixing bowl.
Add the almond butter, eggs, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract to the large bowl with the mashed sweet potato (the wet ingredients).
Mix well until all of the wet ingredients are combined. Note: If your almond butter has been chilling in the refrigerator, microwave it for 30 to 60 seconds until it becomes easy to stir.
Add the baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and sea salt to the mixing bowl (the dry ingredients) and mix well to combine.
Stir in the chocolate chips. The batter will appear fairly runny. This is normal.
Transfer the muffin batter to the muffin tin, filling the muffin cups ¾ of the way up.
Bake on the center rack of the oven for 22 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins test clean.
Muffins are fully cooked once they reach an internal temperature of 190 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. You can insert a meat thermometer into the center of the muffin to verify for doneness if you’d like.
Allow the muffins to cool completely before removing a muffin wrapper and enjoying one!
Store muffins in a large zip lock bag or an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Muffins freeze well! You can freeze them in a zip lock bag for up to 3 months.
These moist sweet potato muffins may just become a new household staple for the whole family to enjoy. If you have picky eaters in your home, this quick snack is a great way to get some quality nutrients.
If you enjoy healthy muffin recipes, also try out these reader favorites!
More Healthy Muffins:
- Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
- Almond Flour Banana Muffins
- Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins
- Spiced Apple Carrot Muffins
- Healthy Apple Oatmeal Muffins
- The Fluffiest Zucchini Muffins
The next time you’re in the mood for some fluffy muffins with health benefits, whip up this healthy sweet potato muffin recipe.
These delicious muffins make the perfect easy breakfast or healthy snack to accompany a great cup of coffee.
Hidden vegetable muffins, let’s GO!
Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato
- 1 cup unsweetened almond butter *
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger optional
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Cook the sweet potato using your preferred method. I like to peel a large sweet potato, chop it into chunks, and boil it for about 20-25 minutes. You can also roast the sweet potato. You can cook the sweet potato up to 5 days ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tray with muffin papers.
- Once cool enough to handle, mash 1 cup worth of sweet potato using a potato masher. Transfer the pureed sweet potato to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the almond butter, eggs, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract to the large bowl with the mashed sweet potato (the wet ingredients). Mix well until all of the wet ingredients are combined. Note: If your almond butter has been chilling in the refrigerator, microwave it for 30 to 60 seconds until it becomes easy to stir.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and sea salt to the mixing bowl (the dry ingredients) and mix well to combine.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. The batter will appear fairly runny. This is normal.
- Transfer the muffin batter to the muffin tin, filling the muffin cups ¾ of the way up.
- Bake on the center rack of the oven for 22 to 30 minutes, or until the muffins test clean.
- Muffins are fully cooked once they reach an internal temperature of 190 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. You can insert a meat thermometer into the center of the muffin to verify for doneness if you’d like.
- Allow the muffins to cool completely before removing a muffin wrapper and enjoying one or seven.
Notes
Nutrition
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These are delicious. I used canned pumpkin as that’s what I had and I was too lazy to cook potatoes. Might have made them just a bit soggy but sure doesn’t keep me from eating them. Stayed in the frig well and freezer too.
I’m happy to hear that they turned out alright with canned pumpkin! This is very helpful information to others who want to try the same thing 🙂 I suppose adding a little flour (either almond flour, GF AP flour or regular AP flour) would help with the extra moisture if you decide to try them again in the future. I appreciate you swinging back around to share your experience! xo
@Julia,
This is a follow up to my post of 2/7/24. Good Idea to add a bit of flour. I didn’t see this post till I came on to tell you I made them again. I was curious about the sweet potato so I made them today. They are so amazing there are no words. My husband says they are the best muffin he’s ever had. Being so healthy topped it off. I did use SP. I used 1/2 dark choc covered raisins and 1/2 choc. chips. I also added a scant handful of walnuts. A winner!
Aww yaaay! I’m happy you enjoyed the sweet potato version too 🙂 Also LOVE the idea of adding raisins and walnuts! Sounds amazing! xo