Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins

These Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins are made with cooked sweet potato and topped with a salty-sweet cinnamon pepita crumb topping. They’re healthier because they’re made with a bit less sugar and use coconut oil instead of butter in the actual muffin recipe.

It’s here—my new favorite healthy sweet potato muffins recipe is here! 

If you would’ve asked me a year ago—ok, maybe two years ago—if I liked sweet potatoes, I would have said not really. But now? Now I eat sweet potatoes at least 4 times each week. I suppose I have Whole30 to thank for that—when your options are limited, you learn to expand your horizons and embrace sweet potatoes for all that they are. Normally, I prefer savory sweet potatoes cooked with a little garlic and a lot of black pepper, but occasionally I hop on the “sweet” sweet potato train. 

These healthy sweet potato muffins might be my favorite “sweet” way to enjoy the starchy vegetable.

WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE THESE SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

• They’re made with less sugar than most muffin recipes
• The brown sugar crumb topping is INCREDIBLE
• It’s a great excuse to use up sweet potatoes — if you buy several at a time like I do, this is one way to utilize them

HOW TO MAKE SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

Cook the sweet potato: There are several different methods that appear when you Google “how to microwave sweet potato”, but this is my method. Rinse and scrub the sweet potato, then pat it dry. Use a fork to pierce several holes into the sweet potato, then set it on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for 5 minutes. Set it aside and allow time for it to cool, then you can carefully remove the skin and mash it.

Combine wet ingredients, then dry: I like to melt the coconut oil first and then wait to add it so that it has time to cool. Warm coconut oil mixed with cold eggs don’t mix well! Once the wet ingredients are mixed, add them into the bowl with the mashed sweet potato (I like to use an electric mixer for this part). The dough should be a little sticky but not too sticky. 

DO I HAVE TO MICROWAVE THE SWEET POTATO?

Nope! You can roast it in the oven if you prefer. This way takes longer, but it definitely works and you can always roast and mash the sweet potato a day or a few hours ahead of time if you prefer. 

The highlight of all crumb muffins is the crumb topping, which is made with butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and pepitas. It’s simple and delicious and adds just a little bit of salty-sweetness to these sweet potato muffins. 

I like these muffins because, even though they do have a sweeter crumb topping, overall they’re not too sweet, which I think makes them a great on-the-go breakfast option. YUM!

OTHER MUFFIN RECIPES

• whole wheat caramel apple muffins
• whole wheat zucchini muffins
• vegan morning glory muffins

Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins

Sweet potato crumb muffins made with a cooked and mashed sweet potato and topped with a salty-sweet cinnamon pepita crumb topping.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 18 muffins

Ingredients

for the muffins:

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 large sweet potato cooked then mashed with 1 tbsp milk*

f0r the crumb topping:

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1-2 tbsp pepitas
• 2 tbsp cold butter
• Pinch of sea salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Whisk eggs, oil, syrup, and milk together in a bowl.
• Add flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to that bowl and stir to combine.
• Last, add the cooked and mashed sweet potato to the bowl and use an electric mixer to mix everything together.
• Line a muffin tin with muffin liners, then divide the batter evenly.
• For the crumb topping: combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and pepitas in a small bowl. Add the butter then use a fork or your hand to mix everything together really well until the butter is no longer in large chunks. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over top of muffins, then sprinkle a tiny bit of salt over each muffin.
• Bake muffins for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Wait a few minutes, then carefully remove muffins and place them on a cooling rack.
• Enjoy!

Notes

*About 1 cup mashed sweet potato 

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: muffins

Author: Erin