With a fluffy texture and a hint of cozy spices, these Sweet Potato Muffins are a favorite veggie muffin in our house. They are lightly sweetened, store well, and are delicious topped with honey, butter, or cream cheese.
These easy toddler muffins are a great option for breakfast, snack, or to serve as a simple side to go with soup for kids. They taste similar to my Easy Pumpkin Muffins, but might be even yummier!
Quick Look: Sweet Potato Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Serving: 12
- Flavor Profile: Cozy flavors of cinnamon, sweet potato, and vanilla
- Difficulty: Easy, perfect for everyday toddler meals and snacks
- Why to Make: It’s a quick way to turn veggies into muffins
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Table of Contents
Once the sweet potato is prepared—you can easily make it at home as crockpot sweet potatoes or Sweet Potato Puree, or you can start with canned sweet potato puree—making the muffins is as simple as stirring the ingredients together in a bowl.
Why this Recipe Works
With wholesome ingredients and a veggie base, these Sweet Potato Muffins are rich with cozy spices. They are great on their own or paired with a dollop of butter, creamy cheese, or apple butter.
The result is a homemade batch of muffins that are so darn good—and are tender enough for toddlers to easily eat.
(You may also like other yummy recipes including Pumpkin Pancakes, Sweet Potato Waffles, and my Sweet Potato Cookies. Or my Veggie Muffins.)
Ingredients You Need
To make this sweet potato muffin recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients.
- Mashed sweet potato, very smooth and cool or at room temperature. I usually use homemade mashed sweet potatoes, but you could use canned sweet potato puree, too.
- Milk: Dairy or unsweetened plain nondairy works here.
- Unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt in the recipe.
- Maple syrup: You could use honey if you prefer for kids over age 1.
- Egg: This helps the batter bind together, as well as stay moist and tender.
- Vanilla extract: A little vanilla adds a hint of flavor that works well with the rest of the flavors.
- All-purpose and whole wheat flour: I like to use a mix of flours in this recipe so it’s light and also has some of the nutrients from the whole wheat flour.
- Baking soda: This is key to making sure they bake through well, so be sure yours is fresh.
- Cinnamon: This adds to the cozy, warm spice in the recipe.
- Optional: Chocolate chips or lemon zest. I usually add one or the other to ensure they have plenty of flavor.
Featured Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“These were sooo good! And I love knowing the kids are getting some veggies.” —Caroline
How to Make Sweet Potato Muffins
Here’s a look at how to make these sweet potato muffins. Scroll down to the bottom of the recipe for the full information.
Step 1. Stir together the wet ingredients, going slowly to get everything well combined.
Step 2. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Step 3. Portion into a muffin tin. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
TIP: I use a spatula to stir the batter together. It’s fairly thick due to the sweet potato, so be gentle but firm to get it mixed.
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Flavor Additions
You can stir in a handful of chocolate chips to the batter of these sweet potato muffins. Or add 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest. Don’t do both, just pick one or the other! They both lend a nice flavor boost to the hidden veggie muffins.
How to Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5, or in the freezer in a zip-top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature.
You can prep the sweet potatoes 3-5 days ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
Best Tips for Success
- Be sure to puree the sweet potatoes fully before starting the batter. I usually run it through my blender to make sure it’s smooth and lump-free.
- Use pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon if you prefer.
- The baking soda is crucial in this recipe since it helps the batter rise nicely even though the batter is very thick. Be sure to check to make sure yours isn’t expired!
- Pair with Healthy Hot Chocolate, Vanilla Milk, or an Apple Smoothie.
More Easy Baking
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe, so comment below and give it some stars if your family enjoys them!
Fluffy Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato (very smooth and cool or at room temperature)
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup melted unsalted butter (slightly cooled; ½ stick)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (the muffins are very lightly sweet, so this is optional for additional sweetness)
- ½ cup chocolate chips (or 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a standard-size 12-cup nonstick muffin tin well. (I use classic Pam spray.)
- Add the sweet potato, milk, butter, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla to a medium bowl. Stir together, going slowly and gently, until fully combined.
- In a separate medium bow, stir together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the optional sugar if using. Stir gently into the sweet potato mixture.
- To add chocolate chips, sprinkle a few on top of each muffin before baking or stir into the batter. To add lemon zest (without chocolate), stir the fresh lemon zest into the batter.
- Divide among the prepared muffin tin, using about ¼ cup batter in each, and bake for 16-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. (In my oven it was right at 18 minutes. To make as mini muffins, bake for about 12-14 minutes.) Let cool for a minute in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5, or in the freezer in a zip-top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature.
- To make the mashed sweet potato, you can make Mashed Roasted Sweet Potato or Crock-Pot Sweet Potatoes. Do this step ahead of time (even up to three days ahead if you store it in an airtight container in the fridge) so the sweet potato is cool when you make the muffin batter.
- These are very lightly sweet. The additional sugar is there if you think your family would prefer them a little sweeter.
- Be sure to puree the sweet potatoes fully before starting the batter. I usually run it through my blender to make sure it’s smooth and lump-free. You can also use store-bought sweet potato puree.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup gluten-free flour in place of the wheat flours.
- Dairy-free: Use plain unsweetened nondairy milk and vegetable oil instead of butter.
- Egg-free: Omit the egg. Increase the milk to 1 ¼ cups. Bake as directed.
Nutrition
This post was first published October 2020.
Could this be made as a loaf bread instead?
Sure, 350 degrees F for about 50-60 minutes should work well. Enjoy!
I’m so mad at myself! I made mini muffins and they came out super dense and not fluffy. I forgot the baking soda! 😂 but they are delicious so they’re still getting 5 stars.
Oh yay!
Maybe its pregnancy hormones but my first bite of these almost made me cry. It took me straight to Thanksgiving. Such a delicious recipe. I only had salted butter so did that and just omitted the salt. I did all AP flour as well a little more than 1 & 3/4 cup flour , but these were absolutely incredible. Thank you thank you thank you.
You’re so welcome!
I weighed all the ingredients. The sweet potatoes were blended in milk to guarantee no chunks. I made it vegan according to the notes and they turned out so nice. They were baked as mini muffins. 10/10.
If i don’t have normal flour just whole wheat, what would be the measuremenr for that?
I would use 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour if just using that type. You may get one less muffin.
Yum! I did half sweet potato and half pumpkin puree, because that’s what I had. And then I did 1 cup all-purpose flour, and 1/2 cup almond flour (again out of necessity). Loved the results!
Has anyone tried making these as mini muffins in a 24 tin pan?
It works fine, just bake for less time. Enjoy!
Accidentally used baking powder, but realized my mistake before adding the dry ingredients to the wet, so I added an extra 1/2 tsp of baking soda and it worked out fine. I was nervous about the sweet potato measurement because one cup of sweet potato weighed about twice what the recipe called for when using the metric measurement. I trusted my gut and went with one cup and it was the right decision. I’m happy with how these turned out! I did add mini chocolate chips and cane sugar, which I wouldn’t normally but I was worried about acidity of the baking powder and figured the sweetness would mask my mistake. Next time I will try with just chocolate chips.
Love these! I make 1.5 times a recipe and do some as mini muffins for my 1 year old and add chocolate chips to the rest for my 6 year old!
Great idea!
Excited to try the recipe! Can I use oat flour instead of the whole wheat?
I don’t know that directly substituting in that way will result in muffins that bake through completely. It might work to do part oat flour and part whole wheat though!
Can I replace the whole wheat flour with an equivalent amount of all purpose flour? On top of the called for all purpose flour?
I would add 2 more tbsp ap flour than the whole wheat called for.
can i use almond milk?
Yep!
Great recipe! I did add some more maple syrup and omitted the sugar. Sprinkled with some chocolate chips for my chocolate obsessed 4 year old. Very moist with
These went over well with my 2.5 year old. My husband and I loved them too. Perfectly moist. I opted out of the granulated sugar and just added a dash more maple syrup. Will definitely make it again.
These muffins are SO good! They are so light and fluffy with a subtle sweetness. Even with the added sugar. I spiced with the cinnamon called for and about 1/8 tsp of ginger. *chef’s kiss*
We didn’t cook the potatoes first, just used the blender. We also left out the sugar and these turned out amazing. Thank you
Glad to hear that worked!