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These soft and fluffy vegan sweet potato muffins are a perfect cold-weather sweet treat or breakfast, with naturally sweet mashed sweet potatoes and warm and cozy spices in every bite.
Why You’ll Love These Sweet Potato Muffins
Chances are that if you’re craving a batch of homemade muffins, you WON’T be reaching for the sweet potatoes. But why not mix it up? These vegan sweet potato muffins are soft, fluffy, and feature the natural sweet and savory flavors of sweet potatoes!
Any sweet potato fan will fall head over heels for these muffins. Like my easy sweet potato pancakes and sweet potato biscuits, they’re a fun way to use this staple fall veggie and a welcome change from the “pumpkin everything” trend we see throughout the season.
They’re easy to make with simple baking staples, only take 20 minutes to put together, and have the best warm and cozy flavors. You’ll love them for an afternoon sweet treat, a comforting dessert, or a breakfast you can take on the go.
Looking for more vegan desserts made with sweet potatoes? You might also like this sweet potato chocolate cake, vegan sweet potato pie, and vegan sweet potato brownies.
If you’re a muffin fan, you’ll also enjoy these pumpkin oatmeal muffins, chocolate chocolate chip muffins, and easy vegan apple muffins.
The Ingredients
Canned mashed sweet potatoes are combined with baking staples in this muffin recipe. Refer to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and quantities.
Make these muffins with all-purpose flour, a 1:1 mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, or spelt flour.
Stick with soy milk for the vegan buttermilk. It curdles easily when combined with apple cider vinegar, which helps the muffins rise.
Recipe Variations and Add-Ins
- Gluten-free muffins: Use a quality all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, like King Arthur’s or Bob’s Red Mill, instead of the regular all-purpose flour.
- Oil-free muffins: You can omit the oil from the recipe or replace it with an extra ½ cup of applesauce.
- Lemon juice: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice as a substitute for the apple cider vinegar.
- Pumpkin puree: Swap the sweet potato puree for an equal amount of pumpkin puree to make vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins or use a 50-50 mix of the two.
- Pumpkin spice: Swap the spices for 1 ½ tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice for an even warmer flavor.
- Add-in ideas: Fold up to ¼ cup of chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or vegan chocolate chips into the muffin batter.
- Topping ideas: Once they’re baked and cooled, feel free to top the muffins with a simple vanilla glaze (1 tbsp milk + ½ cup powdered sugar), a drizzle of almond butter or peanut butter, or vegan cream cheese frosting.
- Streusel topping: Go all out by topping these muffins with a brown sugar streusel (like the one used on these candied sweet potatoes) right before baking. It’ll add a deliciously sweet and warm cinnamon twist to every bite!
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins
Keep scrolling to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and recipe instructions.
Step 1: Whisk the plant-based milk and apple cider vinegar together, then set it aside to curdle and thicken.
Step 2: Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt together in a large bowl.
Step 3: Mix the sweet potato puree, oil, brown sugar, applesauce, and plant milk-vinegar mixture together in a separate bowl.
Step 4: Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients.
Step 5: Gently mix the two together until just combined.
Step 6: Scoop the muffin batter into a prepared muffin tin, filling each cup to the top.
Step 7: Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set them aside to cool slightly, then enjoy.
FAQs
If you can’t find canned sweet potato puree, you can make it yourself using 1 to 2 peeled, chopped, and boiled or steamed sweet potatoes. Wait for the cooked sweet potatoes to cool before pureeing them in a food processor or blender, and only use 1 ½ cups of the puree for this recipe.
Yes, this recipe will make about two dozen mini muffins. Bake them in a 375ºF oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
The mashed sweet potatoes make these muffins super cozy and naturally sweet, so you only need ½ cup of brown sugar in the batter! They’re also loaded with fiber, vitamins A and C, potassium, and antioxidants, making them healthier than your average muffin.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Don’t overwork the batter: Over-stirring the batter will lead to gummy or dense muffins. Instead, only stir the wet and dry mixtures together until they just come together and no dry flour remains in the bowl. It’s okay if there are a few small lumps in the batter!
- Let the batter rest before baking: After stirring the wet and dry ingredients together, set the batter aside for about 10 minutes. This gives the gluten time to rest, yielding fluffier and softer muffins.
- Fill them to the top: Fill the muffin tins to the top with batter for the big and fluffy rounded tops.
- Add toppings before baking: Feel free to sprinkle some pecans, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or vegan chocolate chips on top of the muffins before they go into the oven.
Storage Instructions
Once they’re baked and cooled, the muffins will last for 2 to 3 days at room temperature, up to 5 days in the refrigerator, or up to 3 months in the freezer. Wrap each one individually in plastic wrap or store them in an airtight container to keep them moist and fresh.
The leftover muffins are delicious served cold or at room temperature. For a warm and cozy treat, pop the muffins in a toaster oven for a few minutes before serving.
Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup of plant-based milk (soy works best)
- 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg (optional)
- ½ teaspoon of ground ginger (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 (!5-ounce) can of sweet potato puree
- ½ cup of neutral oil
- ½ cup of brown sugar
- 1 (3.9-ounce) cup of unsweetened applesauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and line a muffin tin with 12 silicone or parchment paper liners.
- In a cup, mix the plant-based milk and apple cider. Set aside for 5 minutes or until it has thickened.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger if using, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix the sweet potato puree, oil, brown sugar, applesauce, and plant-based milk mixture. Mix well until fully combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- Mix until just combined—make sure you do not overmix, and set aside to rest while the oven preheats.
- Once the oven is preheated, scoop the batter into the muffin thin – filling to the top, almost spilling out.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick or a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes. Transfer them to a cooling rack and allow them to fully cool down before enjoying them.
Notes
- Don’t overwork the batter: Over-stirring the batter will lead to gummy or dense muffins. Instead, only stir the wet and dry mixtures together until they just come together and no dry flour remains in the bowl. It’s okay if there are a few small lumps in the batter!
- Let the batter rest before baking: After stirring the wet and dry ingredients together, set the batter aside for about 10 minutes. This gives the gluten time to rest, yielding fluffier and softer muffins.
- Fill them to the top: Fill the muffin tins to the top with batter for the big and fluffy rounded tops.
- Add toppings before baking: Feel free to sprinkle some pecans, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or vegan chocolate chips on top of the muffins before they go into the oven.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Although plantbasedonabudget.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Plantbasedonabudget.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
The best sweet potato muffins!