Sweet Potato Muffins are a warm and comforting fall treat, which combine fresh sweet potatoes with brown sugar and your favorite spices. Top them off with streusel for a delicious breakfast or dessert.
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Why this Sweet Potato Muffin Recipe is a Keeper
If you’ve just made sweet potato pie, this recipe is a great use of your leftover sweet potatoes. These delicious sweet potato muffins are the perfect breakfast on a fall day, and are complete with a pecan streusel topping. Here are a few reasons why you’ll want to try these easy sweet potato muffins:
- Easy Ingredients: All of the ingredients for this sweet potato muffins recipe can be found in your kitchen or local grocery store.
- Special Occasion Worthy: These fluffy muffins with sweet potato are great for Thanksgiving or Halloween parties.
- Freezes Well: This is one of the best sweet potato muffin recipes, as you can make the batter ahead of time and freeze it for later.
- Portable: These sweet potato streusel muffins are a great on-the-go breakfast.
Are Yams and Sweet Potatoes the Same?
Sweet potatoes are sometimes called yams, but these are actually different root vegetables. As the name implies, sweet potatoes have a naturally sweet flavor. They’re also easy to peel and have a moist texture. Yams are starchier and are much larger. True yams may be difficult to find in the United States, and are native to Africa and Asia.
Ingredient Notes to Make Sweet Potato Muffins
These muffins taste lightly sweet, thanks to the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes for this recipe, along with brown sugar in the sweet potato filling. Here are some ingredients in the recipe you’ll want to know:
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Peel and mash medium sweet potatoes to use for the muffins. This recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of sweet potato.
- Chopped Pecans: Chopped pecans will help make the streusel topping.
- Maple Extract: Flavor the muffins with maple extract.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
How To Prepare the Sweet Potato Muffins Before Baking
- Puree the Sweet Potatoes: Puree and cook the sweet potatoes in advance.
- Muffin Batter: Make the muffin batter in advance and freeze it, then bake when you’re ready.
Special Equipment Needed for Fluffy Sweet Potato Muffins
- Potato Masher: Use a potato masher to mash the sweet potatoes. You can also blend them in a food processor.
Pro Tip
Room temperature ingredients will mix more evenly and create a better texture.
How to Make Sweet Potato Muffins with Pecan Streusel
These muffins are amazing, and are made with real sweet potatoes, along with a pecan streusel topping. Follow the recipe exactly, or see the Variations and Substitutions section below for more ideas.
These are the basic steps to make these sweet potato muffins. Refer to the full, printable recipe card below for detailed instructions.
1. Make Sweet Potato Mixture
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger together.
Set aside, then mix together the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, milk, oil and maple extract in a large bowl. Add sweet potatoes and flour, and stir until combined.
2. Make the Sweet Potato Muffin Filling
For the mix that goes in the middle of the muffins, mix the dark brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
3. Make Streusel Topping Mixture
For the streusel mixture, combine dark brown sugar, oats, flour, pecans, salt and cinnamon. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix in by hand.
4. Assemble Muffins
Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Use a cookie scoop to place one scoop of batter in each liner. Then, add 2 teaspoons of the middle mixture and cover it with more batter.
5. Bake the Muffins
Gently press a tablespoon of streusel mixture on top of the muffins to allow it to stick. Repeat with all the muffins, then bake the sweet potato muffins for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and let the muffins cool completely.
How to Store, Freeze Sweet Potato Muffins and Use Leftover Moist Muffins
- Storing: Store sweet potato muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Using Leftovers: Enjoy leftover muffins for a quick and easy breakfast.
Variations and Substitutions for Sweet Potato Muffins with Pecan Topping
- Maple Syrup: Use maple syrup instead of sugar.
- Nuts: Use walnuts instead of pecans.
- Spices: Add in some pumpkin spice mix.
- Chocolate Chips: Mix chocolate chips into the muffin batter.
- Frosting: Top the muffins with icing or frosting.
Best Sweet Potato Muffin Recipe FAQs
If the muffins turned out great and you enjoyed this recipe, rate the recipe and leave us a comment!
Serve these delicious muffins with homemade toaster strudel, apple pie overnight oats, or pumpkin spice donuts.
Orange sweet potatoes are best for this recipe, as they’re tender and have a sweet flavor.
If you’d prefer to use it, canned sweet potato puree is a good way to cut back on time.
Expert Tips for Making Sweet Potato and Pecan Muffins
- Use Ripe Sweet Potatoes: Ripe sweet potatoes will have a sweeter flavor and a smoother texture.
- Roasted Sweet Potato: You can also make this recipe using lightly roasted sweet potatoes. Roast the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork afterwards to make sure they’re done, then scoop out the sweet potato flesh.
- Banana Muffins: Make these muffins with pureed bananas mixed into the batter for extra sweetness.
- Mash Thoroughly: Ensure the mashed sweet potatoes are smooth and free of lumps. This will contribute to a tender and moist muffin.
- Balance Sweetness: While sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, you might need to adjust the sugar in your recipe to achieve your desired level of sweetness.
- Mini Muffins: Use a smaller tin if you want to make this great recipe into mini muffins.
- Don’t Overmix: Overmixing can lead to tough muffins. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Vegan: To make this recipe vegan, use milk, egg, and butter substitutes.
- Muffin Liner: Muffin tin liners will help prevent sticking and make cleanup easier.
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Sweet Potato Muffins
Equipment
- 3 Small Bowls
- Muffin Tin
- Stirring Spoon
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Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 ½ cups Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- ½ cup Sugar
- ½ cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- ½ cup Milk
- ⅔ cup Oil
- 1 teaspoon Maple Extract
- 1 ¼ cup Sweet Potato, mashed
Middle
- ½ cup Dark Brown Sugar
- ¾ cup Chopped Pecans
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Streusel Topping
- ⅓ cup Dark Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Oats
- ¼ cup Flour
- ¼ cup Chopped Pecans
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ cup Butter, cubed and chilled
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, milk, oil and maple extract together until well combined. Add in the sweet potatoes and mix. Add in the flour and stir until the batter is well combined.
- In a small bowl, mix the dark brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon and stir together (this is the mix that will go in the middle of the muffins).
- In another small bowl, mix the dark brown sugar, oats, flour, pecans, salt and cinnamon and mix. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the bowl. Use your hands and make the streusel into a crumbly mixture.
- Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Using a cookie scoop, place one scoop of muffin batter in the bottom of each liner.
- Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of the middle mixture on top, tap it down gently and cover it with another scoop of batter. Use the back of a spoon to spread the batter over the top of the center sugar/pecan mix.
- Top with a tablespoon of the streusel and gently press it into the batter to keep it from falling off during baking. Repeat until all the batter is gone.
- Place the trays in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Remove and allow to cool.
Christina’s Notes
- Use Ripe Sweet Potatoes: Ripe sweet potatoes will have a sweeter flavor and a smoother texture.
- Roasted Sweet Potato: You can also make this recipe using lightly roasted sweet potatoes. Roast the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork afterwards to make sure they’re done, then scoop out the sweet potato flesh.
- Banana Muffins: Make these muffins with pureed bananas mixed into the batter for extra sweetness.
- Mash Thoroughly: Ensure the mashed sweet potatoes are smooth and free of lumps. This will contribute to a tender and moist muffin.
- Balance Sweetness: While sweet potatoes are naturally sweet, you might need to adjust the sugar in your recipe to achieve your desired level of sweetness.
- Mini Muffins: Use a smaller tin if you want to make this great recipe into mini muffins.
- Don’t Overmix: Overmixing can lead to tough muffins. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins: To make this recipe vegan, use milk, egg, and butter substitutes.
- Muffin Liner: Muffin tin liners will help prevent sticking and make cleanup easier.
- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.