Sweet Potato Muffins with Cinnamon

Sweet potatoes are made for autumn baking with their caramel-y, nutty flavor. There are so many ways to love sweet potatoes, but we especially love them in these sweet potato muffins. Each muffin is packed with fluffy, mashed sweet potatoes and a warming dash of fall-favorite cinnamon. A super-simple vanilla glaze makes these muffins feel like an indulgent treat.

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Muffins

• Self-rising flour: Don’t use another flour in place here. Self-rising flour contains leavening agents you need, so don’t swap it out or your muffins won’t rise.
• Sugar: For sweetness and browning power, simple sugar does the trick here!
• Cinnamon: Cinnamon adds a depth of warmth that complements the sweet potatoes.
• Sweet potatoes: Cold, mashed sweet potatoes are the star of this recipe and feature a lovely, caramelized flavor.
• Canola oil: This neutral-tasting oil moistens the muffins without making them greasy.
• Confectioners’ sugar: Confectioners’ sugar is the base and sweetener of the glaze.

Directions

Step 1: Create the batter

Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, sweet potatoes and oil. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until moistened.

Editor’s Tip: Do not overmix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients. Doing so would over-develop the gluten, resulting in dense, tough muffins.

Step 2: Bake the muffins

Fill greased muffin cups or muffin liners two-thirds full with the batter. Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool at room temperature for five minutes before removing the muffins from pans to wire racks.

Step 3: Make the glaze

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In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and cinnamon. Drizzle the glaze over the warm muffins.

Sweet Potato Muffins Variations

• Swap in pumpkin: If you can’t find canned sweet potatoes or don’t have the time to cook sweet potatoes, use a good canned pumpkin brand in a pinch.
• Splash in some bourbon: Add a splash of bourbon to the glaze to make these sweet potato muffins adult-only.
• Omit the glaze: Instead of making this recipe’s glaze, simply drizzle honey or maple syrup on top of the baked sweet potato muffins.
• Include mix-ins: Add chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, shredded coconut or tart blueberries to the batter for added flavor. Pecans would add a lovely nutty taste and crunchy texture.
• Add more spices: Fall spices like zippy ginger, aromatic nutmeg and pungent cloves complement the sweet potatoes and cinnamon. You could also give the muffins a flavor pop with Chinese five spice, garam masala or ground chipotle.

How to Store Sweet Potato Muffins

To store, allow these sweet potato muffins to cool completely to room temperature. Place them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

How to Freeze Sweet Potato Muffins

But can you freeze muffins? Yup—and they last in the freezer for up to two months! Simply place the room-temperature muffins in a resealable bag or airtight container, then store in the freezer. Be aware, the glaze won’t freeze as well, so you may want to wait to make the glaze until you’re ready to thaw and serve the muffins. Alternatively, keep the glaze in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To rewarm from frozen, thaw the muffins in the fridge overnight, then gently rewarm them in the microwave.

Sweet Potato Muffins Tips

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How should you cook the sweet potatoes?

Boiling is the most straightforward method for cooking sweet potatoes. Peel the sweet potatoes, and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Boil them until fork-tender, 12 to 15 minutes. For every 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes, you’ll need to start with about three medium-sized sweet potatoes.

Roasting sweet potatoes is another great cook method. Set your oven to 400°, and line a baking sheet with parchment. Scrub and thoroughly dry the whole sweet potatoes. Pierce them all over with a fork, and coat each sweet potato with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet, and roast until a butter knife inserted into the center pierces through very easily, about 45 minutes. Let the sweet potatoes cool to room temperature, then remove their skins, and use the roasted sweet potato flesh.

You can also use canned sweet potatoes for this sweet potato muffin recipe (just make sure they’re not sweetened). Also, you may need two cans. One standard 15-ounce can sweet potatoes produces about 1-3/4 cups mashed sweet potatoes. Finally, make sure you’re not reaching for canned yams; yams and sweet potatoes are not the same!

What can you use instead of self-rising flour?

Unfortunately, you can’t anything for substitute the self-rising flour, but learning how to make self-rising flour is pretty easy. For each 1 cup self-rising flour called for, place 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a measuring cup. Add enough all-purpose flour to measure 1 cup.