These Sweet Potato Muffins are easy to make with freshly grated sweet potatoes. They’re soft, moist, mildly sweet, and finished with a crunchy, brown sugar pecan streusel on top. Yogurt and grated potatoes keeps them moist!
These grated sweet potato muffins are one of the best fall baking recipes— easy to make, no planninng needed, and packed with incredible texture in every bite.
Most sweet potato muffin recipes call for cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, which means planning ahead. But not this one! These are made with coarsely grated raw sweet potatoes (similar to my persimmon muffins), making it a quick and easy muffin recipe that still delivers amazing flavor and moisture. As they bake, the grated yams turn soft and tender, adding a beautiful orange speckled color and ultra-moist texture.
The brown sugar pecan streusel on top is my favorite part — it bakes up golden, crunchy, and buttery, creating the perfect contrast to the soft, fluffy muffins. Want to keep it simple? You can skip the streusel and bake them plain, or top with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or chopped toasted pecans instead.
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Ingredients you'll need
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Sweet Potato – Although they are a naturally firm root vegetable, they become wonderfully soft when cooked; in this brown sugar muffin recipe, finely grated raw sweet potato softens as it bakes, creating a moist, tender, and fluffy muffin texture.
- Pecans – Use toasted pecans for more flavor and crunch.
- Flour – Regular unbleached all-purpose flour provides the structure needed for the muffins to rise and hold their shape.
- Leavening – A combination of baking powder and baking soda ensures they rise properly and achieve a soft, fluffy crumb.
- Brown Sugar – Light brown sugar adds a touch of molasses, which not only deepens the flavor but also keeps them moist and pairs beautifully with cinnamon.
- Oil – Using a neutral oil like vegetable or corn oil results in an extra moist texture compared to butter, without adding any competing flavors.
- Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon gives these baked muffins their warm, cozy fall flavor and pairs perfectly with the yams and brown sugar.
- Eggs – Two eggs help bind the ingredients together and provide structure.
- Yogurt – Yogurt adds rich moisture and tenderness; its acidity also reacts with baking soda to create a light and fluffy texture. Sour cream makes a great substitute.
- Butter – Just a couple of tablespoons of butter in the brown sugar streusel brings a buttery richness and helps create a golden, crisp topping.
Topping Ideas for the sweet potato muffins
- Keep it simple and skip the strusel topping.
- Sprinkle cinnamon sugar instead of the stuesel like in apple muffins recipe.
- Like it nut-free? Skip the topping or use rolled oats instead of pecans.
- Use chopped walnuts instead of pecans.
- Simply sprinkle chopped toasted pecans on top.
Sweet Potato Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups coarsely grated sweet potato about 2 medium
Pecan struesel (optional)
- 1 cup toasted pecans chopped
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons melted butter not hot
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F and line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Add all dry ingredients together into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, ½ cup packed brown sugar, yogurt, and oil for about 1 minute, or until well combined. Add the dry flour mixture and stir just until incorporated, then fold in the grated sweet potatoes.👉 To grate the sweet potatoes: Wash, peel, and grate them using the coarse side of a box grater.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the pecan streusel on top, breaking up any large clumps.To make the pecan streusel: Mix all the streusel ingredients (except the butter) in a bowl until combined. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is evenly moistened and crumbly.✨ Keeping it simple? You can skip the streusel and bake the muffins plain, or top them with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or chopped toasted pecans instead!
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes clean. Place pan on a wire rack to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
Tips for Success
Keep it simple – Want a simpler version? Skip the streusel topping entirely, or top the yam muffins with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or chopped toasted pecans.
Grating sweet potato – Wash and peel the sweet potato, then grate it using the coarse side of a box grater. The thicker shreds soften beautifully during baking and create a moist, tender texture in the baked muffin.
Choosing yogurt – You can use plain yogurt or sour cream. If using Greek yogurt, mix ¾ cup Greek yogurt with ¼ cup water to get the right consistency for the batter.
How to make sweet potao muffins?
You can find full printable recipe below, but here is a quick overview of the procedure along with step-by-step photos.
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Step 9 - Evenly divide the batter into a paper lined muffin pan.
Step 10 - Sprinkle the pecan struesel on top. Bake for 18 to 32 minutes at 350 degrees or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes clean.
More Brown Sugar Muffins
If you love trying new muffin recipes or are always looking for cozy, sweet brown sugar desserts, you're in the right place! These delicious baked goods are easy to make, full of flavor, and perfect for breakfast, snack time, or a little something sweet.
- Eggless mini banana muffins are soft, light, and perfectly tender with a naturally sweet banana flavor.
- Chocolate zucchini muffins are incredibly soft, fluffy, and decadently filled with dark chocolate chips.
- Banana chocolate chip muffins are sturdy yet fluffy with a tender crumb but made without eggs.
- Air fryer banana muffins are soft and fluffy inside with a perfectly golden, crusty top. Ready in minutes, you might never go back to the oven!
- Almond flour banana muffins are made using wholesome ingredients like almond flour and almond butter, these are amazingly healthy without any added fat.
- Eggless banana muffins are soft, fluffy, and perfectly tender—thanks to a combination of yogurt and oil that keeps them moist without eggs.
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Kitchen at Hoskins on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
OMG I need to try this! I love sweet potatoes! (And bread too, of course!)
Maria Doss
You will love it Kesie:)
Kelly @ Kelly Lynns Sweets and Treats
This sweet potato bread sounds so yummy! I need to grab some sweet potatoes from the store and make this ASAP!! 🙂
Maria Doss
Yes, you do. This sweet potato bread recipe is a favorite in our home:)
cakespy
Sweet potato biscuits, bread, rolls, etc - it's all incredible to me. I love the moisture and flavor it imparts. This recipe is clearly a keeper!
Maria Doss
Yes dear, thank you:)
Kim | The Baking ChocolaTess
Omgoodness! I love all these flavors going on! Sweet potatoes are so good for you and it's such a nice compliment to incorporate them into muffins and breads for sure! Love it Maria! 🙂
Maria Doss
Thank you dear, Something so good for us yet it tastes so delicious, love sweet potatoes.
Ida
This recipe is a keeper! It's so moist and not sweet. I made it in 2 small bread loaf pans, 1 for home and 1 for a friend but I don't think I want to share it now....lol
Maria Doss
Glad you loved the recipe Ida, happy holidays😍
Patrick@looneyforfood.com
Im loving sweet potatoes in everything! Im always surprised that most people don't know you can take almost any quick bread recipe and make it in muffin form or vice versa.
Maria Doss
Totally, its such a versatile root.
heather (delicious not gorgeous)
oooh i've been meaning to bake more with sweet potatoes! but having to cook and cool them before using made me lazy lol. glad to hear that you can use raw ones in here!!
Maria Doss
Thank you dear:)
Katherine | Love In My Oven
My kids will actually eat sweet potatoes, and they love muffins so this is PERFECT! Can't wait to try it. I love that you can put the potatoes in raw!!
Maria Doss
They'll sure love it, thanks Kathy:)
Ashika | Gardening Foodie
Maria, I absolutely love this recipe, as a muffin it makes a perfect breakfast or lunch box treat. It looks so soft and moist and the addition of sweet potatoes sound so delicious. I really cannot wait to try 🙂
Thank you for the delicious recipe 🙂
Deepika|TheLoveOfCakes
I love sweet potatoes but have never baked with them! But the texture of the bread looks so moist and amazing! I am going to try this super soon 🙂
Ruby Mackenzie-Harris
I've made this a few times now, always a hit. This time I used purple Okinawa sweet potato, and it was delicious.
Maria Doss
That’s so great to hear! So glad you love it hun – Maria ♡