These Sweet Potato Muffins are easy to make with grated raw sweet potatoes. They’re super soft, fluffy, and tender, with a mild sweetness and little specks of sweet potato throughout.
If you are looking for more fall muffin recipes, then try our almond flour pumpkin muffins or persimmon muffins recipe next!
👉 The original recipe included a buttery pecan streusel, but I later swapped it for a super simple brown sugar pecan topping. It’s not only easier to make, but also keeps these muffins simple enough for an easy breakfast. The muffin recipe itself remains unchanged.
Why You'll Love These Sweet Potato Muffins
These sweet potato muffins are everything you want in a cozy fall muffin—soft, fluffy, tender, and speckled with sweet potato throughout. Most sweet potato muffin recipes call for cooked sweet potatoes, but here, you simply grate a raw sweet potato and stir it right into the batter, so you can make them whenever the craving hits.
As the muffins bake, the tiny shreds of sweet potato steam and soften right in the batter, adding little pockets of moisture throughout the crumb. This gives the muffins their soft, tender texture without making them heavy.
The simple brown sugar and pecan topping adds a light crunch that contrasts beautifully with the soft muffins, giving each bite a little extra texture.
Looking for more delicious muffins? Be sure to check out my other muffin recipes!
-maria doss
Jump to:
I wanted a sweet potato muffin I could make anytime, without relying on leftover sweet potato puree, as I do with my apple muffins. To my surprise, using grated raw sweet potato resulted in muffins that were incredibly soft, tender, and fluffy.
Mashed or pureed sweet potato is dense and holds a lot of moisture, which can make muffins feel heavier. Grated raw sweet potato is much lighter, so the air bubbles created by the leavening agents can lift the batter more easily.
As the muffins bake, the tiny shreds of sweet potato steam and soften right inside the batter. They add little pockets of moisture throughout the crumb, giving the muffins that soft, tender texture without weighing them down.
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.
Tips for Success
- Sweet potato – You’ll need about 2 small or 1 medium-to-large sweet potato to get 3 cups of grated sweet potato.
- How to grate sweet potato – Wash and peel the sweet potato, then grate it using the coarse side of a box grater. There’s no need to cook it first.
- Yogurt – Use plain yogurt or sour cream. If using Greek yogurt, mix ¾ cup Greek yogurt with ¼ cup water.
More Easy Muffin Recipes
Sweet Potato Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups coarsely grated sweet potato (about 2 small or 1 medium to large)
For the topping
- ½ cup pecans, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a bowl, mix 1 ½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Finish batter. In a large bowl, whisk 2 eggs, 1 cup yogurt, ½ cup packed brown sugar, and ½ cup oil for about one minute. Stir in the flour mixture until mostly incorporated, then fold in the grated sweet potatoes, until evenly combined.👉 To grate the sweet potatoes, peel the skin and grate them using the coarse side of a box grater. Measure 3 cups for the recipe.
- Bake. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, then sprinkle the pecan-sugar topping evenly over the tops. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool. 👉 To make the topping, stir together ½ cup finely chopped pecans, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
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.
How to make sweet potato muffins?
You can find full printable recipe below, but here is a quick overview of the procedure along with step-by-step photos.
Step 9 - Evenly divide the batter into a paper lined muffin pan. Sprinkle the pecan-sugar on top. Bake for 18 to 32 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick 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.
MADE THIS RECIPE AND LOVED IT? 💚 Please leave a ⭐️STAR rating and COMMENT below- I love to hear your feedback! Tag me with your creations on Instagram and find me on Facebook.
Hi, I’m Maria! I share easy, flavor-packed dinners, high-protein meals, and irresistible baking ideas. If you’ve ever asked, “Don’t know what to cook tonight?” you’re in the right place. And yes—there’s plenty here for breakfast, snacks, and dessert too. More about maria ->
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 ♡