These Sweet Potato Muffins are made using grated raw sweet potatoes, topped with a crunchy, buttery pecan crunch crumble that perfectly balances the mildly sweet and ultra-soft muffins.
These sweet potato muffins are one of the best fall baking recipes! It is easy without any need for prep work and has an incredible combination of textures.
Like for the sweet potato pie recipe, sweet potato muffins usually call for mashed sweet potatoes, but these are made with coarsely grated sweet potato, stirred into the batter, like in persimmon muffins. Now, you can bake up some treats when a craving strikes.
Also known as yams, sweet potatoes are amazingly healthy baked, roasted, mashed, fried or made into casserole. If you are looking for more ways to use this healthy root vegetable, then try this air fryer baked sweet potato or slow cooker mashed sweet potatoes.
Like in all homemade muffin recipes, it’s important to mix the muffin batter as little as possible, just until all the ingredients are combined. That way, they will have a moist and tender crumb with a soft and fluffy like texture like in mini blueberry muffins or eggless banana muffins.
There are many varieties of sweet potatoes available in grocery stores, and they come in all different colors and shapes. When selecting sweet potatoes, look for firm ones without any wrinkles, bruises, or discolorations. Store them in a cool, dry, dark, but well-ventilated place.
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Why you'll love these?
- No need to bake or boil sweet potatoes. Just grate a raw one and add into the batter.
- The crunchy crumble pecan topping encases light and fluffy sweet potato muffins.
- No mixers needed. The batter comes together in two bowls.
Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Sweet potato – While it is a naturally firm root vegetable, it transforms into a soft texture when cooked. The small shreds of sweet potato dispersed throughout the batter turn exceptionally soft during the baking process, resulting in a fluffy texture.
- Pecans – Use toasted pecans like in my sweet potato souffle recipe.
- Flour – Regular unbleached all purpose flour.
- Leavening – Both baking powder and baking soda, guarantees enough lift.
- Brown sugar – The molasses in brown sugar adds moisture and also compliments the cinnamon like in healthy apple crumble recipe.
- Oil – As in eggless banana bread, oil makes a moist texture compared to melted butter. Use a neutral oil, such as vegetable or corn oil.
- Salt – To make all the flavors pop.
- Cinnamon - Ground cinnamon for flavoring.
- Egg – You’ll need 2 eggs to help with binding.
- Yogurt - It adds a creamy moisture to baked goods. When combined with the alkaline baking soda, the acidity in yogurt will produce carbon dioxide gas, giving the muffins a fluffy and light texture.
- Butter - Just a couple of tablespoons of butter for the pecan crumble.
Variations:
- Keep it simple and skip the crumble topping.
- Sprinkle cinnamon sugar instead of the pecan crumble 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.
- Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips like in almond flour banana muffins.
How to make?
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 crumble 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.
Make pecan crumble, stir all the crumble ingredients, except the butter, until combined. Stir in melted butter and mix until moistened.
How to store?
Like the peach crumble or mango crumble, these sweet potato muffins are absolutely divine served warm or at room temperature on the same day. Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 2 days.
If you'd like to store the sweet potato muffins for a longer period, then freeze them for up to 2 months. Leave aside at room temperature for a few hours to thaw.
Pro tip: If you'd like a warm muffin, then check out how to reheat leftover muffins in an air fryer. The sweet potato muffins become warm, the topping gets crisp, and it is delicious.
Helpful tips
- Sweet potato - Wash and peel the sweet potato and then grate using the coarse side of the box grater.
- Pecans - Use toasted pecans for a added crunch and a toasty flavor.
- Yogurt - Use plain yogurt and not Greek yogurt.
- Use Greek yogurt - Use ¾ cup plain greek yogurt along with ¼ cup water.
- Make it simple - Skip the crumble topping and bake only the muffin batter.
More muffin recipes
Sweet Potato Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup + ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 2 eggs, large
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups coarsely grated sweet potato, about 2 medium
Topping (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 another larger bowl, add eggs, ½ cup packed brown sugar, yogurt and oil and whisk for about 1 minute, or well combined. Stir in the flour mixture and then the grated sweet potatoes.Tip: Don't over-mix. Just stir until everything comes together.
- Evenly divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle the pecan crumble on top. To make pecan crumble, stir all the crumble ingredients, except the butter, until combined. Stir in melted butter and mix until moistened.
- Bake for 18 to 32 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.
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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 ♡