Sweet Potato Muffins Recipe
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Sep. 30, 2025
These Sweet Potato Muffins are healthy, moist, and delicious. The crunchy topping is out of this world. You have to make them to believe it.
Sweet Potato Muffins
I came across a recipe I’ve kept for years in my collection of foods I want to bake. The recipe features sweet potatoes instead of pumpkins, and I knew I’d have to give it a go. It’s hard to put into words how delicious these sweet potato muffins are.
Years ago, when I first saw “sweet potato muffin” as the title, I was intrigued but uncertain. Of course I couldn’t let it go, because I’m always looking for ways to incorporate healthy stuff into treats that everyone will eat. I decided to make muffins instead of the loaf, because muffins just have greater curb appeal.
I’m sooo glad I gave these a shot, because…get this…I am about to make my 3rd batch in 1 week. That’s right. The first batch was for the entire family. The second batch I made for the girls in my women’s group. The third batch is because Hubby and I didn’t get enough of them for ourselves.
It’s exactly what happened with these Honey Cornbread Muffins – you don’t know what you’re missing until you’ve tasted it.
I haven’t even told my kids that these are made out of sweet potatoes. The kid who isn’t on board with sweet potatoes ate three entire muffins in one sitting. And I didn’t struggle with one ounce of guilt because they’re healthier.
If you like that idea, you’ll love these Superhero Apple Zucchini Carrot Muffins that pack a huge nutrition punch while tasting so good, people gobble them up.
It’s not very obvious that these muffins feature sweet potatoes at first bite, despite the hefty amount of sweet potatoes in them. You would probably guess there is something rustic (like pumpkin) in them, but it’s hard to pinpoint what it is unless someone lets the potatoes out of the bag. 😉
People only know they love these muffins.
Crunchy Crumb Topping
These are some of the softest, moistest, tenderest muffins to be had. I lessened the amount of sugar so that they weren’t over-the-top-sweet. I even subbed out half of the regular flour for whole wheat and added ground flax to boot.
Absolutely moist and delicious. I decided to make a crispy crumb topping out of brown sugar and pecans, which makes the muffins extra special. A cream cheese drizzle would be fabulous, too. But honestly, you don’t even need any topping… these muffins are so tender and tasty all by themselves.
If your loved ones don’t usually go ga-ga over sweet potatoes, try these muffins. They’ll eat these. Or make it easier and bake it into a loaf and put crumb topping on top of the loaf. They’ll eat that too. I won’t tell if you won’t 🙂
Sweet Potato Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed meal
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 large sweet potato, yields 1 cup mashed
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Crumb Topping
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
- ¼ cup pecans, roasted and chopped
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
Optional Simple Glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk, to desired consistency
Instructions
- Wash and dry sweet potato. Wrap well in foil and roast in oven or toaster oven for 60-75 minutes at 400F. It should be quite soft and easily pricked by a fork. Once cool, peel and mash sweet potato – yields roughly 1 cup.
- Mix topping ingredients together with fork or fingers, until it is a crumbly mixture. Wrap airtight and place in fridge until ready to use. This can also be done ahead of time.
- Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl, combine flour, flax, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In another large bowl, combine eggs, sugars, sweet potato, oil, vanilla, and water.
- Gently fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, just until completely moistened. Do not over stir.
- Spoon batter into lined muffin pan, filling to the tops. Sprinkle crumb topping generously over muffins. Bake for 19-21 min, or until toothpick inserted in centers emerges almost clean. Carefully test to make sure muffins are not over baked.
- Cool muffins in pan about 15 minutes before remove onto wire rack to cool completely. If desired, combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled muffins.
Notes
- I sometimes sub out 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, for extra nutrients, fiber, and earthier flavors.
- Ground flaxseed meal helps muffins retain moisture, giving them a rich, tender crumb. You can use applesauce or mashed banana in place of ground flax seed meal, though there may be a slight difference in texture.
- If you want to make a bread loaf instead of muffins, just pour batter into a greased/floured 9×5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle topping over loaf. Bake at 350F for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick shows a few tender crumbs.