These sweet potato muffins are extremely moist, packed with nutrients, and DELICIOUS!

If you're looking for a muffin recipe that's nutritious and requires less sugar than most other muffin recipes, this is the one for you! Because of the natural sweetness of the potatoes, you don't need a ton of sugar to make these muffins flavorful. The sweet potatoes also give this recipe a really moist texture.
Freezer friendly muffins:
Whenever I make sweet potato muffins, I leave a few out to eat right away, and put the rest into the freezer after they've cooled. All it takes is a few seconds in the microwave, and they'll taste just as good as they did out of the oven.
Related recipe: Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Are yams and sweet potatoes the same thing?
They are similar, but not the same. It can get confusing because yams are often incorrectly labeled in stores, in recipes, and even on cans.
Yam vs. sweet potato
While you may see sweet potatoes incorrectly labeled as yams (especially in the south), true yams are actually pretty rare in the United States.
Yams are characterized by a lighter flesh and a darker skin with a rough texture. Since yams are also starchier than sweet potatoes, you’ll want to be sure to use sweet potatoes for this recipe.
There are many varieties of sweet potatoes in available in the U.S., and they come in all different colors. For this recipe, I look for a sweet potato with tapered ends and a bright orange flesh.

Related recipe: Small Batch Cinnamon Pancakes
Make ahead tip:
I recommend cooking the sweet potatoes a day ahead or a few hours ahead of when you want to make the sweet potato muffins. This will allow them time to cool and also make them easier to peel.

More breakfast recipes to try: Baguette French Toast Bites
How many sweet potatoes to use:
I used 3 very large sweet potatoes and they equaled about 3 cups of mashed potato. So if you are buying small-medium potatoes, I'd recommend using approximately 5-6.
You can always use the leftover potato to make smoothies, pancakes, or anything else you like!
Try the topping!
If you think flaxseed is something only crazy health-nut types enjoy, I challenge you to sprinkle some on top of these muffins before baking. It's delicious, and adds a nutritional boost.

If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!

Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups of mashed sweet potato see below for instructions
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup ground flaxseed meal optional
Instructions
- To prep the sweet potatoes (this can be done a day or so ahead if you want to break up the muffin-making process): Pierce the potatoes with a fork and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, or until the inside is soft when poked with a fork. Remove and let cool. When the potatoes are cool, peel off the skin and mash the sweet potato filling with a fork or masher until any big lumps are gone. Measure out 3 cups worth of filling.
- To make the muffins: In a large bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then add the sweet potato.
- Pour into muffin tins/cups. If using flaxseed, sprinkle on top of the muffins. Bake at 325 for approximately 30 minutes.
Evan
Tuesday 6th of June 2023
These were fantastic!! So moist and delicious!! Thank you!
Autumn
Friday 26th of May 2023
I tried these and they were great! I added pecans to my mix and that was lovely. Great recipe 🧡
Ruth
Wednesday 17th of May 2023
Tara can I sub pumpkin and use honey or half of sugar??
Kate
Monday 22nd of May 2023
Give it a try! I believe pumpkin is generally just a little bit more water than sweet potatoes, so you might need an extra tablespoon of flour (maybe), especially if using honey instead of sugar or using less sugar. And yes, you can use half the sugar, they muffins will just be less sweet. Let me know how it works out!
mark
Sunday 23rd of April 2023
Somethong is off here on this page. i cannot find a single bad review. I tried this exact recipe, after 30 minutes i cut one open and it was exactly like mashed potatoes/ I baked an additional 20 minutes and they are pretty much like a muffin shapped ball of mashed sweet potato. is it 350? is it 30 minutes? is it regular size not mini? Does not resemble pictures, in pic it looks like bread texture. in real life its mashed sweet potatoes in a muffin cup. I baked a few for a total 1 hour still no improvement. wierd???
Kate
Monday 22nd of May 2023
That is really weird, I'm so sorry to hear that! I've never had a problem with this recipe. If that happened to me, I would definitely be double checking that I got all the ingredient ratios right. Was there enough flour??
Hind
Thursday 20th of April 2023
Great. Is it possible to substitute the sugar with dates or honey?
Kate
Monday 22nd of May 2023
You can substitute with honey, your muffins might just turn out more moist (or add a tablespoon or two of extra flour). As far as dates... I am not sure, I have never used them to substitute for sugar. But chopped dates would be delicious added to these muffins.