These vegan sweet potato muffins are perfect as a breakfast, brunch or supper treat! Easy and delicious, and can be gluten free.
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Spiced Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins
These spiced vegan sweet potato muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch or a supper time treat. They’re fuss free and easy enough to whip up in the morning when you’re not yet fully awake. They’re a variation on my fail-safe basic muffin formula that uses equal weights of wet and dry ingredients.
As always with muffins, remember that the batter should be lumpy; it will sort itself out as it cooks. If you over mix it, the muffins will be tough and have tunnels in the dough. I gently fold the ingredients together, with no more than 15 folds. This recipe makes 6 regular-sized muffins, or 12 fairy cakes. Reduce the cooking time if making smaller muffins.
Why Add Vinegar?
Two reasons:-
First, adding vinegar to the plant milk causes it to turn to buttermilk, which helps the muffins rise and adds flavour, lightness and a fine crumb.
Secondly the bicarbonate of soda reacts with the vinegar and helps to give the muffins some extra lift. This is why you need to bake as soon as you have mixed the batter.
The reaction between the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda starts as soon as the wet and dry ingredients meet. They react to produce bubbles of carbon dioxide, giving the batter its mousse-like texture. This makes for a light and fluffy muffin.
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins
First things first: switch the oven on to warm up and gather all your ingredients so that you don’t find that something is missing when you have already started work!
Step 1 – Cook a medium-sized sweet potato until soft, then peel and mash. I find the easiest way to do this is to pop the potato in the microwave and cook until soft. Then I mash it with a fork on a chopping board.
Don’t throw any spare sweet potato away. You can throw the skins into soup, or we feed ours to Herbert, the miniature wire-haired dachshund!
Step 2 – Pour the milk into a bowl and add the vinegar. Stir and wait for it to curdle. Measure out all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and the oil into a separate bowl.
Step 3 – Add the mashed sweet potato to the dry ingredients and mix everything together using the fork to get rid of any large lumps.
Step 4 – Add the curdled soy milk and oil, and gently mix. This should take no more than 15 folds. You want a batter that is lumpy. The vinegar will react with the bicarb and the batter will have a spongy texture.
Step 5 – Line a muffin pan with cases and divide the mixture equally between them. Sprinkle over some rolled oats before baking for 25 minutes.
Hints & Tips
- This recipe makes 6 regular sized sweet potato muffins, or 12 fairy cake sized ones. Reduce the cooking time if making smaller muffins. The nutritional information provided is for a regular muffin (one sixth of the batter).
- The batter should be lumpy and will sort itself out as it cooks. If you over mix, the muffins will be tough and have tunnels in the dough.
- Bake as soon as you mix the batter, as the reaction between the vinegar and bicarb creates bubbles to give a lighter muffin.
Variations
When adjusting a recipe, it is best to switch one thing at a time. This sweet potato muffin recipe is fairly forgiving but it’s still best to stick to this rule. Here are a few ideas:
- Flour – I used plain flour but you can use different flour or a mixture. If using self-raising flour, leave the baking powder out. Gluten-free flour is fine. Replacing some, or all of the flour with spelt flour will give a slightly nutty muffin with a cakier texture.
- Sugar – A less refined brown sugar tastes better and pairs well with the spices. I use a mixture of super fine (caster) white and a dark brown muscovado. To get rid of lumps in unrefined brown sugars, rub them between your fingers. A few small lumps will give you delicious little caramelised pockets of sugar in the muffins, so don’t worry about getting rid of every lump. HOWEVER, you need to break up those big lumps before you add the liquid.
- Milk – I use homemade unsweetened soy milk. (See my post on how to make soy milk in a soup maker.) Any milk (plant or dairy) will work in these muffins. Use what you have.
- Oil – Most cooking oils will work. I tend to use sunflower, but any lightly-flavoured oil can be substituted: rapeseed/canola, light olive or corn oil. Coconut oil will work but will change the flavour.
- Spices – This recipe uses a traditional mix of ground allspice and cinnamon, but vary it with your favourites – how about cloves, nutmeg, or a hint of ginger?
- Toppings – I’ve topped these muffins with a few rolled oats, but I could have used lightly-crushed walnuts or a sprinkle of sliced almonds. Alternatively, use a little granola for the crunch.
Vegan Spiced Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 150 g sweet potato (cooked and mashed)
- 180 g plain flour
- 60 g sugar (half caster, half muscovado)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1 handful rolled oats (for the topping)
Wet Ingredients
- 180 ml soy milk
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 60 ml vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to GM5/190°C/375°F.
- Measure the milk into a bowl and stir in the vinegar. The milk will curdle and thicken.
- Cook your sweet potato. I usually pop it in the microwave for 5–6 minutes until soft. Discard the peel. Then mash the flesh using a fork on a chopping board.
- Weigh all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the sweet potato and mix well.
- Pour the milk mixture and oil into the dry ingredients and briefly mix until combined. You should have a lumpy, uneven batter. Do not fold the mixture more than 15 times.
- Pour into a prepared muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes until risen and golden. If you are making fairy cake sized muffins, check after 15 minutes as you will need to reduce the baking time.
Notes
Hints & Tips
- This recipe makes 6 regular sized muffins or 12 fairy cake sized muffins. Reduce the cooking time if making smaller muffins. The nutritional information provided is for a regular muffin (one sixth of the batter).
- The batter should be lumpy and will sort itself out as it cooks. If you over mix, the muffins will be tough and have tunnels running through them.
- Bake as soon as you mix the batter, as the reaction between the vinegar and bicarb creates bubbles to give a lighter muffin.
- This recipe is 11 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion.
Variations
When adjusting a recipe, it is best to switch one thing at a time. This muffin recipe is fairly forgiving but it’s still best to stick to this rule. Here are a few ideas:- Flour – If you use self-raising flour, leave the baking powder out. Gluten-free flour is fine. Spelt flour will give a slightly nutty muffin with a cake-like texture.
- Sugar – A less refined brown sugar will taste better and pair well with the spices. I use a mixture of super fine (caster) white and a dark brown muscovado. Rub lumps of unrefined sugar between your fingers to break them down before adding liquid.
- Milk – Any milk (plant or dairy) will work in these muffins.
- Oil – Any fairly neutral flavoured cooking oil will work. Coconut oil will work but will change the flavour.
- Spices – This recipe uses a traditional mix of ground allspice and cinnamon, but other combinations are well worth trying. How about including nutmeg, ginger or even a hint of ground cloves?
- Toppings – I’ve topped these muffins with a few rolled oats, but I could have used lightly-crushed walnuts or a sprinkle of sliced almonds. Alternatively, use a little granola for the crunch.
Recipe for vegan spiced sweet potato muffins first published November 2009. Updated with recipe tweaks and new images September 2018.
the caked crusader
These look lovely – a nice spiced muffin – what could be a better way to start a drab Sunday?
Arwen from Hoglet K
I haven’t tried eggless muffins, but the mashed sweet potato would be great for keeping them together. Spicy muffins with pockets of sugar sound lovely!
kathryn
Lovely recipe Helen. I really like the idea of spicy sweet potato mixed into the muffins. And that you’ve come up with a muffin formula that both works and gives you plenty of flexibility. Good one.
Kelly Watson
I love the idea of freshly baked homemade muffins for breakfast. A great simple recipe and really doable.
Lottie
I’m so glad I have found a reliable muffin recipe. It seems the more I have tried, the more I have failed. I think my problem is over mixing, which I thought was a good idea.
Penny
I really like that these are vegan, as two of our family have now gone animal free. It can be quite difficult to find suitable ideas. These will go down a treat.
Ellie D
These sound delicious Helen. I have an abundance of squash from the garden, I may well try this out with some. I do love your easy to follow instructions, life saver.
Ferne L
Warm muffins on a miserable day must be the perfect go to breakfast. So easy to adapt and great that they are store cupboard ingredients.
Tom H
I have a history with making mistakes with muffins, I’m obviously doing something horribly wrong. I’m going to make a point of following your guidelines carefully and fingers crossed, they will be edible.
H Bennet
Sweet and spicy sounds like a delicious combination. This is a really useful recipe to bookmark, thanks.
Evelyn Welsh
Homemade muffins are so so yummy. These sound amazing, I love the unusual combination of ingredients. So many different ways you can adapt, and all so delicious.
Gary H
We have muffin making sessions in our house, and make whatever is handy. Last week we had an abundance of blueberries and raspberries. Spiced sweet potato sounds really great. Have to give them a try.
Zara Douglas
You do make me hungry Helen, these sound amazing. Little pockets of sugar, spicy and lovely flavours. Just perfect.
Indie Punton
My husband and I have been following a vegan diet since January. We thought it was going to be difficult, but I’m finding more and more delicious recipes to add to our list. I’m certainly going to try these out.
Dan
Muffins are a great weekend breakfast idea. You sound like an expert now, I’m still finding some batches are a little off. Practice makes perfect.
beverley
Now the weather is cooling off a little, I’m finding I am craving more comfort foods. These sound perfect and just what you need for a delicious breakfast.
Olivia
What a fab idea to use sweet potato. I would never have thought of it myself. They sound really delicious.
Anthony
A great muffin recipe, so easy to adapt and change to tastes.
Denise
These sound perfect for a nice warming treat, with delicious flavours. Got to try these out.
Shane M
I do like a good muffin and these would not disappoint. Great recipe and definitely one to bookmark. Thank you.
Allison Peters
I wish I had the get up and go to make fresh muffins on a Sunday morning, that would be so lovely. I’m probably just lazy as these sound so easy to make, and really yummy.
Charlotte
So nice to have the added sweet potato, and the spices must make these so delicious. A great breakfast idea.
ella joyce
I like finding recipes that are suitable for making with the kids. Muffins are always a good option. They would love making these, and I would love eating them.
Isaac Tucker
Muffins are an easy home bake and always get my approval. A tasty recipe with a slightly different touch, to give a tasty end result.
Leah Rose
I wasn’t sure about adding a vegetable to a breakfast muffin, but I have to admit they do look totally delicious.
Megan P
I’m not a fan of sickly sweet muffins, or too much chocolate, so these are ideal for me. Spicy and full of flavour. Definitely going to make some.
melanie
i’m not a great baker but wonder if banana could be used here to remove the sugar content?
Helen
Hi Melanie, ordinarily you could but I think that with the mashed sweet potato it might just make it all too heavy
melanie
thank you
Alison
Is the sweet potato weighed before or after cooking it please?
Helen
Hi Alison, it doesn’t really matter as the recipe is very forgiving and you can go 10% over or under with no effect at all.