These Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins are studded with chocolate chips and are so moist, soft and fluffy. They are healthy, gluten-free, oil-free and just 8 ingredients and made in 1 bowl! So very easy to make!
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VEGAN SWEET POTATO MUFFINS
I really love sweet potatoes. A lot. I love sneaking sweet potatoes in desserts, as can be seen here in a full collection of 12 Vegan Desserts Using Sweet Potatoes. These super soft and fluffy vegan sweet potato muffins are so easy to make and so delicious! My daughter has eaten 6 of them in the past 2 days. Since they are pretty darn nutritious, I don’t mind it one bit. I used less sweetener in these than I typically use, since the sweet potato does add some sweetness. Also, anytime I add chocolate chips, I can get away with using less sweetener.
Just like with a lot of my recipes, I used almond flour in these for moisture to keep them oil-free. Both the sweet potato, almond flour and coconut milk give major moisture and richness in every bite. My recipes with almond flour are typically the most popular, so that is why I love to use it so much. The oat flour gives a healthy dose of fiber. I mean, these are basically breakfast, right? Haha.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN SWEET POTATO MUFFINS
First, you will need to gather these 8 ingredients (+salt):
- blanched superfine almond flour
- oat flour
- baking powder
- orange cooked sweet potato
- plant-based milk (I used and recommend canned lite coconut milk)
- pure maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cook a whole sweet potato either in a microwave or in the oven. I do the microwave because it’s much faster. An oven will take around 45 minutes. Once the sweet potato is squishy soft, it is ready. Let the sweet potato completely cool.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 8 nonstick parchment paper liners.
To a large bowl, add the almond flour, oat flour, baking powder and salt and whisk very well until no lumps remain. Set aside.
Peel and mash the cooled sweet potato and measure out the 5 tablespoons (75g) and add to a food processor or blender (I used my Vitamix). Add the milk, syrup and vanilla extract. Blend until completely smooth and no bits/chunks of sweet potato remain.
Pour the blended mixture over the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until completely smooth and mixed. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, being careful not to overmix too much. Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/3 measuring cup to divide the batter into the 8 liners. The batter will fill up near the tops as you can see, which will result in large tall muffins. Do not divide it into more muffins, it will not overflow.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick is basically clean from the center of a muffin, a few crumbs are ok. The oat flour version was done at 20 minutes but the starch version takes closer to 25. Keep in mind ovens vary, so look for the clean toothpick.
See, gorgeous fluffy muffins.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Just because I’m so good to you and I knew the question would be coming, I have tested a grain-free version for you for those who cannot tolerate oats! You will sub the oat flour for basically half the amount of starch. If you are not gluten-free and want to use regular all-purpose flour, sub the oat flour for the same weight amount. You can sub the oat flour for either all-purpose flour OR wheat pastry flour. Both were tested and work beautifully. For those who cannot have coconut, you can sub with cashew milk. I tested it personally. While the lite coconut milk does make them a bit more moist, rich and fluffy, the cashew milk works. I’d do the coconut milk though if you aren’t allergic. Soy milk will make these too chewy because of the protein content, so I’d probably avoid that one.
OTHER VEGAN MUFFIN RECIPES TO TRY:
- Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Gluten-free Double Chocolate Muffins
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins
- Bakery-Style Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons (75g) cooked, mashed and cooled orange sweet potato (do not use a white one, they are too dry)
- 1 1/4 cups (140g) superfine blanched almond flour (must be superfine or your muffins will be dense)
- 1 cup (128g) fine oat flour (I use Bob's Red Mill, see NOTES at bottom for grain-free)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 cup (180g) room temperature canned lite coconut milk, shaken first OR creamy almond milk or oat milk should work
- 6 tablespoons (120g) pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons (10g) vanilla extract
- 5-6 tablespoons (75-90g) mini semi-sweet dairy-free chocolate chips (the minis spread more throughout the batter)
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl and make sure to zero out in between each ingredient.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- The day before or an hour or so before you want to make the muffins, cook a whole sweet potato either in a microwave or in the oven. I do the microwave because it's much faster. An oven will take around 45 minutes. Once the sweet potato is squishy soft, it is ready. Let the sweet potato completely cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 10+ nonstick parchment paper liners.
- To a large bowl, add the almond flour, oat flour (or starch), baking powder and salt and whisk very well until no lumps remain. Set aside.
- Peel and mash the cooled sweet potato and measure out the 5 tablespoons (75g) and add to a food processor or blender (I used my Vitamix). Add the milk, syrup and vanilla extract. Blend until completely smooth and no bits/chunks of sweet potato remain.
- Pour the blended mixture (make sure to scrape it all out) over the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until completely smooth and mixed. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, being careful not to over-mix too much. The batter will be thick, don't be tempted to add more milk.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/3 measuring cup to divide the batter into the 10 liners. The batter will fill up to the tops, which results in large tall muffins. Do not divide it into more muffins, it won't overflow. Lightly smooth out the tops with the back of a spoon, don't mash it down, as we want to keep the batter light so they rise nicely. Top with extra chocolate chips.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick is clean from the center of a muffin. The oat flour version was done at 22 minutes but the starch version takes closer to 25. Keep in mind ovens vary, so look for the clean toothpick.
- I know it's hard, but you need to let these muffins cool 15-30 minutes, the longer end for the starch version. These muffins continue to cook as they cool, especially starch-based ones. They will be too moist if eaten right away. Store completely cooled muffins in a large ziplock bag or sealed container at room temperature.
Notes
- Make sure the almond flour and oat flour are superfine and not gritty, otherwise your muffins will end up too dense and wet. Gritty almond flours will yield denser muffins, as does oat flour that is not ground fine. This is why I always use store-bought versions for the best, fluffy results.
- If you want to use regular all-purpose flour, sub the oat flour for the same weight amount. Whole wheat pastry flour also works in place of the oat flour. Do not use whole wheat flour, as that will make them too tough. The almond flour cannot be subbed here. It is necessary for both texture and moisture.
- To make this grain-free (oat-free), sub the oat flour for 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (90g) potato starch. It must be potato starch, other starches will yield very dense/chewy results. You can find this at many grocery stores in the flour isle or off Amazon. Make sure you are not getting potato flour, which is very different. If you taste this batter version, it will taste gritty because of the starch, don't fret, the end result is delicious. All remaining ingredients are the same, but this version takes closer to 25 minutes to bake. Look for a clean toothpick. These will dry out quicker by the next day, as do all baked goods with high starch amounts.
- See post under Substitutions for another tested milk version.
Happy birthday to me!! What perfect timing for a new Vegan 8 treat! These muffins truly have a fabulous muffin texture and a scrumptious taste. I LOVE the combo of sweet potato and chocolate! I made them tonight to enjoy for my birthday tomorrow but I just couldn’t wait that long. =D Thanks so much, Brandi! 💜
I saw them on IG and they were perfect Colleen! Happy birthday to you!! You are too sweet to make a recipe of mine on your birthday. So glad you loved these and I hope your birthday was extra special!
I made these using fresh made cashew milk and they are very moist and not too sweet. Thank ahoy for another awesome muffin recipe!
Can I just use wheat flour instead of oat snd almond?
Hi Helia, no, I”m sorry you need the almond flour here for both the moisture and texture purposes. They’d be very different and dry without it. I do have other muffin recipes using wheat flour though here: https://thevegan8.com/2013/02/13/vegan-whole-wheat-chocolate-muffins/
and these use wheat flour and cherries: https://thevegan8.com/2013/01/27/chocolate-chip-cherry-muffins/
These look delicious but being allergic to tree nuts I would have no choice but to substitute and am tempted to try it despite your advice. I’ll let you and any other tree nut allergy folks know if I come up with a decent alternative!
Hi, did you try it without almond flour? Thanks! Johanna
Do you have nutrition info for these? Looking mostly for calorie/sugar content. Thanks!
Hi Brandi,
I made them and they are perfect!
What is the calorie count on theses muffins.
Thank you!
Wonderful, so happy they turned out perfect, yay!
Hello, I personally calculated 203 calories per muffin, following the recipe exactly.
Can’t wait to try! Had a small accident in the kitchen #newknife, so I’m out of the kitchen a few days. I’m wondering if there’s somewhere to buy the superfine flour at discount? I bought a bag of Bob’s Red Mill at the store for your super yummy chocolate ship cookies ~ sooo expensive! Any suggestions? ❤️
Hi Julie! Oh, there are so many other brands out there! Honeyville, Natures Eats, King Arthur, Wellbees, Costco has a blanched almond flour that is good I’ve heard, also the HEB brand if you are in Texas is pretty good. Also, bob’s red mill superfine almond flour is cheaper at Target if you can find it there.
Great! Thanks Brandi. I didn’t know if other brands had superfine like Bob’s.
I get a superfine almond flour from Costco, if you have one near you and have a membership, it’s worth checking as their price for the amount is very good. (I don’t remember the price, but remember thinking “wow”)
Brandi, you have another winner here! These are easy to make, have simple ingredients and are delicious! What a great snack! Thank you! Keep them coming!
So awesome to hear Lori, thank you so much for making them!
These were absolutely amazing, decadent even. Very moist and rich but not too sweet. The texture is perfect and you can barely detect the sweet potato, just enough to let you know they’re special.
Oh Stephanie, what a lovely review! You described these muffins just perfectly! Thank you so much!
I should have waited util today to review…my husband just had one and said “Crap, these are perfect!” Lol
Hi,
I made these yesterday and they were a huge hit! I had reduced the maple syrup by 40 gr and added 40 gr of water instead and it still turned out perfect. The sweet potato added beautiful colour and definitely some moistness!! I do wish I could have gotten more muffins out of the recipe as almond flour is quite expensive.
Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful! So glad you loved these Deanne!! Just double the recipe next time! Also, see my note above to Julie, there are lots of brands out there at varying costs 😊
These were amazing muffins
So glad to hear that Ann, thank you!
These are so yummy! I had some homemade ‘Nutella’ to use up so I added a wee blob in the middle of each muffin before baking, and wow!
Oh that sounds sooooo good Phoebe!!
Hello! I always have great success with your recipes! I’m wondering if this recipe would be okay to double.
Hi Melinda, yes, definitely! Just use a scale and you are good to go!
Seeing as we always have sweet potatoes on hand and the other ingredients are staples as well, I knew we had to make these ASAP! Omg! They are heavenly!!! So moist, flavorful and not overly sweet…they’re perfect! We had them as a snack this afternoon and we had to share a couple with our neighbor because we knew she would love them too! I love the healthy, wholesome ingredients and how easy these were to make…Willow pretty much made them by herself 🙂 I’m positive that more chocolate chips found their way into the batter than called for! Definitely making these again! Fantastic recipe, my friend ❤️ xo
Oh yay my friend, thank you so very much for making them!! Haha, that sneaky little Willow! Sounds just like Olivia and her obsession with chocolate chips, lol! I’m so happy y’all loved them, thank you so much for making them!
I just made these muffins for the second time. I absolutely love them!!! This time, I subbed golden monkfruit for the maple syrup and Lily’s stevia sweetened chocolate chips and they turned out perfect! They are perfectly moist and not too sweet (which is good for someone who hasn’t had sugar in over a year). Thank you so much for this amazing muffin recipe!!! This one will definitely be in my regular rotation!
I’m so glad to hear that Samantha!! Great to hear about those subs working too, thank you so much for sharing!
I made these last night, and they came out absolutely perfect! Fluffy and soft, moist, and just the right sweetness! I can’t get enough of your recipes! Thanks for all that you do. 🙂
I’m so thrilled you loved them Penny, thank you so much for making them! They looked perfect on IG too!
I’ve already made them again, no surprise there! I usually end up making your recipes two days in a row lol
Hi!
Can I make these into mini muffins just reducing the time in the oven?
Thanks!
Johanna
Sure, I don’t see why not!
Thanks for replying! I will try with a few and let you guys know 🙂
The mini cupcakes worked out perfectly! I will make it to bring for my kiddos birthday celebration at school!
I LOVE this recipe, thank you so much!
Wonderful Johanna, so glad to hear that!
Hi again!
Can you freeze these mini-muffins?
Thanks!
Johanna
I never freeze my muffin recipes since we go through them quickly, so I really don’t know! You can always try and see!
I freeze them and they’re almost as good as the day I make them. Hope that helps.
Finally got around to making these beauts! Brandi you always have some kind of magic goodness up your sleeve and these are scrumptiously phenomenal! Sweet but not overly sweet, moist & fluffy without the heavy brick feeling and seriously easy to make (if you pre cook the sweet potato😊) I managed to get 12 muffins and they cooked up beautifully. Next time I will use the smaller #dairyfree chocolate chips, I feel smaller one would allow the chocolate goodness to spread out in each bite!
Thank you Tami! So glad you loved these so much! Yes, that is what is pictured, the mini size chocolate chips. I feel they work best here as well since the muffins themselves are not overly sweet!
I just made these for breakfast with coffee, OMG…absolutely delicious!!! 🙂
I will make these for my family this weekend, they think I only eat twigs and seeds…hashanah.
You have turned me into a Baker! No oil is what I am following now to get my LDL levels down and menopauseal weight gain, under control.
You have made me a VERY Happy Lady!!!
Can I substitute Japanese sweet potato?
I’ve never tried it but you can always try it! I just don’t know if it will affect the taste or texture.
GAAAHHH!!! 😲 These SWEET POTATO MUFFINS are the BOMB!!! 💣💥😃 So incredibly moist and fluffy! 🙆☁ What on earth took me so long to make them?!? 😍😍😍 Per recipe notes, I subbed WW Pastry flour for the oat flour. The only downside is that the recipe only makes 8 muffins. Then again, maybe that’s good because these things are addictive! 😲😀😄
Everything I’ve ever made from this blog (and the cookbook) has been nothing short of phenomenal! These muffins are one of my favorites, having made them at least 5 times. They are light, fluffy, and moist, all while being vegan, gluten free, oil free, and naturally sweetened. The flavor is amazing; who would have thought that sweet potato muffins could be so divine!
Thank you Alyson for the amazing review!!