Vegan Gluten-free Sweet Potato Muffins (2024)

• 1 1/4 cups (140g) superfine blanched almond flour (for nut-free, see NOTES at bottom)
• 1/2 cup (80g) potato starch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup (96g) coconut sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (120g) cooked mashed sweet potato
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (20g) vanilla extract
• 1 cup (240g) canned lite coconut milk, shaken well first

SWEET POTATO CARAMEL (makes about 6 tablespoons)

• 1/4 cup (60g) cooked mashed sweet potato
• 1/2 cup (120g) creamy plant-based milk, I used and recommend the malk brand almond milk, it's creamier than traditional watered-down milks and has no added gums or additives OR light coconut milk
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 4 tablespoons (48g) coconut sugar (do not sub with another sugar)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

NOTE

• Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl.
• I use this scale.

• First, cook your sweet potato by placing a large sweet potato (with skin on) on foil and roast for 50-60 minutes at 405 degrees. You want it to be overcooked basically and incredibly juicy and tender, so it mashes very well. Let it cool before preparing the muffins.

• Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C)and line a muffin pan with foil liners. I use Staybrite by Reynolds because they keep muffins really moist and do not stick at all like the paper ones. Add the almond flour (or sunflower), potato starch, baking powder, sea salt, coconut sugar and cinnamon to a large bowl and whisk very well, breaking up any lumps from the starch.

• To a large bowl, add the almond flour (or sunflower), potato starch, baking powder, sea salt, coconut sugar and cinnamon and whisk very well, breaking up any lumps from the starch.

• In a small bowl, peel the sweet potato and mash it very well, so no lumps remain. Measure out 1/2 cup, making sure to fill the cup and then level off with your finger, so there is not excess potato. Add the potato to a small bowl with the vanilla and coconut milk and whisk or blend really well. You want it 100% smooth so there aren't unmixed chunks of potato.

• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until well mixed and thickens some. The batter should be similar to the consistency of cake batter, not thin, but not as thick as traditional muffin batter. However, if you are subbing with oat flour in place of the potato starch, the batter will be thicker. Just gently smooth out the tops.

• Divide the batter between 8-12 muffin liners, depending on how tall you want them to be. Bake for 22 minutes (unless you are baking with the oat flour, which it will be 20 minutes) or when a toothpick comes out with a few dry crumbs still on it (but not wet batter) and it lightly springs back when touched. When the muffins come out, they will still be slightly under-cooked, but will finish cooking over the next 20 minutes. So, do NOT eat them until they have cooled at least 20 minutes. They will then be incredibly soft, light and moist. Drizzle caramel sauce on top following directions below. The muffins are best eaten within 24 hours, as the starch will cause them to start to dry out after a couple of days. I stored mine in the fridge and preferred them that way.

SWEET POTATO CARAMEL

• Add all of the sweet potato caramel ingredients to a food processor and blend until completely smooth, scraping the sides a couple of times during. Taste and add any more sweetener, if desired.

• Add to a small pot over a stove and turn to medium-low heat. Once it starts simmering, stir with a rubber spoon/spatula for a full couple of minutes or more until it thickens up and coats the back of the spoon/spatula. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Note that the caramel will thicken up much more as it cools, so don't worry if it's not as thick as you want while it's still warm. It will thicken up more in the fridge as well. Pour into a container and drizzle muffins when they are ready. This caramel sauce would be insane also on ice cream, pancakes, etc.!

• For nut-free, omit the almond flour and grind 1 cup (145 g) of raw, unsalted sunflower kernels into a fine flour in your food processor for a couple of minutes, being careful not to over process into nut butter. Please note that it does leave a sunflower taste to the muffins.
• For starch-free, sub the potato starch and use oat flour instead, but use 1 cup oat flour (128g) (instead of 1/2 cup of the starch). All the rest of the ingredients remain the same. Please note that the muffins are a bit more dense with the oat flour, but are still moist and delicious.
• Nutrition per muffin: 146.2 calories, 6.9 g fat, 2.6 g protein, 19.8 carbs, 9.2 g sugar
  Nutrition per tablespoon of caramel: 39.6 calories, .8 g fat, .1 g protein, 8 carbs, 6.5 g sugar