Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping is an easy muffin recipe that is perfect for fall baking. These moist sweet potato muffins are a must for your holiday breakfast or brunch!
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I was excited to experiment with mashed sweet potatoes in a muffin recipe. Roasting them in the oven brings out the natural sweetness so it isn’t necessary for lots of sugar. Also the moisture of the sweet potato keeps the muffin extremely moist without the need for lots of butter or oil.
I really love the flavor of these sweet potato muffins and don’t think that pumpkin purée would be interchangeable. I have a recipe for Healthier Pumpkin Walnut Bread and Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Muffins using canned pumpkin. The taste is similar but pumpkin isn’t as sweet. If you do not have time to roast a sweet potato then you can use pumpkin, however I would definitely add additional maple syrup to sweeten it more.
INGREDIENTS needed and SUBSTITUTIONS
Muffins:
- mashed sweet potato
- pure maple syrup (honey will work)
- Greek yogurt (I used whole milk but fat free or 2% will work, calorie count will change slightly)
- avocado oil (olive oil or coconut oil will work, flavor may change slightly)
- vanilla extract
- milk (I used unsweetened almond but you could use any milk, calorie count will change)
- oat flour *see notes
- whole wheat flour
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- cinnamon
Toppings:
- butter
- brown sugar
- flour
- pecans
- cinnamon
Are Sweet Potato Muffins Healthy?
I love these muffins because they are so moist and sweet with very little butter or sugar. Roasting the sweet potato in the oven brings out the natural sweetness in the potato. I add a small amount of pure maple syrup (which is not the same as pancake syrup) to sweeten the muffin. Then I added a little avocado oil and Greek yogurt which made these muffins extremely moist! Of course for the topping I did use butter and brown sugar, but only very small amounts! These Sweet Potato Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping looks like it came from a bakery with a fraction of the calories!
How to make sweet potato Muffins?
To make a sweet potato muffin you need baked sweet potatoes. I prefer baking because it brings out a sweetness to the potatoes that I do not get from boiling. You can use leftover sweet potatoes from your dinner the night before or plan to bake before making muffins.
Mash sweet potatoes and add the remaining wet ingredients. I just used a fork to mash and mixed everything well with a whisk. Next add dry ingredients in a separate bowl mixing thoroughly and forming a well in the center of the bowl. Pour wet ingredients into well and mix together using a spatula.
Portion batter evenly into prepared muffin tin. And top with streusel topping, lightly pressing into the muffin batter. As you can see I did not put the pecan streusel on top of all of the muffins because I have someone in my house with a nut allergy. The streusel is optional or you could omit the nuts and just make with butter, flour and brown sugar. 
Can you freeze muffins?
You can definitely bake ahead and freeze these muffins, however I would omit the pecan streusel topping. When the muffins are finished baking remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before freezing. I like to individually wrap in plastic wrap first and then add all of the muffins to an airtight container. They will freeze well for 1-2 months.
Looking for other delicious muffin recipes? Try these!
Cranberry Orange Muffins with Greek Yogurt
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Sweet Potato Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
Dry Ingredients
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Pecan Streusel Topping
- 1 tablespoon softened butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons pecans, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.
- Mix all wet ingredients, mashed sweet potato through almond milk in a medium sized bowl. Mix thoroughly but small pieces of sweet potato is ok. Set aside.
- In another large bowl add all dry ingredients oat flour through cinnamon. Stir well and form a well in the bottom of the bowl.
- Pour wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a spatula until incorporated and no white streaks of flour remain.
- Using a spoon drop batter into prepared muffin tin.
Pecan Streusel Topping
- In a small bowl add flour, brown sugar cinnamon and softened butter. Use a fork to cut butter into brown sugar mixture. Mixture will form small crumbly pieces. Mix in pecans.
- Sprinkle a small spoonful over the tops of the muffin batter and gently press in.
- Bake muffins for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick test comes out clean.
Related Posts:
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Healthy Banana Oat Muffins
Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Muffins
I want to try these!! They look and sound so good!!
Thanks Catherine! I think you will love them.