Moist Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Muffins [Recipe]

This recipe for sweet potato muffins is a family favorite. They pair perfectly with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk, and they make the best moist, homemade muffin to bring on the go when you’re out, or to eat as a snack when you’re in.

Say hello to my guest on the blog today: My sister Tabithah! These pictures were taken a good while ago, but she’s still a buddy, and she and I still like to bake together. So, here she is, looking sweet and little:

How to make sweet potato chocolate chip muffins

Making muffins with sweet potatoes is one of the best ways to make moist, delicious muffins. This is one of those easy muffin recipes that I think you will want to make over and over again!

Ingredients

Here’s a few notes on the key ingredients for making sweet potato chocolate chip muffins!

Eggs

Recipes that call for eggs should always be made with large eggs (when possible). Muffins are fairly forgiving, however, so if you need to make these with another size of egg, that’s ok – just maybe use 1 or 2 additional eggs if you’re working with small eggs.

Sugar

​This recipe calls for brown sugar, which is basically just white sugar with molasses added to it. 

Oil

You can make your sweet potato muffins with any type of cooking oil, but to keep things simple, I’ve recommended vegetable oil.

​Sweet potato puree

These muffins are made moist and delicious with sweet potato puree, which also gives them a beautiful color. 

Water

Water is used in this recipe for one simple reason: making sure that the batter is not too thick. You could easily use milk or nut milk for this purpose as well, however, since water works great– why spend the extra dollars?

Chocolate 

I like to use good quality semi sweet chocolate chips for this recipe. Make sure to use real chocolate (no melting or coating wafers, please)– These muffins need the real deal!

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is an optional ingredient, but I think it adds so much to this recipe. I would not recommend skipping this unless you need to!

Raising agents and salt

This recipe calls for baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The salt is meant to balance the natural sweetness of the sweet potato, sugar, and chocolate, and the raising agents turn these muffins into the fluffy, moist muffins that they are!

​Ingredient substitutes

You can substitute several of the ingredients in these sweet potato chocolate chip muffins with great success! 

Eggs

Eggs can be substituted in this recipe for flax eggs. You can check out my friend Trina’s blog for a perfect recipe, Here.

Brown sugar

The brown sugar can be substituted for maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, or white sugar. If you’re using a liquid sweetener (like maple syrup), omit the water in the muffin recipe.

Oil

​Try using olive oil, coconut oil, or melted butter in place of the vegetable oil in this recipe. Coconut oil or butter are my top pick, but olive oil works perfectly as well.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potato can be substituted for pumpkin puree or butternut squash puree.

Chocolate

You can substitute the chocolate in this recipe for your favorite nuts or cacao nibs to make these muffins a little more crunchy and less sugary!

​Instructions

Here’s the breakdown of how to make what is quite possible my favorite muffin recipe!

Heat the oven

Preheat the oven 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Make the batter

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and whisk in the brown sugar until combined. Add the oil, sweet potato, and water, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Sift together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; add to the wet mixture, mixing with a large spoon or spatula until just moistened and combined (do not over-mix).

Fill the muffin cups

Scoop the batter (about 1/3 cup per muffin) into prepared muffin tins (I like to use a silicone pan, but you can also grease regular muffin tins, or for easy cleanup, use muffin tins with paper liners.

Bake

Bake for 18-25 minutes (the type of pan you use will affect baking time) or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Check a couple the largest looking muffins to make sure they are all done.)

Cool

Allow the muffins to sit in the pan 5-10 minutes (10-15 minutes for silicone pans), and remove to cool on wire racks. 

Recipe tips

There are a few things, when it comes to making muffins, that are helpful to keep in mind. 

Follow the recipe

​While it’s true that you can make substitutions, in general, you do want to follow the recipe (especially for baking)! The more you stray off of the recipe card, the more likely you are to run into problems with your finished muffins… and trust me, you will want to be able to enjoy these!

Do not overmix

Over-mixing muffin batter activates the gluten in the flour and can make your muffins extremely “gummy” in texture, which is not the moist, fluffy texture you are looking for. To avoid tough muffins, most muffin recipes tell you to measure the dry ingredients into one bowl and the wet ingredients into another, making a well in the flour mixture to which you can add the moist ingredients, and mixing until they are just combined.

I’ll be honest, I like to avoid extra dishes, and for these muffins, I always find good success by mixing everything in the same bowl (as per the recipe instructions). That said, do not over-mix the muffins. Once the flour is incorporated, stop stirring, and get to scooping out the batter. 

​Bake until just done

Always bake your muffins for the shorter amount of time recommend, checking them with a toothpick to see if they are done. You can always add extra time to an underbaked muffin, but over baked muffins are going to be dry and possibly burned! 

​If you insert a toothpick into the center of the largest muffin, it should come out clean (maybe with some crumbs and melted chocolate on it) if it is done. Muffin batter on the toothpick means you need an additional 3-5 minutes in the oven.

Store extra muffins in the freezer

I like to make a large batch of these muffins and throw the extras in the freezer. The freeze perfectly well, and can be kept for months!

Muffin pans vs. silicone muffin cups

I have baked my muffins in both a traditional metal muffin pan and a silicone muffin pan. Both are fantastic, although the silicone ones (as used in this post) are nice in that they don’t require muffin liners, and the muffins pop out easily and cleanly. 

If you are using a silicone pan for these muffins, please note that they make take an extra 3-5 minutes to bake.

How to make sweet potato puree

You can make your own sweet potato puree by washing and covering sweet potatoes with water in a pot, bringing the water to a boil, and cooking them until a knife slides in easily and the sweet potatoes are soft. Once this is done, drain the water off and allow the sweet potatoes to cool. Peel the sweet potatoes, and puree the flesh in a large blender or food processor until smooth.

Alternatively, you can just use a pastry cutter or potato masher to mash the sweet potatoes into a smooth paste.

​Storage

Store these muffins in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 2-3 days, or in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

You will need:

• Ingredients (see recipe card)
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Muffin tins (silicone or regular)
• Tulip liners (or other muffin liners)
• A large spoon or cookie scoop, for dividing the batter
• Cooling rack

Pictured: The cute blonde in plaid: my youngest sister Tabithah // The girl eating a muffin in the background: my sister Micaiah // The feet: Me // The hand: Me

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

• Banana Bran Muffins
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
• ​Rhubarb Sour Cream Muffins
• Dairy Free Cranberry Bran Muffins

That’s all for today! If you like this recipe, feel free to leave a comment or tag me in your beautiful photos on Instagram @naomicakesofficial. I’d love to see that you’ve been enjoying this recipe!

Bye for now, and back soon! 

Naomi

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