Spiced Sweet Potato Molasses Muffins
I feel like I’m nesting! After the most stressful farm season of our lives I’ve been spending almost every waking hour curled by the wood stove drinking tea and reading or standing in the kitchen preparing food. It’s an interesting feeling to go from 100 miles an hour to “off season” mode in what feels like the blink of an eye. However, I’m trying to embrace this (very short) time when the farm isn’t as demanding and I can get my creative juices flowing in the kitchen. Enter these muffins! These are a great morning treat and while they’re packed with wholesome ingredients like sweet potato, molasses (yay for iron!) whole wheat flour and warming spices, they feel more like dessert and less like a hearty breakfast item. I went the extra mile and smothered these muffins in a (spoon worthy) maple-cashew cream frosting. These are great muffins to have on rotation during the winter and are husband and next-door neighbor approved!
The extra maple cashew cream frosting (you’ll have a little leftover) tastes great spread on toast or used as a dip for sliced apples and pears. I’ve even sliced open a few dates and dolloped them with a little of this frosting. It’s amazing and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of uses for it aside from smothering on muffins or cupcakes!
Pour a cup of coffee, whip up a batch of these muffins and enjoy spending some quality time in your kitchen this December.
Cheers from Tumbleweed Farm.
Spiced Sweet Potato Molasses Muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Serves: 12 muffins
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1- inch cubes
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup walnut oil (or another neatural tasting light oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup almond milk
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
- In a large saucepan cover the sliced potatoes to cover them by at least 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and place them in a food processor and process until completely smooth and creamy. Measure out 1 cup of puree and set it aside (save any leftover puree for another use).
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
- In a smaller bowl vigorously whisk together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes (this will create a dairy free buttermilk). Whisk in the eggs, freshly grated ginger, maple syrup, molasses, oil, vanilla extract and sweet potato puree. Mix until everything is well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin, about 20-22 minutes.
- While the muffins bake prepare the frosting. Drain the soaked cashews and place them in the bowl of a food processor with the remainder of the ingredients and process until completely smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the processor as needed. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before gently removing them to a wire rack to completely cool before adding the cashew cream.
Notes
*Store any leftover cashew cream in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 day *Keep muffins at room temperature covered for 3 days
Enjoy your nesting, resting and tea time…you provide warmth to our heart and souls with your creative recipes…whether we follow through and make them or not the images you nourish our souls and the beautiful photos are a feast for the eyes! (from the Portland metro area)
I like your new format, Andrea !
Thank you! xo
Could I bake the batter in a loaf tin, you think? New website is fab. Congrats!
I haven’t tried these in a loaf pan so I’m not sure how they’ll differ. But I don’t see why they wouldn’t turn out–obviously the cooking time will be longer so keep a close eye. Let me know how it turns out if you make it into a loaf!
Can’t wait to try these! Would these muffins be good with winter squash or pumpkin ?
absolutely! Let me know how they turn out!
These muffins look so cozy! It must be so nice to have more time to be creative in the kitchen. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! 🙂
I just made these muffins and my kitchen smells sooooo good!
I’m so happy you loved them!
Hey, this looks awesome! I wonder if it would work if I replaced the eggs with flax seed eggs? Thank you in advance
Hi there! I haven’t tried this recipe with a flax egg so I can’t guarantee the results but it seems worth a try! Let me know if you do make them and if the flax egg works! Happy baking!
I made these yesterday and they are delish. I love the cashew frosting but would probably use less maple syrup next time as a bit sweet for me but then my almond milk was on the sweet side and not sure if that is normal. I live in Europe so could not find whole wheat pastry flour instead used half whole wheat half white flour worked just fine. My biggest sweet potato produced less than a cup of puree so I would advise weight around 300gr/10oz at least uncooked. I loved them they remind me of pumpkin/spice cake.