Chef John's Sweet Potato Muffins

Instead of sweet potato pie (which I'm not that fond of), I made sweet potato muffins and I was thrilled with the results. Muffin or cupcake? Frosted or unfrosted? Doesn't matter--these really are fantastic.

• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Calories: 260 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup melted butter
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 cups mashed sweet potato (yams)
• 1 cup chopped pecans, plus more for topping
• 2 teaspoons demerara sugar for topping

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffins tins with paper muffin liners. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Step 2

Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl.

Step 3

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar together until mixture gets light and foamy, about 2 minutes. Pour in vegetable oil and melted butter; whisk together thoroughly. Add mashed sweet potatoes and chopped pecans. Add dry ingredients. Whisk together until dry ingredients disappear into the batter, about 1 minutes. Let batter set for 10 minutes before filling muffin cups.

Step 4

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way to the top. Sprinkle tops with pecans and a pinch of demerara sugar.

Step 5

Bake until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool in pan about 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.