Sweet Potato Muffins
one bowl, no refined sugar, ridiculously good
I made these twice in one day. Same day. Back to back. That is the level of unhinged devotion these sweet potato muffins inspired in me and I have zero apologies about it.
Here’s the thing — I am not someone who uses the word “healthy” as a selling point for baked goods, because usually when something is marketed as healthy it tastes like it’s punishing you. These are not that. These are genuinely moist, fluffy, warmly spiced muffins that happen to have no refined sugar, work perfectly with gluten free flour, and come together in one bowl in about 30 minutes (that Includes basking time). They taste like a treat. They just also happen to not wreck you.
My girlfriends demolished them, the kids wrecked them. Then I made another batch for myself. Again, same day. Fully unregrettable.
Why These Work
The base is mashed sweet potato, which does a lot of heavy lifting here. It adds natural sweetness, keeps the muffins incredibly moist, and gives them a density that feels satisfying without being heavy. You can roast and mash a fresh sweet potato if you’re feeling ambitious, or you can drain a can of yams and mash those instead. Both work. I will not judge you either way and neither option makes you a better or worse person.
Monkfruit sugar stands in for regular sugar and honestly you’d never know the difference in this recipe. It sweetens without the blood sugar spike, and because the sweet potato already brings natural sweetness to the party, you don’t need much. That said, if you only have regular sugar or brown sugar on hand, swap it 1:1 and move on with your life.
The combination of gluten free flour and almond flour gives these a really nice texture — the almond flour adds a little richness and keeps everything tender. If you’re not gluten free, regular all-purpose flour works just as well. This recipe is genuinely flexible and it’s genuinely foolproof. I tested it twice in one day and both batches were perfect. That’s not luck, that’s a good recipe.
One Bowl. For Real.
I want to be clear that this is actually a one bowl situation, not a “one bowl except for the three prep bowls you also dirtied” situation. You mash your sweet potato in the bowl, add the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients, stir, and fill your muffin tin. That’s it. That’s the whole process. There’s no creaming butter, no separating eggs, no folding anything in stages. You stir it all together and it works and it’s great and you’re done.
This is also a recipe that’s extremely hard to mess up. The batter is forgiving, the bake time is straightforward, and the sweet potato keeps everything moist even if you go a minute or two over. If you’ve had a run of baking failures lately (we’ve all been there), make these. They will restore your confidence.
A Few Things Worth Knowing
Don’t overmix once you add the dry ingredients. Stir until everything is just combined and stop. Overmixing develops gluten even in gluten free flour blends and can make your muffins tough instead of tender.
Fill your muffin cups about 2/3 of the way full. They’ll rise nicely and dome up without overflowing.
These are excellent warm out of the oven, great at room temperature, and honestly maybe even better the next day once the cinnamon flavor has had time to settle in. Store them covered at room temp for a couple of days or in the fridge for up to a week.
Optional but highly recommended: a little pat of butter on a warm muffin. No notes.
Check out the Instagram video here.
The Recipe
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato (or one 15oz can of yams, drained and mashed)
- 1/2 cup monkfruit sugar (or regular sugar)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup gluten free flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 2/3 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners or grease well.
- In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potato, monkfruit sugar, eggs, olive oil, and water. Stir until smooth.
- To the same bowl, add the gluten free flour, almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined — do not overmix.
- Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are set.
- Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Eat one immediately. You’ve earned it.
Tools I Used
-Kelsey
Made these? Leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram, I love seeing your bakes.
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