Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins

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Fluffy, moist vegan sweet potato muffins that are quick and easy to make. They’re made with simple ingredients and filled with mini vegan chocolate chips (or a different add-in you prefer!).

They contain the perfect balance of warm spices and make great breakfast, brunch, lunchbox, or afternoon snacks. These delicious vegan muffins are dairy-free, egg-free, refined sugar-free, and can also be made gluten-free.

A vegan gluten-free sweet potato muffin on a small white plate.

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The fall season is filled with pumpkin recipes, but you're going to want to make some room for sweet potato recipes, too! A good one to start with is this one for vegan sweet potato muffins.

They're very similar to my vegan pumpkin spice muffins, they just have a few small differences and both recipes can be made either vegan gluten-free or just vegan.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom give these muffins the perfect balance of flavours and they're very quick and easy to make.

Before you head down to get all the details about how to make this sweet treat, if you're a fan of sweet potatoes, be sure to check out and bookmark these other delicious, quick, and easy vegan sweet potato recipes:

(And hey, I mentioned above that these muffins are great to make during the fall season, but don't feel that this is the only appropriate time to make them, bake them up year-round like I do!)

Table of Contents hide

1 Ingredients You'll Need

2 Ingredient and Substitution Notes

3 How to Make Them

4 Storing and Freezing

5 What's the Texture Like?

6 Tips for Success

7 Recipe FAQ

8 Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins

Ingredients You'll Need

I always recommend sticking with the recipe the way it's written for the best results, especially with vegan gluten-free baking, but below you will find info about each ingredient and what you can and cannot substitute.

An overhead shot showing the ingredients needed to make vegan sweet potato muffins.

Ingredient and Substitution Notes

Flour - You have two choices: Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-free Flour Blend in the RED bag if you want to make vegan gluten-free sweet potato muffins, and all-purpose white flour if you need them to be just vegan sweet potato muffins.

I have not tried making this recipe with any flour other than these two, so stick with one of these for the best results.

NOTE: When baking, measuring your flour accurately is so important to get the best results. Check out my article about how to measure flour correctly before you start.

Mashed or Puréed Sweet Potato - I bake sweet potatoes and then purée them until they are no longer stringy and chunky. You can also make sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot, but if you do it this way, make sure to drain off any excess moisture. Canned puréed sweet potatoes can also be used, just make sure that the only ingredient is sweet potatoes and that there are no added spices or sugar.

I prefer to purée them because sweet potatoes can be stringy. You can use either a hand blender or a food processor but if you don't have either of these tools, you can mash them with a potato masher or a fork, just make sure that there are no chunks left and that the sweet potato is smooth.

Sugar – Sweet potatoes have natural sweetness, so you don't need a lot of sugar. I use coconut sugar, but brown sugar can be used instead. I have not tried making this recipe with liquid sweeteners (like pure maple syrup or agave) or sugar alternatives, so I am unsure how they would work.

Not all sugar is vegan, some are processed using animal bone char, so to be sure that yours is, buy an organic brand (organic sugar is not processed using bone char) or one that is labelled as vegan.

Oil - This recipe is made without butter, instead, I use a neutral-flavoured oil, like safflower, or sunflower. You can also use coconut oil but if you do, make sure that your other ingredients are at room temperature so it does not solidify when added to the recipe.

I have not tried to make this recipe with vegan butter and I have not tried to make them oil-free; the combination of the oil and sweet potato helps to give the muffins an extra soft and moist texture.

Flax Eggs – Since this recipe is made without eggs, flax eggs are used as a replacement. Chia eggs will work as well if you cannot have flax.

Spices – A mix of three spices is used to give the muffins their warm fall flavours, so they cannot be left out.

Baking Powder Baking Soda - Make sure these ingredients are both fresh, they’re both essential for the muffins to rise properly and have a perfect texture.

Vanilla Extract and Salt- Just a little of both are needed to enhance the flavour of the muffins.

Chocolate Chips - Use your favourite vegan chocolate chips, I always use vegan semi-sweet / dark chocolate chips (mini or regular size). If you don't want to use chocolate chips, you can use chopped walnuts or pecans, raisins, dried cranberries, dried currants, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds.

Not sure which chocolate chip brands are vegan? Read my article "Are Chocolate Chips Vegan" to find a comprehensive list of vegan brands to look for at your grocery store.

How to Make Them

(Note: I’ve outlined the step-by-step on how to make this recipe here, but find the full recipe, ingredients, and directions in the recipe card at the end of this post.)

IMPORTANT: This recipe starts with sweet potatoes that have already been baked and mashed in advance. You will need roughly 2 medium sweet potatoes to get the 1 cup needed to make the muffins. If they are on the small side, bake 3 just in case. Bake them for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 375°F (190°C). You'll know they're done when a fork or knife slides easily into each potato. Fully cool them, then scoop the insides out of the skin, and mash or purée. You can also cook sweet potatoes in the microwave.

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside.

2. Mix the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix them into a batter.

4. Add the chocolate chips (or other add-in) to the batter.

A collage of four images showing the first sequence of steps needed to make vegan sweet potato muffins.

Stir in the chocolate chips, take care not to over-mix the batter.

Vegan sweet potato muffin batter in a glass bowl.

5. Divide the muffin batter into your prepared muffin pan. You can use either a spoon or an ice cream scoop to do this. I like using a scoop because it’s quicker and easier to divide the batter, this is the scoop I’m using in the picture below.

6. This step is optional but you can sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of each muffin before they go into the oven.

7. Bake.

8. Carefully remove the muffin tin from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes before removing the muffins and placing them on a wire rack to cool.

A collage of four images showing the second sequence of steps needed to make vegan sweet potato muffins.

Storing and Freezing

Store leftover muffins for up to four days at room temperature, in an airtight container. They are best on the same day and the day after they are baked.

Freezing

To freeze, once they have thoroughly cooled, wrap them tightly and individually, so they're airtight, place them in a container or freezer bag, and freeze for up to two months.

A sweet potato muffin on a plate, the muffin wrapper has been peeled away.

What's the Texture Like?

These delicious muffins are soft, fluffy, moist, and perfect, BUT, to get this texture, you must follow the recipe exactly as it’s written.

If you make any substitutions or changes, you risk your muffins not turning out as they should.

An overhead shot of a vegan sweet potato muffin cut in half to show the fluffy inside.

Tips for Success

Measure and have all your ingredients ready to go before starting. This will make the process run smoothly, quickly, and easily.
Measure your ingredients correctly. I highly recommend using a scale (this is the one I have) and my weight measurements when making this recipe. Please read my article about how to measure flour correctly. This tip also applies to all other ingredients, make sure to measure them accurately to get the best results.
Use the same flour I use. If you are making the vegan gluten-free version, remember that vegan gluten-free baking can be tricky because different flours and blends produce different results. The particular gf flour I use for this recipe works perfectly, so to duplicate that perfection, please use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour (in the RED bag!). If you don't need your muffins to be gluten-free and you are making the vegan-only version, I have only tested with white all-purpose flour, so proceed with caution if you use a different type.
Bake and prepare the sweet potatoes the day before. They need to be fully cooled and mashed or puréed before adding them to the recipe, so it's best to prepare them in advance to save time.
Make sure your baking powder and baking soda are fresh. These are important ingredients that make the muffins rise and become fluffy. If they are not fresh, your muffins will turn out dense and gummy.
Use a trigger ice cream scoop to add the batter to the muffin pan as shown in the picture above (this is the one I have). If you don’t have a scoop, you can use a tablespoon. Be sure that each muffin cup has roughly the same amount of batter so they are all the same size and finish baking at the same time.
Don’t over-bake. If over-baked, you’ll end up with dry, crumbly muffins.
Read this post from top to bottom before you start. I’ve included many tips and tricks to get things right. Also, read through the actual recipe before getting started.
Follow the recipe exactly as it’s written for the very best results.

Freshly baked vegan sweet potato chocolate chip muffins on a cooling rack.

Recipe FAQ

Can Canned Sweet Potato Pie Filling Be Used in This Recipe?

No, I would not recommend it. Canned sweet potato pie filling has added ingredients like sugar and spices and should only be used when baking a sweet potato pie or a dessert that specifically calls for sweet potato pie filling. Using plain sweet potato purée will give you full control over the flavour and level of sweetness in your muffins.

Can Leftover Cooked Sweet Potatoes Be Used In This Recipe?

Yes, this recipe is a great way to use leftover sweet potatoes! As long as they have had nothing added to them, just blend them to get rid of stringiness and chunks and they'll be ready to go.

Can the Batter Be Made Ahead to Bake Later?

No, because the baking powder and baking soda will become inactive and your muffins will end up flat and gummy. What you can do is combine all the dry ingredients in advance and store them in an airtight container. When ready, mix the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients and proceed.

Can This Recipe Be Made Into a Loaf or Mini Muffins?

You can make yourself a loaf, BUT rather than adjusting this recipe, use my recipe for vegan gluten-free sweet potato bread instead.

For mini muffins, yes, you can do that, just bake them for less time, around 9-10 minutes.

Want more muffins? Be sure to look through this list to see all of my vegan muffin recipes!

If You Make This Recipe...

Please tell me how your delicious sweet potato muffins turned out! Leave me a star rating and comment below or you can post a picture on Instagram and tag me so I can see them. I’m @delightfuladventures on Instagram.

If You Like This Recipe...

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