I’ll be honest and say I had pretty low expectations when I decided to make sweet potato muffins. In terms of baking, sweet potatoes have always seemed to me like pumpkin’s stringy-haired, less charming step-sister. I have no evidence to back up this notion. Maybe it’s just that in this country, in all the months that end in -ber, pumpkin gets all the glory in baked goods, while sweet potatoes dutifully play side dish. Probably there’s a Pumpkin Baking Lobby at work beneath this phenomenon.

At any rate, sometimes it’s good to get out of a rut, even if it’s just a pumpkin baking rut. So when I realized I had a heaping helping of leftover cooked sweet potatoes nobody in my family was chomping at the bit to consume, I went hunting for a recipe to repurpose them as breakfast. Am I glad I did? Well, I’ll just say, Cinnamon Sweet Potato Muffins, that…

These muffins come out with flavor as bright as their color. A hint of orange zest in the recipe adds just the right counterpoint to the heartier tubers’ taste. And despite the heft of sweet potatoes’ texture, these are light, moist, and even–dare I say–fluffy? With a dusting of cinnamon sugar on top, I’m kind of sad I only made about a dozen.

So there you have it. I’m a sweet potato baking convert. Are you? Next time you have extra cooked sweet potatoes leftover, remember to try out this recipe, and I think you will be in no time!

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Cinnamon Sweet Potato Muffins

These Cinnamon Sweet Potato Muffins will make you a sweet potato baking convert! They're surprisingly light, not too sweet, and only 150 calories each.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 14 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. white sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. orange extract (or 1 Tbsp. orange zest)
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1/2 c. milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 1/2 c. cooked mashed sweet potatoes

Instructions

• In a small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 14 muffin cups with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder.
• In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, orange extract or zest, oil, and milk. Add the sweet potatoes and mix until thoroughly combined.
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
• Bake 20-25 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Adapted from Williams Sonoma.

Fall may not technically start until tomorrow, but I’m calling it. My fall decorations are going up and I am ready to go Full Throttle Pumpkin. Are you?

I must say, however, that this year I am learning from previous pumpkin mistakes. Last fall, I made numerous batches of pumpkin butter and sold it to friends, family, and my husband’s co-workers. Major pumpkin love! When I circled back to see if anyone wanted to purchase a second round, though, the response was almost always the same: “We love it, but we haven’t used it up yet.”

That’s where these Pumpkin Butter Muffins come in. As far as I know, pumpkin butter is a beloved seasonal treat, but most people don’t eat enough toast to use up a whole jar of it as a spread. That means it’s time to get a little creative, because the last thing you want is for this pumpkin-y deliciousness to go to waste.

Swirling creamy pumpkin butter into tender muffins is a great way to use that extra bit of it hanging around in your fridge–and makes for a colorful breakfast that screams autumnal goodness. And hey, who’s to stop you from slathering more pumpkin butter on top of these after they come out of the oven? Not I!

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Pumpkin Butter Muffins

Who's ready for fall? These pumpkin butter muffins are a great way to use everyone's favorite seasonal spread!

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1/2 c. pumpkin butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
• In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
• In a smaller bowl or large measuring cup, combine egg, milk, and vegetable oil. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.
• Divide batter evenly between muffin cups. Dollop a bit of pumpkin butter into each and swirl into batter using a knife or toothpick.
• Bake 20 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle of muffins comes out clean. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

A Love Letter to Food Original Recipe.

Generally, I’m not much into specialty ingredients. If it can’t be found with relative ease at my local Fry’s or Trader Joe’s, I tend to feel I can pretty well do without it or find a reasonable substitute. We don’t need no hifalutin’ muscovado sugar, soy flour, or buffalo yogurt around here, thankyouverymuch. Especially here on the blog, I like to feature recipes that don’t require excessive effort, whether in techniques used, time spent, or ingredients called for. (And I tend to roll my eyes and click right past when other food bloggers post recipes that want you to track down some vegan hemp matcha flax milk. Ain’t nobody got time for that, and the 2% in my fridge will work just fine.)

But today I’m going to make a small exception to my no-specialty-ingredients policy, because my muffin world was recently rocked by the discovery of whole grain medium-grind cornmeal. (Yes, when you make muffins as often as I do, you can legitimately claim to have a “muffin world.”) My dear husband brought me back some cornmeal from the U.S. to Germany when I couldn’t find any here, and lo and behold, it was whole grain medium-grind–something I had never heard of before, since I always buy the cheapo generic 89-cent cornmeal.

When I used this semi-specialty ingredient to make the Raspberry Cornmeal Muffins featured here, I fell in loooooove with the result. The grittier texture it yields might not to everyone’s taste, but I found it super hearty and satisfying, like the kind of cornbread the pilgrims would have had at the first Thanksgiving before we got all technologified with grinding our cornmeal into powder.

Come to find out, there is also a difference between whole grain cornmeal and “regular” cornmeal not labeled as whole grain. As a nutritionist, I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never really given whole grain corn much thought, but it stands to reason that, just like with any other grain, when the bran, germ, and endosperm of the corn are left intact, the corn will be more nutritious. Therefore, whole grain cornmeal contains more fiber and B vitamins than non-whole grain. Bonus! Awesome taste and texture PLUS better nutrition. And some mega-tasty muffins to use it in.

So there you have it…not too crazy a special ingredient, but maybe a fun one to give a try. After all, the Bob’s Red Mill brand seems to be sold in most mainstream U.S. grocery stores, so I imagine whole grain medium-grind cornmeal won’t be too tough to find if you want to try using it in these summery, bursting-with-berries muffins. When you taste them fresh out of the oven with a schmear of butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar, I think you’ll agree they’re worth it.

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5 from 2 votes

Raspberry Cornmeal Muffins

Medium-grain whole wheat cornmeal gives these summery, bursting-with-berries muffins their hearty texture.

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 5 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. medium-grain whole wheat cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 c. frozen raspberries, unthawed

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add melted butter, eggs, honey, sugar, yogurt, and milk, stirring to combine. Gently stir in frozen raspberries.
• Divide batter among the prepared muffin cups and bake 18-20 minutes.

Notes

A Love Letter to Food Original Recipe

It’s spring break in our household, and in true spring break tradition of lazy days at home (not true spring break tradition of topless in Mexico, if that’s what you were expecting), my kids and I have mostly been hanging out with friends in the neighborhood, lounging around, and enjoying leisurely time on blankets at parks.

And today, as a last hurrah since it’s Friday of our break, we went out to lunch at a ’50s diner, where my kids were FASCINATED by the concept of a jukebox at the table.

With the extra time on our hands, we’ve been able to enjoy some special breakfasts as well, from baked goods to scrambled eggs. (Yes, scrambled eggs is a special breakfast in our house because of how much I can’t stand cleaning the sticky web of egg remnants off my nonstick pan.) As for baked goods, this spiced applesauce bread is a perennial favorite.

It’s a no-frills breakfast or brunch item that uses a whopping 1 and 1/4 cups of applesauce, an entire grated apple, and half whole wheat flour to make it healthy, and vegetable oil and plenty of aromatic spices to make it tasty. I’ve been making it for years, and it’s a great stand-by recipe for your bread arsenal. Give it a try for your next weekend breakfast or brunch!

And now, in true lazy spring break fashion, I’m going to stop writing and go watch a movie. 🙂

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Spiced Applesauce Bread

A better-for-you spiced quick bread that's chock full of applesauce!

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tbsp. milk (regular dairy or almond milk)
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 apple, peeled

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, mix applesauce, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and milk.
• In a separate bowl (or the same bowl, if you want to be lazy like me), mix all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Stir with wet ingredients until just combined.
• Using a cheese grater, grate peeled apple directly into bowl, then stir briefly to incorporate. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake 60-65 minutes.

Notes

Adapted from Allrecipes.com.