Sweet Potato Superhero Muffins Recipe

These sweet potato superhero muffins are filled with sweet potato and zucchini, almond flour and whole grains, yet taste actually out of this world. They’re a perfect quick breakfast or snack. And if I’m a betting woman (which I am), they’re going to become a staple in your home.

These sweet potato superhero muffins are adapted from my all-time favorite muffin recipe from Run Fast Eat Slow, a cookbook by Olympian Shalane Flanagan and her fellow marathoner Elyse Kopecky. The book is about fueling athletes (and really any human being) by focusing on nourishing meals rather than just macronutrients. And it happened to come out in 2016, when I was a Division I rower who also lived with (and cooked with) seven other ever-hungry rowers.

Run Fast Eat Slow, and superhero muffins in particular, became bible in our rower house (we had TWO fridges, if that gives you any indication of how much food we ate). Over the years, I’ve tweaked the recipe, adding sweet potato and banana for carrots and adjusting almond flour to regular flour ratios. While I love Elyse and Shalane’s original recipe for superhero muffins, these to me are even better.

I sat on this superhero muffins recipe for a year debating whether or not to post it, because as a baking recipe developer, I believe in enjoying sweets and not “healthifying” them. But to me, these muffins are just good. AND because they’re packed with veggies and protein, they’re morning fuel on busy days, an afternoon snack, or even a weekday dessert. They’re a favorite in my house, and I’m so stoked to share them with you.

This post is all about sweet potato superhero muffins.

Sweet Potato Superhero Muffins

Ingredients

• Flour. You can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, spelt flour, or gluten free flour. The original recipe calls for just almond flour, but I’ve found that adding a little regular flour keeps the muffins from feeling greasy from all the almonds.

• Almond flour. Almond flour (sometimes called “almond meal”) adds some protein and fat to the muffins to keep you full, and makes the muffins super moist. You can also make your own almond meal at home.

• Old-fashioned rolled oats. Opt for rolled oats instead of instant. These have a different structure and take your body longer to break down, helping keep you full.

• Cinnamon. Cinnamon helps flavor the muffins beautifully.

• Nutmeg. Nutmeg adds a little extra spice to complement the cinnamon.

• Baking soda. This helps give the muffins a little rise.

• Kosher salt or another coarse salt. If you only have fine table salt, reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.

• Unsalted butter. Butter adds fat to the muffins, keeping them perfectly moist and flavorful. If you want to make the recipe vegan, you can try subbing coconut oil or vegetable oil.

• Eggs. Eggs keep the muffins moist, give them structure, and add protein. If you want to make the recipe vegan, you can try subbing flax egg for regular eggs, but I haven’t tried it.

• Zucchini. Part of our fruit and veggie trio! Zucchini has a pretty neutral flavor and is great in muffins and quickbreads.

• Sweet potato. Sweet potatoes and bananas add a little natural sweetness to the muffins.

• Banana. Sweet potatoes and bananas add a little natural sweetness to the muffins.

• Maple syrup. Maple syrup is our sweetener here and it works great with the spiced cinnamon and nutmeg flavor.

• Vanilla extract. Vanilla always adds flavor in baked goods!

• Chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins or any other mix-ins. I’m a personal fan of chocolate chips here.

Tips for the best sweet potato superhero muffins

• Microwave your sweet potato! You can roast it in the oven, but it’s much faster to prick it with a fork and microwave for 5-7 minutes.

• Measure out your fruit and veggies before you add them to the batter. This is definitely a forgiving recipe, but it’s good to measure out my prepped veggies before putting them in, so you don’t accidentally add too much of one ingredient.

• Don’t overbake the muffins. Overbaked muffins = dry muffins. These superhero muffins are done when the top is set and slightly brown.

• Stash some in the freezer! I like to keep a bag of these in the freezer wrapped in foil, so I can take one to go any time. You can let them defrost at room temperature or in the microwave on low power.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Check out more amazing recipes

• For more breakfast recipes, check out the best vegan banana bread, carrot cake cinnamon rolls and dirty chai cinnamon rolls.

• If you’re jonesing for some dessert, try dipped-strawberry chocolate chip cookies, BIG chocolate chip cookies or brown butter blondies.

• If you want a single-serve dessert, try the viral half-baked single serve cookie skillet, edible cookie dough for 2 and edible peanut butter cookie dough for 2.