When I roast sweet potatoes for dinner or a salad, I always make a double batch. I love using sweet potato the next night in soups and tacos, or even, if they are large enough, cut open and filled with spicy chickpeas and tahini. One day, I decided to use them in place of pumpkin in some muffins. Then I thought, “Maybe I’ll make cupcakes with a salted maple buttercream frosting as an after- school treat for the kids . . .” and thus these cupcakes were born. They are quick to throw together with leftover sweet potato, but you can also substitute canned pumpkin if that’s what you have. They’re fluffy, filled with warm spices, and topped with a luscious maple frosting, making them the perfect sweet treat on any blustery fall day.
Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Salted Maple Frosting
Ingredients
For cupcakes:
- 1-1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-1/2 cups cooked sweet potato (2 to 3 sweet potatoes)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup neutral oil (light olive oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil)
For salted maple frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1-1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spray the cups of a standard 12- cup muffin tin with nonstick spray, or use muffin liners and spray the insides of those.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Remove the sweet potato flesh from the skins and add the flesh to a high-speed blender. Add in the eggs, granulated sugar, maple syrup, and oil and blend for 10 seconds until very smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until there are no streaks of flour visible.
- Transfer the batter evenly into the muffin cups. An ice cream scoop is the right size.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a tester comes out just clean.
- Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
Recipe reprinted with permission from Big Bites by Kat Ashmore (Rodale Books, 2024). Photography by Christine Han.