Sweet Potato Muffins with Cinnamon Topping

We are now completely settled in our new flat in London. The move this year was 100 times better than last year. Can I tell you how nice it is to have two bedrooms this year and to not be sleeping in our reception room, building a bed out of couch cushions each night? I have to laugh when I think about our situation last year. This flat is so comfortable; there are no holes in the floor, the tiles are firmly stuck to the walls (no more falling off on Trent in the shower), and there is no mold. Better yet, it looks so nice. I’m thrilled.

Fall is in full swing here in London. The other day little G and I were headed to a play group. One of the streets we walked down was carpeted with massive leaves bigger than my head that had fallen from the trees. I felt somewhat like a little kid again and wanted to push the buggie through them at a run, just to hear the leaves crinkle beneath my feet and the wheels.

I’d love to say that with all the leaves on the ground and the crisp Autumn air that I was in such a festive mood and decided to make these sweet potato muffins in honour of the changing seasons, but I can’t. The truth is that I made these a while ago, photographed them and the have been putting it off for a more appropriate time to post them on the blog. So now that it’s officially sweater … er … jumper weather, I’m sharing this warm, welcoming, muffin recipe with you. Make them and hunker down with a cup of cocoa, a blanket, and someone cute to snuggle with, because that’s what they’re meant for.

I adapted this recipe from this Williams and Sonoma recipe.

Ingredients:

For the topping:

3 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the muffins:

2 orange fleshed sweet potatoes, (about 14 oz. total) peeled and cut into chunks

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, (for a healthier muffin use 1 cup all purpose flour and 3/4 cups whole wheat flour)

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup milk

butter for serving

Process:

For the topping: in a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

For the muffins: bring a saucepan of water to boil over med-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes and cook until tender, about 15-20 min. Remove from the heat and drain well. Mash with a fork or potato masher until fluffy. Scrape the sweet potatoes into a bowl and let cool to room temperature. This step can be done the night before or a day or two in advance.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease 12 standard muffin cups with butter or butter flavoured nonstick spray.

In a bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, oil, and milk and whisk vigorously for 1 minute. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and stir until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them three-fourths full. Sprinkle with the topping, dividing evenly. Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm with butter.

Makes 12 muffins