Vegan Gluten-free Sweet Potato Muffins with Sweet Potato Caramel and cinnamon! They are just 8 ingredients, dairy-free, grain-free and oil-free. These are light, fluffy, moist and refined sugar-free.
VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE SWEET POTATO MUFFINS
Oh my goodness, I am SO excited to share these Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins with you today! Seriously, I contemplated dedicating an entire post just to this sweet potato caramel sauce. It is certainly worthy of it. You haven’t lived until you have had this caramel, this tastes like REAL caramel.
I have quite an obsession with using sweet potatoes in my baking. Evidence of that here on my 12 Vegan Desserts Using Sweet Potatoes. Also, try these Vegan Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Muffins!
I love sharing muffin recipes, as they are one of my favorite types of vegan desserts to create. Another vegan muffin recipe was in order after all the absolutely, amazing feedback I keep getting on my Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins. They have been wildly popular, so I was itching to create another amazing muffin recipe for you all and it be completely different and grain-free for those who can’t have oats! If you are a muffin lover like me, check out my collection of my best 15 Vegan Muffin Recipes Without Oil!
4 SWEET POTATO MUFFIN VERSIONS TESTED
I created 4 vegan sweet potato muffin versions for you!
These muffins are really soft and light. Think…clouds of muffins with a wonderful cinnamon flavor and sweetness from the sweet potato and pure decadence from the caramel. Pretty flippin fantastic, to be honest with you.
Full disclosure: Out of all 4 versions, my favorite version is definitely the almond flour/potato starch combo, so if you aren’t grain-free or nut-free, then choose that one, it’s the best as far as textures go. The result is light, soft and moist. Also, with the sunflower flour, just know that it does give a sunflower taste to the muffins. If you are used to baking with sunflower, this probably won’t bother you. Nothing that a lot of caramel wouldn’t make up for!
SWEET POTATO CARAMEL
So, let’s talk about this sweet potato caramel. I created a dairy-free, vegan, corn syrup-free, easy, amazing, creamy caramel sauce…..using sweet potatoes! Yes, sweet potato caramel.
What’s even more exciting is that this Sweet Potato Caramel is low-fat! You can eat an entire 1/4 cup of caramel (if you wanted to) and it’s only 3 grams fat!
If you are vegan, you have probably had caramel one of these ways:
- Date caramel ( I actually am not a big fan of date caramel…or dates for that matter…sorry!)
- Almond butter and syrup combined have a caramel-like taste
- Or, one of my favorites is melted coconut butter with syrup and vanilla and salt. YUM! It is what I created to drizzle over my Vanilla Cheesecake Ice Cream
Regardless of all the caramel recipes you’ve tried, now it’s time for you to try this sweet potato caramel!
OTHER VEGAN MUFFIN RECIPES TO TRY:
- Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Gluten-free Double Chocolate Muffins
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins
- Bakery-Style Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
- Caramel Crusted Pumpkin Muffins
- Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins
Vegan Sweet Potato Cinnamon Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (140g) superfine blanched almond flour (for nut-free, see NOTES at bottom)
- 1/2 cup (80g) potato starch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (120g) cooked mashed sweet potato
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (20g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240g) canned lite coconut milk, shaken well first
SWEET POTATO CARAMEL (makes about 6 tablespoons)
- 1/4 cup (60g) cooked mashed sweet potato
- 1/2 cup (120g) canned lite coconut milk, shaken well
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons (48g) coconut sugar (do not sub with another sugar)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- First, cook your sweet potato by placing a large sweet potato (with skin on) on foil and roast for 50-60 minutes at 405 degrees. You want it to be overcooked basically and incredibly juicy and tender, so it mashes very well. Let it cool before preparing the muffins.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C)and line a muffin pan with foil liners. I use Staybrite by Reynolds because they keep muffins really moist and do not stick at all like the paper ones. Add the almond flour (or sunflower), potato starch, baking powder, sea salt, coconut sugar and cinnamon to a large bowl and whisk very well, breaking up any lumps from the starch.
- To a large bowl, add the almond flour (or sunflower), potato starch, baking powder, sea salt, coconut sugar and cinnamon and whisk very well, breaking up any lumps from the starch.
- In a small bowl, peel the sweet potato and mash it very well, so no lumps remain. Measure out 1/2 cup, making sure to fill the cup and then level off with your finger, so there is not excess potato. Add the potato to a small bowl with the vanilla and coconut milk and whisk or blend really well. You want it 100% smooth so there aren't unmixed chunks of potato.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until well mixed and thickens some. The batter should be similar to the consistency of cake batter, not thin, but not as thick as traditional muffin batter. However, if you are subbing with oat flour in place of the potato starch, the batter will be thicker. Just gently smooth out the tops.
- Divide the batter between 8-12 muffin liners, depending on how tall you want them to be. Bake for 22 minutes (unless you are baking with the oat flour, which it will be 20 minutes) or when a toothpick comes out with a few dry crumbs still on it (but not wet batter) and it lightly springs back when touched. When the muffins come out, they will still be slightly under-cooked, but will finish cooking over the next 20 minutes. So, do NOT eat them until they have cooled at least 20 minutes. They will then be incredibly soft, light and moist. Drizzle caramel sauce on top following directions below. The muffins are best eaten within 24 hours, as the starch will cause them to start to dry out after a couple of days. I stored mine in the fridge and preferred them that way.
SWEET POTATO CARAMEL
- Add all of the sweet potato caramel ingredients (except the vanilla) to a food processor and blend until completely smooth, scraping the sides a couple of times during. Taste and add any more sweetener, if desired.
- Add to a small pot over a stove and turn to medium-low heat. Once it starts boiling, stir with a rubber spoon for a full couple of minutes or so until it thickens up. This should only take a few minutes. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Note that the caramel will thicken up much more as it cools, so don't worry if it's not as thick as you want while it's still warm. It will thicken up more in the fridge as well. Pour into a container and drizzle muffins when they are ready. This caramel sauce would be insane also on ice cream, pancakes, etc.!
Notes
- For nut-free, omit the almond flour and grind 1 cup (145 g) of raw, unsalted sunflower kernels into a fine flour in your food processor for a couple of minutes, being careful not to over process into nut butter. Please note that it does leave a sunflower taste to the muffins.
- For starch-free, sub the potato starch and use oat flour instead, but use 1 cup oat flour (128g) (instead of 1/2 cup of the starch). All the rest of the ingredients remain the same. Please note that the muffins are a bit more dense with the oat flour, but are still moist and delicious.
- Nutrition per muffin: 146.2 calories, 6.9 g fat, 2.6 g protein, 19.8 carbs, 9.2 g sugar
Nutrition per tablespoon of caramel: 39.6 calories, .8 g fat, .1 g protein, 8 carbs, 6.5 g sugar
My mouth just filled with saliva. I am ALL OVER this caramel glaze. All over it. I can already picture myself licking it from the bowl. 😉 I’ll be on the lookout for potato starch the next time I go grocery shopping.
You are so funny girl!! Seriously, I’ve been getting rave reviews already! This is better than any caramel ever! No pretend caramel here! 🙂
Why low fat coconut milk? Yummy
Hi Saniel! I use low fat coconut milk because it has some fat in it to provide creaminess and richness to the muffins and helps keep them soft, moreso than almond milk, whereas full fat coconut milk would be TOO creamy. There is also fat in them from the almond flour. It’s a great combo
I will make these tomorrow for sure! Quick question though about the coconut milk…do you shake up the can and use the cream AND water? Or only the cream?
Thanks!
Wow delicious muffin:-)
Thank you so much, so glad you enjoyed it!
Another winner from Brandi! The muffins look phenomenal but that caramel! I would never have thought to use sweet potatoes but it makes a lot of sense. I love it when I bake sweet potatoes whole and they ooze out their natural caramel…:)
Pinned!
Thanks so much Emma!! I had to repurpose the sweet potato in a glaze, so my idea to do caramel turned out even better than I imagined!! Sooo dreamy. I discovered I’m not the first person to think of it, but my version is definitely different
Thanks so much Emma!! I have to admit, the idea in my head was surpassed by the most amazing caramel, for real, truly amazing. No clue there was sweet potato in it if I hadn’t put it in there myself and hubby was blown away!
This is so brilliant! I have to try them!
Thank you so much Raechel!! It truly was a wonderful surprise how delicious it turned out! Let me know if you make it!
Brandi those muffins and caramel are fantastic. I bake sweet potatoes all the time in foil and love the sticky sweet syrup that oozes out. Great recipe.
Thank you Suzanne! I know, me too…and creating a truly authentic caramel sauce with the coconut milk and coconut sugar just tastes like a dream!!
Two of my favorite ingredients here….sweet potatoes and caramel of course. Way to go Brandi. You’re becoming a real muffin expert!!
Aww thanks Angela! Definitely a different type of muffin than I’ve done before by only using 2 “flours” which is so rare for gluten-free, but they turned out amazing. I was so happy!
These look so dense and decadent, what a great flavor to put into a muffin!
Thank you Mary! They were incredible, especially the caramel!!
Brandi! I’m impressed! These muffins sound amazing and they look so yummy!!!
Yesterday I bought lots of sweet potatoes…I might try to make them over the week end or so :)! I’ll let you know if i magare to make them. I’ll save this recipe in my to make list for sure :)!
Thank you for sharing these two great recipes :)!
xox
Ema
Thank you so much dear Ema!! The feedback has been amazing as several have already made it, so I hope you love it too!! ❤️❤️
Thank you Ema! You won’t regret it…the feedback on the caramel has been nothing short of awesome. It is truly delicious! I hope you enjoy it!
Entinhleging the world, one helpful article at a time.
A sweet potato caramel? That is absolutely crazy! But in the best way possible 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Crazy delicious, crazy!!
That caramel sauce is TOO easy not to make. HOLY COW. I am in need of some more muffin/bread treats for my mornings. MUST MAKE THIS.
Seriously, girl, get ON IT!! It’s magical!!
This is amazing, droolworthy stuff! I’m 100% going to make that caramel for a kitchen tea splash cake this weekend – looks too good not to try it out ASAP!
Yay Margaux!! I’ve been getting amazing feedback from others making it today so I hope it’s a success with you too! Please come back and let me know, thank you!!
Sweet potato is one of my favorite ingredients to use in both sweet and savory dishes – and boy, you sure put it to delicious use here, Brandi!
Thank you so much Annie!
Oh be still my beating heart!!!! I just made it and I could swoon! This is by FAR the best caramel sauce I’ve ever tasted. I modified it slightly by using half the amount of cinnamon and double the amount of vanilla. Made a double batch and I’m going to attempt to freeze some. (IF it makes it to the freezer!) I’m making my banana ice cream now by running frozen bananas through the blank screen on my Greenstar juicer and will top it with the sauce. Oh YUM!!!
Thank you so much Kathryn for the AMAZING FEEDBACK!! What a compliment!! Thanks so much for sharing your photos on facebook too, I really appreciate it! So glad you loved it so much!
Woah! These look amazing. I love sweet potatoes, muffins and caramel. HEAVEN!
Thanks Melanie! The caramel sauce definitely is heaven!
With a tiny bit of tweaking and I could totally eat these!!! EXPERIMENT TIME! 🙂
Girl This caramel sauce has gotten RAVE reviews everywhere, you will LOVE it! I made a batch for my parents today and they about died!
WOW. These look sinfully good. I’ve been craving sweets recently… I think I’m going to go with these. Thanks for putting such an awesome idea out into the world!
Thank you so much Kristen!! They are super delicious and with amazing feedback so far, so I hope you love them! Even if you just make the caramel sauce, others have made it on top of ice cream…yum! Let me know when you do! 🙂
Wow! I am going to make the sweet potato caramel and combine it in another recipe! This seriously is such a neat idea! I also think that “date caramel” is a bit ovverated too! This looks exactly like real caramel, so thick and lucious! MMMMMMMM! Can’t wait! 🙂
Thank you so much!! Yes, I don’t want any of the date caramel lovers to get mad at me, haha, but it just doesn’t taste like real, authentic buttery caramel to me, if you know what I mean? It has it’s place for sure, but I wanted that silky, thick, smooth, creamy melt-in-your-mouth caramel and THIS IS IT!!! I can’t wait to see what you drizzle it over…love your recipes girl! xoxo
wow these look amazing. i think I’m going to have to give them a try tomorrow. i really love this blog and am soooo glad i just found it! mind checking out mine?
Thank you so much Lilah for stopping by!! Please tell me…did you make them?!! I’m going to check out your blog right now 🙂
These muffins look so delicious! I love sweet potatoes and think I need to make a batch of these for us asap!
Yes, do it!! Let me know!
Sweet potato caramel! now THAT’s something I want to try! This looks delicious!
i have never had a sweet potato muffin before.. definitely missing out on something seriously delicious. they look great – and that sweet potato glaze looks amazing (i could probably just eat it straight!)
Thank you so much Thalia! They are heavenly, especially the caramel! Especially on ice cream!
Well I can only say that I am glad these are muffin size and not cake size or i would have to eat the whole cake! What a great idea. They look mouth watering. Just going to check again to see if you need a taster for all your recipes 😉 Oh wait I think you have a lovely child and husband that has that job….my loss. 🙂
Sweet potato CARAMEL?!?!?!?!?!?! UHHHHHH sign me up! I will try with butternut squash and maybe stevia instead of coconut sugar. HAPPENING!
Oh, it should definitely work with stevia I think!! It won’t be nearly as dark in color (because the coconut sugar makes it dark) and it might be less caramel-ish without the coconut sugar, but it should technically work, so please let me know if you get a chance to make it with stevia!
Wow is all I can say about this sweet potato caramel… Really, I’m in love with it!
I made it two days ago as a topping for my nanaicecream, because some friends came home for a girls dinner, and they loved it so much that they ate it from the jar where it was hahahahahahaha!
Thanks again Beverly for sharing those awesome and delicious recipes!
Big hugs from the Mediterranean sea in Spain!!
Thank you so much Vanesa for the amazing, awesome feedback!! I’m so glad you loved it so much, we are pretty obsessed with it around here too! Eating it straight from the jar sounds like a success to me, haha! Thanks again, love getting the feedback on my recipes!
These were awesome! They are filling, sweet, and perfect with a glass of almond milk. The cupcake ended up being the perfect balance between moist and fluff. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!! I am SO happy to hear you loved them so much and that they had the “perfect” balance…that was what I was shooting for. Thank you!
A M A Z I N G caramel =) i really am in love with it. it’s so simple and easy to make aswell as healthy. it can’t really get better than that. i am not a huge sweet potato fan just because i am not used to it (ate it this year for the first time ever) but that’s no problem as it really doesn’t taste like sweet potato at all. this recipe is truly genius. i have a huge bowl of mashed sweet potao in my freezer now to make it whenever i want to =) give it a try, it’s worth it.
thank you so much brandi for this great recipe!!! (ew00kie from instagram 😉 )
Thank you so much Jana for the awesome feedback on my caramel!! It made me smile big and thank you so much or your amazing creation using the caramel and sharing it on Instagram, so gorgeous!! wow!
Wow!! Looks amazing Brandi! Love your 8 ingredients concept.
One question though, I know you use Almond flour a lot- can I substitute it by Coconut flour or normal wheat flour if that fails?
Problem is I want to avoid accumulating these exotic ingredients everytime I try a new recipe 🙂
Thanks a lot, really appreciate the great recipes and your ready support!
Regards
Hi Kalyani! Thank you so much! Unfortunately, you cannot substitute almond flour with either coconut flour or wheat flour. That would make the results extremely different texturally and dry. I use almond flour a lot because it is a whole, unprocessed food that provides both protein and health fat and it provides tons of moisture to my baked goods, which works amazing since I bake oil-free. There isn’t really a substitute without rewriting the entire recipe. The only other substitute would be to grind up sunflower kernels or walnuts into “flours” and sub with that, but those will leave a different flavor and it will or won’t work for every recipe. A lot of my readers make my recipes continually so the almond flour definitely doesn’t go to waste, if that’s what you are concerned with. I also don’t use a ton of ingredients, or different ingredients everytime, so you will definitely be able to keep using the same ingredients over without them going to waste. Hope that helps! Thank you!
This sweet potato caramel is amazing! Definitely recommend making it 🙂
Thank you so much Grace, I’m so glad you loved it so much and thank you for sharing your gorgeous photo creation on Instagram of your ice cream concoction, yum!
This caramel sauce is HEAVENLY!!!!! Hands down the best we’ve ever had 🙂 Willow finished it off last night eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon. Fantastic recipe, Brandi!
Wow, thanks so much for the awesome feedback Mandy!! That’s a wonderful compliment, thank you! xo
I cannot wait to try this. Do you know how long it keeps in the fridge? I’ve been on a total caramel kick lately and can’t wait to try this amazing version!
Hi Michelle! I have made a large batch and kept it in there about a week and it was still good, so I’d say no more than a week, which shouldn’t be a problem, haha! I have a couple of readers that make a really large amount and then freeze extra. It’s that good and it doesn’t turn rock hard, so it’s great for mixing in frozen desserts and ice cream too! If you are on Instagram, find me @thevegan8 and type in hashtag #thevegan8 and you can see all the different ways people are using it. Also, stay tuned for another new recipe coming that is featuring the caramel 🙂
Another question, do you think this would work in a caramel latte or more just a dessert caramel?
Thank you
Oh yes! I think it would be fabulous in a latte! You will seriously be amazed at how much it is like normal caramel, so it could really work in any way that you would typically use caramel. I put it on ice cream too and it is divine. Leave me feedback after you make it, I can’t wait to hear what you think, thank you!
Does the coconut milk need to be chilled and skimmed for this recipe?
Hi Michelle! Nope! Just shake the can well first before measuring so the water and cream are well mixed prior. I’ll add that note to the recipe. Let me know how it turns out!
So…. Yeah…. Made this sauce and poured it all over gf/vegan protein pumpkin waffles. I don’t think it could get any better than that. Thank you for creating this recipe… Will be trying the muffins soon too.
I could read a book about this without finding such real-world apescaohpr!
SUCH an amazing recipe! Almost too good to be true. You have to try it!
Thank you so much Cajsa! I’m so glad you loved it so much! The BEST part is that is NOT too good to be true, haha! Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
This recipe totally lived up to and even exceeded my expectations Brandi! Seriously seriously good. I want to put that caramel on everything. I actually made it with homemade almond milk (creamier than the storebought kind) instead of coconut milk the first time and it was still really good, just a little less rich. I thought the muffins were fabulous too and will definitely be making them again, maybe without the caramel but with chocolate chips 😀
Thanks for YET ANOTHER winning recipe!
I’m so happy it exceeded your expectations Emma and thank you for making it and sharing it on Instagram! I’m thrilled you loved both the caramel and the muffins and YES, I am totally down with making the muffins with just chocolate chips next time, in fact I may just do that today!! xo
I made this recipe to make muffins…but after making them I realized I didn’t have muffin pans!!! I wanted to make them for breakfast sooo I took the batter and made pancakes out of them….they came out absolutely wonderfully delicious!!! I also made the sweet potato caramel and topped it onto the pancake….omg…ahhhmazing!! Thank you Brandi for creating such wonderful recipes! ❤❤❤
Wonderful! I’m so glad you loved them as pancakes…this is so similar to how I made my Life Changing Pancakes, so I’m thrilled you loved the pancakes and topping them with caramel too, wow! Yum! Thanks so much for leaving feedback and sharing your photo on Instagram 🙂
I always hold my breath when baking a new vegan cake or muffin because so often they don’t rise, or just don’t cut it in some other way. NOT THESE!!! oh man! Perfect! They rise and are fluffy and moist, the flavor is rich and decadent… and let’s talk about that caramel sauce! Whoo whee! I mean, seriously?? I had been eying a simple sweet potato caramel sauce made from only sweet potatoes, but it seemed so labor intensive. Yours is not only incredibly delicious, but super easy. Dangerously easy. In fact, after this, I’m headed to the kitchen to whip up some more! Thank you for all your truly amazing recipes.
Liz, I don’t know where my other comment went in response to your amazing feedback, so I’m leaving it again!! I see it’s vanished! Anyways, thank you so much for such amazing feedback! I’m ecstatic you loved these so much, your feedback is just awesome and so appreciated! 🙂
How long is the caramel sauce good for after you make it? Looking forward to making these and the sweet potato chocolate chip blondies!
Can I use stevia instead of coconut sugar?
Hi Jaspreet! You can if you like, but I honestly have no idea how much you would use and how it would affect the taste. I never use stevia in my baking, as I don’t like the taste and find it to leave a bitter aftertaste. What I would do is add as much as you normally do with your baking and taste the batter to see if it’s sweet enough, baring in mind that it is always less sweet after it is baked, so make sure it is a bit sweeter than you’d like when tasting it. Again, I don’t know the taste result it will leave, but let me know if you try it. 🙂
Brandiiiiii! I FINALLY made these sweet potato cinnamon muffins with OUT OF THIS WORLD sweet potato caramel glaze!! Fabulous, wonderful, spectacular! First of all this was super easy to make even though the recipe printed out to 3 pages. I baked my sweet potato yesterday and mashed it and my husband kept stealing spoonfuls of it! I had to hide it to keep him out of it! The muffins were so light and moist and fluffy! Delicious on their own and with the sweet potato caramel on top, they were indescribable! It took all our self control not to eat the entire batch tonight! Wow did you score a winner! I am definitely baking these to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with our family this year. I’ll post the pic and tag you tomorrow on Instagram. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Diana! I’m soooo happy you loved them so much!! Thanks so much for the awesome feedback and sharing your photo on instagram! I agree too, eating the caramel by the spoonful is hard not to do 🙂
I made this caramel and cake but i couldn’t waste the coconut fat. I made it into a whip cream which went on before the sauce. Pretty delicious and simple i had all ingredients. I subbed pastry flour and it stayed moist in a cake. Thanks for vegan recipes!!!
Wonderful Rose! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and I love that you added whipped cream on top…whipped cream and caramel?! Oh yeah! Thanks for tagging me on Instagram as well, I really appreciate it!