Jumbo Sweet Potato Gingerbread Muffins

Classic jumbo muffins with nostalgic gingerbread flavor swirled with bits of rich, roasted sweet potato and topped with crunchy crushed pecans. Sponsored by Wayfair and originally published November 2018. Last updated December 2022.

It's that time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas when the holiday season is completely popping. You're probably visiting friends and family and/or having them over to your home. And what better way to show up on someone's doorstep or welcome them to yours than with homemade baked goods?

If you enjoy homemade bakery treats, try these recipes next!

• Candy Cane Cookes
• Cranberry Apple Pecan Bread Pudding
• Honey Poppy Seed Banana Bread

This sweet potato gingerbread muffins recipe is extremely easy and my favorite dessert to use up leftover sweet potatoes. Holiday guests describe them as comforting and pure fire. If you have any extra sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving, use them here.

What do they taste Like?

This unique muffin recipe starts with roasted sweet potato. I prefer roasting over boiling or steaming to get deeper flavor and tender, pliable texture that blends as easily into this muffin batter as it does my famous bourbon sweet potato pie. Sweet potato gingerbread muffins are dense and moist with tiny orange bits of sweet potato throughout. Crunchy pecans balances out the soft crumb.

Flavor-wise, you'll taste deep spicy sweetness from the combination of sugars and warming gingerbread spices like clove and cinnamon. Butter and vanilla add richness and classic bakery taste along with nutmeg. The combination of sweet potato and pecans is similar to pecan sweet potato pie.

What You'll Need for this Recipe

Making spiced sweet potato muffins is simple and so is the ingredient list. Here's what to add to your grocery cart. You'll see that this is an egg-free muffin recipe, which means you can lick the bowl!

• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Butter
• Brown Sugar
• Flour
• Gingerbread Spices
• Granulated Sugar
• Milk
• Molasses
• Pecans
• Sea Salt
• Sweet Potato
• Vanilla Extract

A note on substitutions: You can use any kind of pecans from this recipe--whole, halves, or pieces--and chop them into the right size for topping the sweet potato muffins. However, for ease, tiny pecan bits are commonly sold as pecan chips or cookie pieces in the grocery store bakery sections.

Tips & Tools for this Recipe

As far as tools, grab paper muffin liners and a stand mixer to easily combine all the muffin batter ingredients. Alternatively, you can use a large mixing bowl and silicone spatula.

My jumbo sweet potato gingerbread muffins are baked in a six-count muffin pan but you can also make 12 smaller ones in a nonstick cupcake pan if that's what you have on hand and you'll be set to welcome even more guests over!

What's the secret to making good muffins? For bakery style muffins at home, bring the cold ingredients to room temperature. And mix the wet and dry ingredients separately then combine. This is the same method I use for my jumbo lemon blueberry muffins.

No matter which mixing method you use, just be sure not to overwork the batter. I mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated then finish by hand with the silicone spatula to make sure there are no dry pockets hiding.

How to make muffins fluffy? Start with high heat. Let the muffins bake for about 10 minutes then lower oven temperature for the remaining baking time. This hot start activates the rising agents quickly for fluffy muffin tops!

Can I bake muffins ahead of time? Yes! These muffins get better with time and can be made a few days ahead of time. Just cool then store them in an airtight container to keep moist. And storing homemade muffins at room temperature is your best bet for freshness and texture. Muffins will keep up to four days on the countertop.

What Makes Gingerbread Flavor?

Classic gingerbread taste comes from a special combination of spices and molasses. Here's the gingerbread spice mix.

• Allspice
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Ginger
• Nutmeg

Gingerbread sweet potato muffins include everything above except for the allspice only because I don't typically keep that on hand and find the flavor to be on point without it. If you prefer, add up to half a teaspoon of allspice.

More Gingerbread Treats

• Bourbon Gingerbread Hot Chocolate
• Chewy Gingerbread Cocoa Cookies
• Gingerbread Christmas Donuts
• Two-Bite Gingerbread Chocolate Mini Holiday Cakes

And More Sweet Potato Recipes

• Baked Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cups
• Browned Butter Sweet Potato Soup
• Salted Caramel Sweet Potato Bars
• Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Crust
• Sweet Potato Praline Bread Pudding

I hope you'll welcome holiday guests into your home this season with a warm batch of fall muffins. Sharing is caring so be sure to pin this gingerbread treat for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!

Gingerbread Sweet Potato Muffin Recipe

Sweet Potato Gingerbread Muffins

Jazzmine from Dash of Jazz

Classic jumbo muffins with nostalgic gingerbread flavors and roasted sweet potato, studded with pecan bits

4.89 from 9 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hr

Cook Time 35 mins

Total Time 1 hr 35 mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 6 muffins

Calories 501 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 sweet potato about 6 to 8 ounces
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup molasses
• ½ cup unsalted butter melted
• ⅓ cup milk room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground clove
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped pecans also known as "cookie pieces"

Instructions

 

• Spray a six-count muffin pan with nonstick oil and set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Pierce sweet potato a few times with a fork and place on oven rack. Roast for about 40 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool to the touch then peel.
• Using a stand mixer or hand beater, mix together cooled sweet potato, sugar, molasses, melted butter, vanilla extract, and milk. Small chunks of sweet potato will remain.
• In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, and sea salt. Add to wet mixture and mix until just incorporated and no dry pockets remain.
• Divide batter evenly between each well of prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle chopped pecans over top of each muffin then lightly press them into the batter.
• Transfer pan to oven to bake for 10 minutes then lower oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake an additional 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Serve warm.

Notes

• If using a stand mixer or food processor, be sure not to over-mix batter. Mix or process dry mixture into wet until just incorporated then stir by hand to check for dry pockets.
• ½ tablespoon of Allspice can be added to this recipe for more authentic gingerbread flavor.

Nutrition

Calories: 501kcalCarbohydrates: 82gProtein: 6gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 373mgPotassium: 487mgFiber: 3gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 5819IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 114mgIron: 4mg

Keyword gingerbread recipe, how to make gingerbread, how to make muffins, jumbo muffins, jumbo muffins baking time, roasted sweet potato

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!