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The sweet potato muffins on a wooden platter with cinnamon sticks around them.
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Sweet Potato Muffins With Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

Give fall brunch a festive touch! These sweet potato muffins with ginger cream cheese filling feature an ultra fluffy, tender crumb and a lively fall spice kick. Perfect for Thanksgiving breakfast or a casual autumn gathering with friends.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 12 muffins
Calories 287kcal

Ingredients

For Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

  • 4 ounces cream cheese softened
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

For Sweet Potato Muffins

  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs room temperature
  • 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (see note)
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup melted butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
  • cup chopped pecans

Instructions

  • For Ginger Cream Cheese Filling
  • Beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar and ginger until fluffy. 
  • Set aside. 
  • For Sweet Potato Muffins
  • Heat oven to 425 degrees and place baking liners in a muffin tray. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, dark brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking soda and baking powder until well combined. Some lumps will be unavoidable, but try to break up any big brown sugar lumps. 
  • In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, mashed sweet potatoes, whole milk, vegetable oil, melted butter and vanilla extract until combined.
  • Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and fold just until combined. Do not overmix. Leaving some lumps is OK. The batter won't be perfectly smooth.
  • Spoon the batter into baking liners so that it's ¾ full. Dollop some ginger cream cheese filling, about 2 teaspoons, on top of each muffin and sprinkle pecans on the batter on the side. Place in the 425-degree oven. Keeping the oven closed, immediately turn oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean on the muffin part, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven. As soon as they're cool enough to handle, remove from the muffin pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

  • For altitude at 5,280 feet, I reduced the baking soda to ⅞ teaspoon and the baking powder to ⅞ teaspoon. I made no other adjustments.
  • To make the mashed sweet potatoes, peel 2-3 sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place in a pot of cold water on the stove and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until a fork easily pierces the sweet potato, about 20 minutes. Drain and mash until smooth. You only need 1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes, so discard any extra. You can take care of this step ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • While the ginger cream cheese filling is listed first, I separated the filling and muffin recipes to make them easier to read. When it comes to timing, I like to set out the cream cheese in room temperature to soften when I start peeling the potatoes. After mashing the potatoes, I then make the filling, set it aside and then proceed with the muffin batter. 
  • For full tips, please see blog post.
  • Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 293mg | Sugar: 16g