Muffins

These Sweet Potato Pecan Muffins are sweet, flavored with Fall spices, and incredibly moist thanks to the addition of roasted sweet potatoes.

Up until today, it has still been HOT in North Carolina. Despite what the thermometer says, it’s Fall in my heart (and according to the calendar).

Pumpkin gets a lot of attention this time of year. I’m as guilty as the next guy of this, too. I love pumpkin. I’m a certified basic bitch, okay?

BUT there are other seasonal vegetables that deserve our attention. Take the humble sweet potato, for instance. They’re naturally sweet and delicious, a vibrant orange color, and perfect in baked goods.

These muffins are super moist, just like a pumpkin quick bread, and the honeyed pecans add a nice bit of crunch. They’re perfect for breakfast or a snack.

These muffins will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.

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Sweet Potato Pecan Muffins

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 muffins

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup apple sauce, or vegetable oil
• 2 cups sweet potato, about 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, roasted and mashed
• 3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped, plus more for topping the muffins
• honey, for drizzling onto muffins

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves together. Set aside.
3. In another medium-sized bowl, combine the sugars, eggs, oil, and mashed sweet potato until smooth.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the pecan pieces.
5. Divide the batter between the muffin cups (they will be very full). Top with a few more pecan pieces. Drizzle the top of each muffin with a little honey. The honey helps the pecans on top to get candied a bit while baking.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
7. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

In search of additional sweet potato goodness? Check out these Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies! Or maybe you’re on the hunt for more breakfast treats? Try these Sweet Potato Waffles with Candied Pecans on for size.

These Apple Oat Streusel Muffins are moist, tender, and full of apples and fall flavors. Plus, they’re topped with a spicy, crunchy streusel!

Yes, it’s muffins again.  If you’ll recall, I shared these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins with you all a couple of weeks ago.

But now we’re back with another really great fall flavor combination: apples and cinnamon.  They’re really tender, and an unrealistic part of me likes to think that they’re sort of healthy because they’re full of apples, coconut oil, and oats. See other apple and cinnamon-related goodness here: Apple Crisp.

This recipe comes from Celebrating Sweets.

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Apple Oat Streusel Muffins

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

For the muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup cooked plain oatmeal
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup finely chopped apple (see notes)

For the streusel -

• 2 tbs all-purpose flour
• 2 tbs old fashioned oats
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

Instructions

To make the muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Set aside.

3. In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, brown sugar, eggs, oatmeal, and applesauce. 

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. Add the apple and stir until combined.

5. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups.

To make the streusel

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon. Work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles wet sand.

2. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the 12 muffin cups.

3. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Recipe Notes

Notes: I used a Gala apple and left the skin on

 

These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are moist and tender, full of pumpkin flavor, and studded with mini chocolate chips.

Though I generally use pumpkin in my cooking and baking year-round, it’s now officially Fall. It’s that time of year where we all turn into basic bitches. Pumpkin recipes are fully acceptable. Prepare yourselves.

Actually, I take that back. Sort of. I’m going to try to exercise some amount of restraint this year. If I can’t limit the overall quantity, I’ll at least make an effort to scatter non pumpkin recipes throughout the coming months.

Pumpkin and chocolate really do play well together, though, and are perfect in these muffins.

See this pumpkin cheesecake (with an Oreo crust and chocolate bourbon sauce!) and these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for more examples.

This recipe is slightly adapted from Sweet and Savoury Pursuits.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable/canola oil or apple sauce
• 15 oz can pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for on top of muffins

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves together. Set aside.

3. In another medium-sized bowl, combine the sugars, eggs, oil, and pumpkin puree until smooth.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.

5. Divide the batter between the muffin cups (they will be pretty full). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

6. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

These (double) chocolate banana muffins are studded with walnuts. They’re moist and chocolatey. The chocolate chips and walnuts keep the texture interesting.

Let’s talk about these muffins. Yet again, I had bananas sitting on my counter top that were on the verge of being too ripe for consumption. You’ll notice that this happens a lot. See these muffins, this banana bread, or these banana bread cookies for just a few examples.

Until now, I hadn’t done a chocolate banana muffin. They’re chocolatey, still retain some banana flavor, are kept moist by the bananas and oil, and are kept interesting in terms of texture by the chocolate chips and nuts. This recipe makes a big batch, too. So they’re perfect for sharing.

This recipe comes from All She Cooks.

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Double Chocolate Walnut Banana Muffins

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 muffins

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 4 medium-large bananas, very ripe
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips, plus more for topping
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped, plus more for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the bananas until they are well mashed. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, olive oil, and milk. Mix until everything is combined. Add the sugar and mix until combined again.

4. In a couple of batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed. Fold in the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.
5. Fill the muffin tins up almost halfway with muffin batter. Top with some more chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife, when inserted in the center, comes out clean.
6. Cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin before removing the muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

These Skinny Banana Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins are full of chocolate and raspberry flavor, and are kept super healthy by using bananas and Greek yogurt, too!

For those of you who saw my Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread earlier this week, you can see that a bit of a pattern is forming here. That pattern is delicious baked goods about which you don’t have to feel so bad for eating!

I’ve been grabbing one of these muffins to have as a mid-afternoon snack every day this week. They definitely satisfy cravings for something sweet and carb-y, while still being pretty decent for you. The sweet/tart pop of the raspberries adds a nice contrast, too!

I put the next recipe to appear on this blog to a vote on Facebook (click on over and give A Nerd Cooks a like!), and these muffins beat out some macaroni and cheese and a broiled grapefruit by a landslide!

Don’t worry, the mac and cheese and grapefruit will be posted next week.

Thank you, Sally’s Baking Addiction, for this recipe.

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Skinny Banana Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, plus more for topping
• 1 3/4 cups ,fresh raspberries frozen

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

3. In another bowl, combine the honey/maple syrup and brown sugar. After removing as many of the lumps as possible, add the bananas, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and start to combine. Stream the milk in, continuing to mix until everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and raspberries, being careful to not smash them or dye the entire batter pink with the raspberry juices.

5. Using the prepared muffin tin, fill the cups to the top. Sprinkle with some more chocolate chips, if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins.  Let them cool completely.