These vegan chocolate sweet potato muffins with chocolate chips are decadent and easy to make. You will love these oil-free, refined sugar-free and gluten-free muffins for breakfast or a snack!
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If you love chocolate, you are going to love these muffins! These chocolate sweet potato muffins are fudgy, dense, and dark. Plus this recipe has lots of chocolate chips to add to the deliciousness. The addition of sweet potato and pumpkin pie spice makes this recipe perfect for autumn and winter.
You may wonder why I put sweet potato in muffins. I had some canned sweet potato in the fridge, and I was trying to think of ways to use it up. A portion of it went into a green smoothie. In addition to that decidedly healthy option, I developed this seasonal recipe as a way to use up the leftover sweet potato.
🍽 Equipment
What you're going to need to make this chocolate and sweet potato muffin recipe:
🥘 Ingredients
What makes these chocolate sweet potato muffins a healthier option? These muffins are gluten-free, oil-free, and refined sugar-free.
Here are the ingredients you are going to need to make this recipe. The specific amounts are in the recipe card:
- flaxseed meal plus warm water (to replace egg)
- teff flour -Teff flour is a gluten-free ancient whole grain that originates from Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is high in fiber, B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, potassium, zinc, and iron. It has a pleasantly nutty flavor that works well in this recipe.
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- coconut sugar and maple syrup, instead of refined sugar
- pumpkin pie spice
- baking soda
- fine sea salt
- unsweetened sweet potato puree These root vegetables are nutrient-dense and contain plenty of fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Not to mention they are rich in antioxidants.
- applesauce - A healthy alternative to oil.
- black tahini or regular tahini - The nuttiness of the tahini works well to bring out the flavors in this recipe since it pairs perfectly with chocolate.
- organic soy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ Cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips divided
🥣 Instructions
Since these muffins are essentially quick bread, the instructions are straight forward. You will be mixing the dry and wet ingredients in their own bowls and then gently combining them.
Have you ever wondered what is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? It's not just the frosting! It turns out there's much more to it; the mixing method and composition play a big part in differentiating muffins and cupcakes from each other.
- Preheat the oven and prepare a muffin tin by placing paper liners in it.
- Mix flaxseed meal with warm water in a small bowl and set aside for several minutes to thicken.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients, then add the flaxseed/water mixture (which has thickened up after a few minutes) and whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and pour the liquid mixture into the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula until just combined, then stir in 1 cup chocolate chips, reserving the rest for the top.
- Pour the batter into the paper liners, evenly distributing it with an ice cream scoop among the 12 muffin liners. Then top with ¼ cup remaining chocolate chips.
- Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. When the muffins are ready, they should spring back when touched, or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs, without raw batter on it.
♻️ Variations
- Try pumpkin instead of sweet potato.
- Instead of teff flour, try white whole wheat flour which is lighter than 100% whole wheat flour, or try whole wheat pastry flour or 50% whole wheat pastry flour and 50% oat flour (this recipe will not be gluten-free anymore).
- If you want to try almond flour, I suggest substituting with no more than 25% of the total amount of flour. If you try this, let me how the substitutions turn out. I haven't tried it myself yet.
- I don't recommend using regular 100% whole wheat unless you like a dense and heavy muffin.
💭 Top tip
- I used these paper liners for my muffins. This way I could use all the batter for making 12 muffins. If you prefer, you can skip the paper liners, but you will need an extra pan. Be sure to grease the muffin tins prior to filling and fill them a bit higher than halfway.
Storage
- These freshly baked muffins will last for about 1 to 2 days at normal room temperature. Cover them with foil or plastic wrap or place them in a plastic bag to prevent them from drying out.
- These muffins will keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
- You may freeze them for up to one month. To freeze them, let them cool and wrap them tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place them in a heavy-duty freezer bag. They will keep for two to three months in the freezer.
More recipes
Try these Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins!
If you make these vegan Chocolate Sweet Potato Muffins, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe, and tag me on Instagram. Be sure to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’d love to see you there!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- 6 tablespoons warm water
- 1 ½ cups teff flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsweetened sweet potato puree canned
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup black tahini or regular tahini
- ½ cup organic soy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ Cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a muffin tin by placing paper liners in it.
- Mix flaxseed meal with warm water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to thicken.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together teff flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and sea salt.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine sweet potato puree, applesauce, maple syrup, black tahini, soy milk, and vanilla extract. Add flaxseed/water mixture and whisk to combine.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula until just combined, and stir in 1 cup chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the paper liners, evenly distributing it with an ice cream scoop among the 12 muffin liners. Top with ¼ cup remaining chocolate chips.
- Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. When the muffins are ready, they should spring back when touched, or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs, without raw batter on it.
Notes
- Use paper liners to hold all the batter. If you choose to use a muffin tin without the liners, you will need a second muffin pan. Be sure to oil the muffin pans before filling them. Fill a little more than halfway.
- These freshly baked muffins will last for about 1 to 2 days at normal room temperature. Cover them with foil or plastic wrap or place them in a plastic bag to prevent them from drying out.
- These muffins will keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
- You may freeze them for up to one month. To freeze them, let them cool and wrap them tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place them in a heavy-duty freezer bag. They will keep for two to three months in the freezer.
Nutrition
The recipe is adapted from Oh She Glows One Bowl Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins.
Brian says
Having tried these, they really are that good! Great job, Emily!
Emily says
Thanks so much, Brian!
Nikole Berg says
Can't wait to give these a try! They look so good. Your photography is great!
Emily says
Thank you so much, Nikole! I really appreciate it!
Teri says
I've been dreaming of making these for a while now. Tomorrow is the day. 🙂 Gorgeous looking muffins, Emily.
Emily says
Thank you so much, Teri. I hope you love them as much as we do!
Alaina says
These look really good! Could I use whole wheat, oat, or almond flour instead teff flour?
Emily says
Thank you so much! I haven't tried it with these flours, but I encourage you to experiment. You could try whole wheat, although the result might be a bit dense. If you have whole wheat pastry flour, that is a fine substitution. I suggest trying 50% whole wheat and 50% oat flour. For the almond flour, I suggest substituting with no more than 25% of the total amount of flour. I'd love to hear how the substitutions turn out!