Sweet Potato Muffins

It’s officially fall, so I think it’s alright if I post these. They aren’t fall muffins per se, but they sure tasted like fall to me! It’s another great recipe from Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain. What I wanted were definitely muffins, and these delivered, but if you are interested, they have been made into frosted cakelets on The Kitchn. I loved how moist they were, not to mention nutritious! I’ve loved everything I’ve made from this cookbook. I also, for the first time, got my dates in bulk at Whole Foods, so I was able to get only 6 and not have any leftovers – win! Note that I used 2 cups of white whole wheat flour instead of a mix if white and whole wheat.

¾ lb. sweet potatoes (about 2 small or 1 medium)
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. cinnamon (I used Ceylon cinnamon and reduced the amount a bit)
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. allspice
¼ cup (½ stick) butter or vegan margarine
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (i.e., lactose-free milk with a splash of lemon juice)
½ cup lactose-free plain yogurt
6 Medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and wrap in tin foil. Bake for about 1 to 1 ½ hours, depending on their size, until they are tender when pierced with a fork. (The bottoms should be dark, even burnt-looking, and the juices beginning to caramelize.) Set aside to cool.

Peel and discard the skins, loosely mash up the potatoes in a bowl, and set aside.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 °F. Grease a standard muffin tin.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg and half of the sweet potatoes and continue to beat for another minute or so. Next, on low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until partly combined. Add the buttermilk and yogurt and mix until combined. Add the chopped dates, separating them over the surface of the batter so they don’t clump together. Ass the remaining sweet potatoes and mix until barely combined; there should be pockets of sweet potato in the batter.
Scoop batter into prepared tins (the recipe says 10, but I got 12) and bake for 35-40 minutes (mine were done after 30 minutes). Test with a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean. The bottoms of the muffins should be dark golden in color (twist a muffin out of the pan to check). Take the tin out of the oven, twist each muffin out, and place it on its side in the cup to cool – this ensures that the muffin stays crusty instead of soggy.