It just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the yams or sweet potatoes. Consider this recipe Thanksgiving in a cupcake.
Although… I’m pretty sure the pilgrims didn’t have marshmallow frosting back in the day. 😕
Minor details.
If you wish to take it one step further and stuff the cupcakes with cranberry jelly after baking, by all means go ahead!
Sweet Potato Cupcakes
(makes 10-11)
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 1/2 cup sweet potato puree
- 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil or melted coconut oil (35g)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 cup spelt flour or all-purpose flour (Or sub 1 cup Bob’s gf flour plus 1/2 tsp xanthan gum)
- 1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, coconut sugar, or xylitol
- pinch pure stevia extract, or 1 extra tbsp sugar of choice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cupcake tin or line with cupcake liners, and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, sweet potato, vanilla, oil, and vinegar. Let sit at least 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients and stir very well. Pour wet into dry, and stir until just evenly mixed. Pour evenly into cupcake tins. Make sure the batter fills only a little over half of each cupcake tin, as it will rise considerably as it cooks. Bake 19-20 minutes, or until cupcakes have risen and are lightly golden. Let cool 15 minutes before removing from the cupcake tins.
Marshmallow Frosting: (For a coconut-free alternative, simply use something like Ricemellow Crème as your frosting instead.)
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream
- pinch pure stevia, or 2-3 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp marshmallow extract (such as this)
Open the coconut milk (try not to shake it before opening), and if it’s not already super-thick, leave the can in the fridge overnight. It should get very thick. If it doesn’t, you’ve gotten a can that won’t work for the recipe. I recommend Thai Kitchen Organic or—for a foolproof option, use coconut cream such as Trader Joe’s. (Hint: shake the can when you’re at the store. If you can hear the liquidy contents swishing around, it’s probably too thin to work for this recipe.) Once thick, transfer only the creamy coconut cream to a bowl and whip in your sweetener and extract with a fork or with beaters if you want to be really fancy. Due to the perishable nature of the whipped cream, it’s best to frost the cupcakes immediately before serving.
Question of the Day:
What are your favorite ways to eat yams or sweet potatoes?
If you need inspiration, see the following link: Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes.
Side note: I normally try very hard to not mention current events or anything not directly related to food and recipes (as it’s a slippery slope – there are so many causes, and how can you deem one cause more important than any of the others?). However, due to the magnitude, I feel compelled to mention the typhoon in the Philippines. Please take a few seconds today to visit your favorite reputable charity’s website, such as Red Cross or UNICEF, to find out how you can help.
My favorite part of sweet potato casserole are the toasted marshmallows on top, and I feel this recipe is incomplete if it isn’t there. Is there a way to achieve that with this frosting, or is there some way you can do that with a different frosting recipe?
Ricemellow Creme or Marshmallow Fluff.
You could probably put some mini marshmallows under the broiler and then sprinkle them on top!
Mmm, you’re so philanthropic
EVERYONE should try the Okinawan sweet potato. It’s PURPLE, dense, sweet, and delicious.
I’ve had those before, they were AMAZING! It didn’t even need any toppings.
What exactly is the marshmallow extract made out of?
There’s a link in her recipe where you can find that info out, Val. It doesn’t contain any fake ingredients or chemicals, if that’s what you’re looking for!
These sound so yummy and perfect for Thanksgiving! Does anyone know if subbing applesauce for the oil would work? Or maybe even just adding more sweet potato?
Baked and stuffed. Avocado, mango, grilled onions and peppers and greens (spinach or kale). Topped with salsa. That’s what it must have and then if there’s anything else in the fridge I’ll add it. I bake 5 sweet potatoes on Sunday and spread these out over lunches and dinner all week. It’s a quick and easy meal after boot camp classes.
“I normally try very hard to not mention current events or anything not directly related to food and recipes (as it’s a slippery slope – there are so many causes, and how can you deem one cause more important than any of the others?)”
I agree–way too many sad/tragic events going on in the world to choose from, that’s for sure. But the typhoon is particularly so. It saddens me how often that side of the world seems to be hit with major major natural disasters.
I’ve just gotten into experimenting with the coconut “whipped” cream–I’ve found not all brands of coconut milk are created equal!
I have always wanted to try baking something sweet with sweet potatoes! These look awesome and I love the marshmallow frosting addition!
Hi Katie,
Silent reader here. This recipe looks amazing, but has forced me to voice a concern, or really a cry for help. My dad LOVES almond roca candy, and we always have it around holidays, so this year I want to make him a cookie bar spinoff: http://itsybitsyfoodies.com/almond-roca-cookie-bars/
There is no healthy or vegan versions of this I can find, anywhere. Is it something you could add to your to-make list?
I would be forever grateful!
Happy remembrance day from Alberta, Canada.
You could probably put some mini marshmallows under the broiler and then sprinkle them on top!
Whoops. For some reason it took my comment to one of the first posters and copied it when I went to comment here? No idea 😛
Anywho, I bet you have a few options if Katie doesn’t have any suggestions!
1. For the crust base use her chickpea blondie recipe ( http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/18/chocolate-chip-blondies-and-theyre-good-for-you/ ), her fudge recipe for a different spin ( http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/01/24/%E2%80%9Cgood-girl%E2%80%9D-vegan-fudge/ ) or use her chocolate chip cookie recipe and make them into bars ( http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/04/27/worlds-healthiest-chocolate-chip-cookies/ ).
2. For the chocolate topping use her homemade chocolate bars recipe in the melted form ( http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/15/three-ingredient-chocolate-bars-1/ ), storebought chocolate, or even carob powder + coconut oil (in equal amounts) makes a great tasting “chocolate” that hardens nicely when frozen.
3. The just top with chopped up almonds and you have a healthy/vegan version of the almond roca bars!
Sorry to but in Katie, but I just wanted to share my thoughts 🙂
Please don’t be sorry at all… I love your ideas!
Awesome ideas! Thank you both!
I can definitely put it on my growing list of things to try and experiment to make 🙂
Yum, these sound so good, especially the marshmallow frosting!
I’ve never been a fan of marshmallows on sweet potatoes – I’ve always found it a combination that is way too sweet to be considered part of dinner. But sweet potato cupcakes with marshmallow frosting sounds much more suitable.
And they’re vegan! Love!
Pinned.
Man, now even you have gotten on the coconut milk frosting train! 😀 I really need to try that out. Just have to find some full fat canned coconut milk without all of the lovely *sarcasm* ingredients!
I know that in the past mentioning charities has put you in some hot water… which I still don’t understand, but I personally love both your posts and introductions that are non-food related. And I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way 🙂
these look AMAZING!
alexandriafini.com
These sound delicious. I love sweet potatoes and am happy eating them any and every way possible. I most often roast them (http://taplatt.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/recipe-roasted-root-vegetables/), but I also love these pancakes (http://taplatt.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/recipe-sweet-potato-pancakes/), and these biscuits are a revelation (http://taplatt.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/recipe-sweet-potato-rosemary-biscuits/)
This looks like such a delicious recipe! As I am not a huge fan sweet potato, do you think this would work with pumpkin? The frosting looks just gorgeous! Thank you for everything, Katie! <3
Yes
AWESOME! So glad to see the marshmallow flavoring is vegan and doesn’t contain any artificial flavorings or junk! These sound great! Wish i wasn’t allergic to sweet potatoes!
You can sub with puréed carrot or butternut squash
A little different in flavour, but still pretty close and similar in texture
I’ve tried sweet potatoes in brownies and although the brownies were delicious, the sweet potatoes were masked by the chocolate. I love how the sweet potato flavour rings through in your cupcakes – so creative!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Sweet potatoes are one of my all-time favorite foods; this sounds ridiculous, but I was so excited when I saw the title of this post that I got a little teary-eyed 🙂
One of my favorite sweet potato recipes is actually a breakfast recipe – I usually only eat about half of a medium sweet potato at a time, so I always end up with these halves of cooked sweet potatoes in my fridge. So one morning, I decided to mash up one of these leftover halves with 2Tbsp peanut butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon (actually, a lot of cinnamon, because I am a cinnamon addict), a pinch of sugar, and about a cup and a half of plain Greek yogurt. The result was a thick, creamy yet magically fluffy, and absolutely mind-blowingly delicious breakfast. I added a cup of Chex cereal, too, for a contrasting texture. So, so good, and it keeps me full for hours!
I love eating sweet potatoes baked. I top them with black beans, corn, guacamole, and sautéed spinach! Sometimes a little spicy red pepper hummus too! Mmmmm!
Katie, these look great! Looks like a yummy way to use some seasonal produce 🙂
I love throwing a nice glob of peanut butter or almond butter on my sweet potatoes, followed by a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon. So so good.