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Sweet Potato Cupcakes

5 from 27 votes

Full of spiced cinnamon and sweet potato flavor, these marshmallow frosted sweet potato cupcakes are like Thanksgiving dessert in a cupcake!

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Soft, moist, fluffy, and absolutely delightful, you really can’t go wrong with these homemade frosted sweet potato cupcakes.

They’re also a great option for Friendsgiving dinners, because the cupcakes are easy to transport, and guests absolutely love them!

If you wish to take it one step further and stuff the cupcakes with marshmallow fluff or cranberry jelly after baking, by all means go ahead.

Readers also love this Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Above, watch the sweet potato cupcake recipe video

Marshmallow Frosting Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Sweet potato cupcake ingredients

The recipe calls for sweet potato, cinnamon, pure vanilla extract, milk of choice or water, flour, oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and ground ginger.

For oil free cupcakes, replace the oil in the recipe with an equal amount of additional sweet potato puree, Greek yogurt, or milk of choice.

The cupcakes work with spelt flour or loosely measured white flour or gluten free all purpose flour. I have not tried using almond flour, coconut flour, rice flour, or whole wheat flour here and cannot recommend those.

Vinegar and baking soda cause the cupcake to rise, much like in the popular volcano science experiment. So no eggs are required. For vegan sweet potato cupcakes, simply use water or your favorite plant based milk.

If you’re looking for flourless cupcakes, try these Keto Chocolate Cupcakes.

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

What type of sweet potatoes?

The recipe works with pretty much any variety of sweet potato or yam, including jewel, garnet, purple, white, and Japanese sweet potatoes.

You can use roasted sweet potato puree (here’s how to cook sweet potatoes) or canned sweet potato puree, which should be available near the pumpkin at many regular grocery stores and health food stores.

And if you wish to substitute canned pumpkin or butternut squash puree, that is fine too. Of course, they won’t be sweet potato cupcakes anymore!

Cupcakes With White Icing

How to make sweet potato cupcakes

Start by whisking the sweet potato puree, water, vanilla extract, vinegar, and optional oil in a large mixing bowl.

Let this sit for ten minutes, while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cupcake tin with nine liners.

Stir all remaining ingredients into the large bowl to form a cupcake batter. Scoop the batter into the prepared liners, going about two thirds of the way up.

Bake for eighteen minutes on the oven’s center rack. Then let cool before frosting. If you can wait, I like to refrigerate the healthy sweet potato cupcakes overnight, very loosely covered. The liners peel off easily the next day, and there’s no risk of the frosting melting upon hitting a warm cupcake.

You can make mini sweet potato cupcakes in you prefer. Decrease the baking time to nine minutes and bake the cupcakes in lined mini muffin tins.

The recipe was adapted from my Pumpkin Cupcakes and Pumpkin Muffins

Vegan Sweet Potato Cupcake Recipe

Marshmallow Frosting

Feel free to frost the cupcakes in any way your heart desires.

Try cream cheese frosting, softened almond butter, coconut butter, chocolate or vanilla frosting, or a simple dusting of powdered sugar.

I topped the cupcakes with the following homemade marshmallow buttercream icing:

Using beaters or a stand mixer, whip the following until it turns into a thick buttercream frosting: 1 cup butter or plant based butter, 3 cups powdered sugar or erythritol, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, and 1/8 tsp marshmallow extract.

Homemade Sweet Potato Cupcake Recipe
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Sweet Potato Cupcakes

These sweet potato cupcakes are packed with cinnamon and sweet potato flavor.
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 18 minutes
Yield 9 cupcakes
5 from 27 votes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sweet potato puree
  • 1/2 cup water or milk of choice
  • 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp white or cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp oil, or additional sweet potato puree
  • 1 cup spelt, white, or gf all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar, unrefined if desired
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp each: salt, baking soda, and baking powder
  • optional 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake tin. Whisk first 5 ingredients, and let sit at least 10 minutes. You can sift remaining ingredients in a separate bowl while you wait or add them to the first bowl after time is up, then stir to form a batter. Scoop into the liners, about 2/3 of the way up. Bake 18 minutes, then let cool. These taste even better the next day, and the liners peel off easily after a day as well.
    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

Use leftover sweet potato to make Sweet Potato Brownies.
 

Have you made this recipe?

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Published on November 20, 2022

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ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

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82 Comments

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  1. Russell says

    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?

    • Kelly says

      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!

  2. Alexis says

    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?

  3. MaineMommy says

    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.

  4. janae @ bring joy says

    “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!

  5. Serenity says

    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.

  6. Abbie @ Needs Salt says

    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.

  7. Madison @ Eating 4 Balance says

    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 🙂

  8. Kayla says

    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

  9. Kelly says

    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!

  10. Katy says

    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!

  11. Becca says

    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!

  12. Corry says

    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!

  13. Alexa says

    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.

  14. Rebecca says

    Love yams & sweet potatoes! My favorite is to roast them in the oven with cinnamon and cumin! Can’t wait to try these cupcakes though!

  15. Emily says

    OHHHH MY GOSH!! *faints*
    I LOVE SWEET POTATOES!! not casserole where you ruin it with marshmallows and other stuff. just plain, baked until its soft and delicious an it MAKES ME SWOON. i actually just had one with dinner not three hours ago. <3

  16. Cassie says

    These look great, I have to try! I love having veggies snuck into baked goods.

    I honestly love sweet potatoes plain – I rub my skins with a little olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, and roast for 45 minutes – the skin is my favorite point at that point!

  17. MLR says

    I just had a sweet potato omlette and it was de-lish! just eggs,(baked)sweet potato and some salt and pepper.it almost felt like I was eating a pancake!

  18. Mel @ a table prepared says

    Yay, finally a break from pumpkin! It’s not even fall here in Australia…it’s only just warming up. These look delish Katie!

  19. Rose says

    (New reader – I love your site!!) I can’t eat coconut or soy (and a bunch of other stuff) – do you have any ideas on a vegan frosting alternative? (Suzanne’s brand ricemellow creme has soy in it).

  20. Bethanny says

    Hi Katie, I’m a huge fan of your blog and I noticed you make a lot of copycat versions of packaged desserts like the cosmic brownies and the vitatops. I was wondering if you could please do a copycat Oatmeal Creme Pie? They’re my best friend’s favorite but I can’t stand to let her eat one more packaged dessert when I know you could make a healthy one.

  21. Deidre says

    Hi Katie!

    I made these, and they are fantastically delicious! One change I made was instead of using the marshmallow topping I used a light whipped cream cheese, flavored with brown sugar and cinnamon. It was yummy. 🙂

  22. Deidre says

    I made these and they were fabulously delicious. One change I made was instead of using the marshmallow frosting I topped the cupcakes with light brown sugar and cinnamon flavored whipped cream cheese. Yummy!

  23. Marie says

    These look so yummy! I’m planning on making them for my family for Thanksgiving, but I was going to sub the oil with more sweet potato. If I do that, do I just use the same amount of sweet potato as the recipe calls for for oil? I really want to show my family that healthy desserts can be good, so of you can reply before Thanksgiving that’d be great! I love your blog so much and thanks for all the great recipes! 🙂

  24. Liz says

    I made these tonight with Bob’s GF flour (plus xanthan gum) and puréed pumpkin instead of sweet potatoes. I couldn’t find marshmallow flavor, so I used the Ricemellow Creme (a whole tub!) mixed with a few TBSP of powdered sugar and a bit of almond milk. Warning: the Ricemellow stuff is STICKY! The milk helped to make it more spreadable, though. The cupcakes were a big hit at the dinner party! The spice in the cakes is perfect. I’ll be making these again.

  25. Stephanie says

    I’m planning on making these and was wondering if garbanzo bean flour would work without having to add xanthan gum?

  26. Kieran says

    These look delicious, and I want to make them as Thanksgiving treats. If I wanted to make double the yield, is it not a good idea to double the measurements across the board for each ingredient? (I’m not an avid baker). Thanks for sharing!

  27. Izzy says

    Thanks for this recipe, sounds yummy.
    My fav way to eat sweet potatoes is simply roasted with olive oil, garlic and fresh cilantro 🙂

  28. Neha says

    These are great! I didn’t make the frosting b/c I didn’t have powdered sugar or marshmallow flavoring. I also used 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice in place of the ground cinnamon and ground ginger b/c I didn’t have ground ginger. Thanks for sharing!

  29. Molly Livingston says

    Hi Katie!
    This could be an incredibly stupid question (and I’m sorry if it is), but if I were to put purple food coloring in this for Mardi Gras it would change color right? Logically it would I just wanted to make sure in case there was some ingredient that would keep that from happening.

  30. Wendy says

    Hi Katie, I love your recipes!!!
    I was wondering if you had tried this with almond flour and for sweetener a super ripe banana? They sound awesome.
    Blessings, Wendy

  31. Tessa says

    I just finished this recipe (minus the frosting) and these are my thoughts:

    It is SUPER moist!
    It isn’t overly sweet.
    There isn’t an overbearing sweet potato taste.
    The recipe reminds me of a carrot or other spice cake.

    I’m so happy I finally got around to making this recipe! I did alter it a bit in that I used half, unbleached whole wheat flour, half all-purpose flour.

    Where options were available, I used cashew milk, melted coconut oil, acv, and brown sugar as my sweetener.

    It’s a really great recipe and I’m thinking next time I may add raisins,and another time maybe shredded carrots, and a time after that a bit of peanut butter-maybe a dollop in the center. I’ll just let my taste buds guide me.

    • Anonymous says

      This is a very late reply, so I’m sorry if it’s no longer helpful! Katie is a vegan and when she says “milk of choice,” she means that you can use almond milk, soymilk, coconut milk, skim milk, whatever works for you and your diet. I think I used skim milk or vanilla almond milk when I made these, and they turned out great!

  32. Diana says

    These were sweet and moist, no frosting necessary! I used sweet potatoes that I had boiled and mashed up. Thanks for a delicious recipe.

  33. Liz says

    For the frosting, you can also get an awesome marshmallow flavor by using Mallow Root Honey. My local farmer’s market has honey from a variety of plants and each honey tastes different. The Mallow Root has a definite marshmallow flavor and is all natural and yum. If you refrigerate your frosting, it should still stay pretty thick, even with the liquid sweetener. Or you could use it as the sweetener in your cupcakes – marshmallowy goodness all around!

  34. Paula Lukas says

    5 stars
    I made these vegan cupcakes that are delicious and moist. I added pumpkin pie spice along with the ginger. It made the cupcake have a nice spice flavor. No sweet potato flavor at all. Great to help kids and adults eat their veggies.

  35. Mandie says

    5 stars
    Delicious! Moist and tasty.
    I made mine with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and replaced the sugar with lakanto monk brown.
    Amazing.

  36. Cass says

    5 stars
    Seriously sooo good. I have made these 3 times this week for my kids without the frosting and they can’t get enough of them.

  37. Ruth P says

    I made these in a double recipe and baked in mini Bundt pans. Instead of water, I took your advice and used Xtra puree. They turned out so cute and I’m sure delicious. The batter was yummy, at least. Thank you for offering this recipe. Just the ticket for a friend’s birthday.♥️

  38. Lana says

    5 stars
    Wow! These sweet potato cupcakes are orgasmic! Almost too good to share;) (I’ve doubled the recipe as it doesn’t quite give 12 cupcakes evenly for me.)

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