Sweet Potato Cupcakes With Salted Maple Frosting

Name: Sweet Potato Cupcakes With Salted Maple Frosting
Yield: Makes
Ingredients: 1¼ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour; ½ cup almond flour; ½ tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; ¼ tsp ground nutmeg; 1 tsp kosher salt; 2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp baking soda; 1½ cups cooked sweet potato (2 to 3 sweet potatoes); 3 large eggs, room temperature; ½ cup granulated sugar; ¼ cup maple syrup; ¼ cup neutral oil (light olive oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil); ½ cup unsalted butter, softened; 1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted; 2 Tbsp maple syrup; ½ tsp salt

Image of Sweet Potato Cupcakes With Salted Maple Frosting — Photo by Christine Han

Servings

Makes 12 cupcakes

Prep Time

15-20 minutes

Cook Time

20-25 minutes

"When I roast sweet potatoes for dinner or a salad, I always make a double batch. I love using sweet potato the next night in soups and tacos, or even, if they are large enough, cut open and filled with spicy chickpeas and tahini. One day, I decided to use them in place of pumpkin in some muffins. Then I thought, 'Maybe I’ll make cupcakes with a salted maple buttercream frosting as an after-school treat for the kids . . .' and thus these cupcakes were born. They are quick to throw together with leftover sweet potato, but you can also substitute canned pumpkin if that’s what you have. They’re fluffy, filled with warm spices, and topped with a luscious maple frosting, making them the perfect sweet treat on any blustery fall day."

Excerpted from BIG BITES: Wholesome, Comforting Recipes That Are Big on Flavor, Nourishment, and Fun by Kat Ashmore. Copyright © 2024 by Kat Ashmore. Photo copyright © 2024 by Christine Han photography. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Author:

Kat Ashmore

Ingredients

CUPCAKES:

1¼ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
½ cup almond flour
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1½ cups cooked sweet potato (2 to 3 sweet potatoes)
3 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup neutral oil (light olive oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil)

SALTED MAPLE FROSTING:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 Tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spray the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray, or use muffin liners and spray the insides of those.
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Remove the sweet potato flesh from the skins and add the flesh to a high-speed blender. Add in the eggs, granulated sugar, maple syrup, and oil and blend for 10 seconds until very smooth.
Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until there are no streaks of flour visible.
Transfer the batter evenly into the muffin cups. An ice cream scoop is the right size.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a tester comes out just clean.
Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
While the cupcakes cool, make the salted maple frosting: add the butter to a bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 1 to 2 minutes to aerate. Add half of the confectioners’ sugar along with the maple syrup and salt. Continue to mix to incorporate. Add the rest of the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
Spread or pipe the forting onto the cooled cupcakes and serve. Serve or refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Recipe Note

Signed copies of BIG BITES: Wholesome, Comforting Recipes That Are Big on Flavor, Nourishment, and Fun by Kat Ashmore are available for purchase here:

Elm Street Books