These Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes are gluten free, vegan, and packed with Fall flavor. The Sweet Potato Frosting is rich, creamy, and so easy to make!
I first dropped the words healthy and cupcake in the same sentence back when this carrot cake recipe hit the blog. Since then we've enjoyed a chocolate version, a cinnamon raisin version, and are still going strong with these cinnamon infused, pecan studded, Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes.
While these Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes aren't your average light and fluffy vanilla cupcake, they are more like an extra extra sweet muffin that is still made with wholesome ingredients and topped with a sweet and creamy frosting. Healthy enough to enjoy as a snack and sweet enough to stand in for dessert. This is having your cake and eating it too!
The cakes themselves are packed to the brim with fall flavor. They are infused with sweet and sticky sweet potatoes, studded with crunchy pecans, and dusted with cinnamon. Maple syrup and coconut sugar give these Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes their essential sweet flavor and add in rich caramel notes.
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But the crown jewel of these Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes? The sweet potato frosting! Not only do we use sweet potatoes to add flavor and moisture to the batter, but these cakes get topped with a sweet potato frosting to really pack in the flavor.
Instead of orange sweet potatoes, the frosting uses white sweet potatoes for their color and more neutral flavor. Then the frosting gets sweetened with maple, thinned with almond milk, and enriched with a little coconut oil. The result is an impossibly creamy frosting that can be made in 5 minutes in the blender!
Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Sweet Potato Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes 1x
- Category: Sweet Things
- Cuisine: dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, no nightshades, refined sugar-free, soy-free, vegan, vegetarian
Description
These Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes are gluten free, vegan, and packed with Fall flavor. The Sweet Potato Frosting is rich, creamy, and so easy to make!
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup mashed orange sweet potato
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups gluten free oat flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Frosting ingredients:
- 1 cup mashed white sweet potato
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2-3 tablespoons almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with nonstick liners.
- In a bowl, stir together all of the wet ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients and mix well to combine. Divide the batter between the cups and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- Once the cupcakes are cooled. Add all the frosting ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth, adding a third tablespoon of almond milk, if needed. Spread the frosting onto each cupcake. Top with extra chopped pecans, if desired.
Jane Ricci says
Can you provide the nutritional information please?
Laurel says
Hi Jane,
I just plugged the ingredients into an online calculator and here were the results:
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories 142
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5.7g 7%
Saturated Fat 3.1g 16%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 62mg 3%
Total Carbohydrate 21.6g 8%
Dietary Fiber 2.4g 9%
Total Sugars 9g
Protein 1.9g
Alisha says
Hi! What online calculator do you use? Can you email me the name of it? [email protected]
Sara says
Can you freeze the icing?
Laurel says
Hi Sarah, I wouldn't recommend freezing the icing. The sweet potatoes would release excess water when frozen and create an unpleasant texture.
Ima says
Can I substitute orange sweet potato for the white sweet potato?
Laurel says
Hi Ima, Great question! That would be a great swap. The frosting will have a more orange appearance, but will taste just as delicious :)
Aubrey says
How do you prepare the sweet potato before mashing for the frosting? Do you bake it or boil it?
Laurel says
Hi Aubrey, Great question! You can bake or boil - whichever is easiest :)
Kathi says
Hi! These sound awesome and look extremely yummy! I think I'll make these for a co-worker's birthday this week. Wondering if the icing is thick enough to pipe? If not, can you recommend an addition or substitution that would thicken it for piping? Thanks so much, Laurel!
Laurel says
Hi Kathi! Great question. The frosting is thick enough to pipe on top of the cupcakes. Just to be safe, I would start really slow on the almond milk, using as little as possible to get the frosting smooth. Pop it in the fridge for 1 hour before using and it will thicken up further. Happy baking!
Maria Amor Parra Molina says
Hi, thanks for the recipe I’ve tried the icing and I thought it will react as the cashew frosting one, I left it outside the fridge for a fee hours and it tastes so sour almost like a fermented taste. Do you know why sweet potatoes don’t react in the same way than cashew or other nut for frosting? I use to leave my cupcakes outside the fridge and I haven’t had any issues with them
Thank you so much
Laurel Perry says
Hi Maria, Great question! Thought the frostings are similar, cooked sweet potatoes are not shelf stable like nuts are and will not keep when left at room temperature. I recommend storing these in the fridge for the longest shelf life :) Or use a cashew frosting for the cupcakes. Happy baking!
Tara Padilla says
I made these but used my own frosting recipe! Omg they were SOOOOOO GOOOOODDDDD 😋