If you read my blog, you know that I love to bake out of Kim Boyce’s cookbook Good to the Grain, which uses whole grain flours in exquisite ways. Every single thing I have baked from the book has been absolutely perfect (like these buckwheat scones with boozy fig jam, crispy chocolate chip cookies and cornmeal cookies). These delicious sweet potato muffins use leftover roasted sweet potatoes. Half of the sweet potatoes are whipped into the batter, and the rest are stirred in at the end, leaving soft pockets of sweet potatoes in the muffins. The first time I made these sweet potato muffins, I was astonished at how light and fluffy they were. I had expected muffins built on sweet potatoes, buttermilk, yogurt, and dates to be dense and heavy, but they are so light and delicate. Kim Boyce knows how to coax magic out of her batters.
They’re simple to pull together for a weekend breakfast if you roast the sweet potatoes the day before. To save energy, you could throw the sweet potatoes in the oven while you’re baking something else.
Alternatively, you could use this batter to make a coffee cake. Butter a 9-10-inch square cake pan or loaf pan, and spread the batter into the pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350F.
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound sweet potatoes
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour (I used whole-wheat pastry flour)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used labneh)
- 6 large Medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped
