Monday, January 6, 2014

Sweet Potato Brown Sugar Muffins #MuffinMonday

Mashed, buttered sweet potatoes add flavor, natural sweetness and moisture to these delicious muffins.  The hint of vanilla and cinnamon, along with the brown sugar, make these perfect for breakfast or a midmorning snack.

As this recipe goes live, I will be flying back to Dubai after enjoying more than three weeks of fun and family in Rhode Island.  What a beautiful state, truly.  When our elder daughter first mentioned Rhode Island School of Design, back in spring of 2008, and we visited the school that summer, I had no idea what a precious part of our lives this place would become.  That was further cemented when her little sister was accepted at RISD two years later.  It has been our pleasure to explore New England from our little rented home in Tiverton in the south, to as far east as Plymouth and west to Newport, with a little Providence and Boston thrown in for good measure.

If you haven’t visited New England before, I highly recommend it, especially Rhode Island, even in the wintertime.

Ingredients
1 whole sweet potato (about 5-6 oz or 140-170g)
1/4 cup or 60g room temperature butter
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2/3 cup or 130g dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup or 240ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method
Scrub your sweet potato and poke it all over with the tip of a sharp knife.  Microwave on high for three minutes, turning it over halfway through.  Give it a gentle squeeze to see if it feels soft.  Microwave for another minute on the first side if necessary.  Remove the peel and mash the inside with a fork.

Add in the butter and stir it around so it melts.  Set aside and allow to cool.


Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing it or lining it paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.


In another bowl, whisk together the cooled, mashed sweet potato, milk, eggs and vanilla.


Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.


Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.


Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.


Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.


Enjoy!


For those who are interested, I leave you with some random shots from our fabulous three weeks in New England.

Tiverton House - highly recommended  - hosts are wonderful.  Link here.
And, no, I have not been compensated in any way for saying this!


Christmas parade in Newport - complete with Santas riding Harleys

Newport Harbor

Quaint shops in Newport.
Roasting marshmallows at home

Every sunset seemed to outdo the next

Sailboats on the river by our house

The purported Plymouth Rock.  We've been told since that the real rock is underneath this one.

Mayflower II.  This is a reproduction of the Mayflower, built in England and sailed across in 1957.
If you come in the summer, you can climb aboard and imagine the voyage.


Fancy columns commemorating Plymouth Rock


The First Baptist Church in all of the United States, Providence, RI (1638)

Playing in the snow!





13 comments :

  1. Happy New Year to you Stacey and your family! When I had got admissions to National Institute of Design (NID) in India, I would hear many of the seniors there dream of studying in Rhodes. Good wishes to your daughters - they are absolutely brilliant. And I can't believe that you are blogging from there. Cheers to us bloggers :)

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  2. Happy New Year to you and your family too, Ishita! I'll blog from anywhere I have a kitchen to cook in!

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  3. Inspiring Stacy... keep the flow going :)

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  4. These look delicious. Haha... it's funny how we food bloggers think we have a new idea and then find that there are millions of others who have had the same inspiration! Oh well. I've never heard of a turkey cranberry muffin so yours are a first for me! Love the classic combination of ingredients in such an easy to eat package. Beats the turkey cranberry sandwich hands-down! x

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  5. Now this is a muffin I could eat at any time of the day! Great photos of your visit here over the holidays. It looks like you had a whole bunch of fun.

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  6. I just loved this post! of course sweet potatoes are one of my faves so this muffin rocks - but I also love the tour you took us on in RI. the church shot is my fave because I just love quaint clapboard churches with big steeples! :) hope you made it home in one piece!! xoxo

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  7. We had the best time, Renee! Our mothers get along so well and both girls had friends stay over for a few nights. The house was full of joy and laughter. Such fun!

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  8. It's that church the cutest?! There was another smaller one just down the block from our house but I thought I should include the oldest Baptist church for historic value. It's right across from the RISD campus so the president gives the parent welcome speech there. It has the old-fashioned pews with the doors at the ends and still has a regular congregation and church services.


    I am home in one piece, aside from jet lag. Still working on that. :(

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  9. Rest up and you'll be fine by the weekend!

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  10. Oh, we ate our fair share of sandwiches too, Laura. And turkey pot pie. But the muffins were great, especially with the Camembert. Amazingly and kind of scarily, the cranberry jelly on the outside didn't melt. Which made them prettier.


    I'm thinking we need to stop doing web searches when we have a great idea!

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  11. Gorgeous photos, Stacy! Looks like you had a fantastic time in Rhode Island =) Your sweet potato muffins are perfect for freezing (and not so freezing CA) temps =)

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  12. I'm pouring over all the photos with envy. New England has been my second home since college and I'm so happy when I'm there. Getting antsy to go again now!

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  13. That house you stayed in looks just darling! It's like a postcard, how you wish your Decembers could be spent. Never used sweet potato in muffins, but looks like I'll be starting now!

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