Maple Sweet Potato Oat Muffins

What is it about mornings that makes them so lovely? For me it's the calm and peace of the world before it begins to wake-up. In the morning, we can have a moment to ourselves before we must fulfill our daily responsibilities and answer to others. Running taught me to truly appreciate this calm. I love quiet hours spent traversing over trails, where it is just me and the birds, and sometimes the bears, and probably the mountain lions too but they have yet to show themselves to me (thank goodness, I much prefer being oblivious to their presence). My love of morning has translated into a deep love of breakfast. Breakfast food embodies all that is wonderful about morning, especially muffins. Muffins demand we cozy up with a blanket and a cup of tea and enjoy the serenity. This maple sweet potato oat muffin especially does that, as nothing radiates comfort more than maple syrup, sweet potato, and warm spices. 

This muffin is my dream combination of ingredients, whole wheat, sweet potato, maple syrup, oats, yogurt, and coconut oil. It's the right way to start your day, mostly because it's delicious but also because it's balanced. It contains less sugar than you average muffin and relies on yogurt and coconut oil for the moisture. And it's so tasty, a little bit like a pumpkin muffin kicked up with a rich sweet potato and maple flavor that you will savor in the early morning hours before you start your day. 

Maple Sweet Potato Oat Muffins

Makes a dozen regular muffins

1 cup sweet potato (about two medium sized sweet potatoes)

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour 

3/4 cup rolled oats 

2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tbs cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice 

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup coconut oil melted and cooled (can sub olive or vegetable here)

1 egg

3/4 cup Greek yogurt 

1/4 cup maple syrup 

1/4 brown sugar 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roast sweet potatoes for an hour. Remove from oven and let cool. Remove flesh and mash with a fork or potato masher until roughly the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray or grease with butter. 

Whisk flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in a medium bowl. 

Whisk sweet potato mash, coconut oil, egg, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, and brown sugar until combined. 

Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 to full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy everything the morning has to offer.