Cinnamon-Crunch Sweet Potato Muffins

Fall is officially here, and it's officially become my favorite season!  As a child I dreaded September since it meant back to school and back to reality from summer vacation.  As a young adult I've finally come to appreciate the cooler weather, the changing color of the leaves, and all the delicious seasonal food that goes along with it!  One of those seasonal vegetables that I love fall for is the sweet potato.  Known also as a yam or squash, sweet potatoes are delicious and actually very nutritious for you!  Here is a great recipe for some fall themed muffins to brighten anyone's gloomy morning:

Muffins:

2 sweet potatoes or yams.  I used pre cut and peeled from Wegmans, 1 container had 14 oz.

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 canola oil

1/2 cup milk

zest of 1 orange

For the topping:

Mix 5 Tbsp. sugar and 2.5 tsps. cinnamon in a bowl. set aside.

To make the muffins:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cook sweet potatoes.  Add to boiling water and let boil for 15 minutes.  Remove and drain well.  Put sweet potatoes in food processor and blend until fluffy. Let cool.

In one bowl mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt).

In a seperate bowl combine eggs, sugar, oil, milk and orange zest and whisk together.  Add the mashed sweet potatoes and whisk until completely blended.  Slowly add the flour mixture in with a spatula until all of it has been moistended; do not over mix!  

Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4 of the way full.  Sprinkle all the muffins with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake for about 25 minutes, and let them cool before serving.  Makes about 16 muffins.

These were a hit when I served them and I think the sweet potato was very unexpected in a muffin!  Enjoy these with a tall glass of milk or some apple cider to round out a great fall snack!