While pumpkin is the star of the show in everyone’s fall baking, there’s another versatile vegetable that often gets overlooked — sweet potato! Sure, you’ve probably enjoyed them baked, mashed or even in a pie, but have you made brownies, muffins, or even cake using sweet potato?

Mashed or puréed sweet potatoes are a delicious way to pack in the nutrients to a number of fall treats. Their dense consistency can significantly reduce the amount of flour needed, helping to make sweet treats gluten-free or even Paleo-friendly! They also add moisture which means, similar to applesauce, can be used instead of oil in a given recipe.

This holiday season, try sweet potato in place of pumpkin purée in any pumpkin recipe, or try one of the recipes below. These tasty treats will prove once and for all how versatile this veggie is!

Recipe by Darn Good Veggies
@darngoodveggies

These Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes are gluten-free, vegan, and packed with fall flavor. The frosting is rich, creamy, and also made with sweet potato!

Head over to Darn Good Veggies for the full recipe.

Recipe from Traditional Cooking School

Gluten-free, refined sugar-free, with a nut-free option, these easy sweet potato brownies are chewy, fudgy, and made from scratch with allergy-friendly ingredients like coconut flour and cacao powder. They taste just like chocolate lava cake!

Ingredients

2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp virgin coconut oil
1 cup sweet potato purée or mash
½ cup coconut sugar or sweetener of choice
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup cacao powder
2 tbsp coconut flour
½ tsp baking soda
⅛ tsp sea salt
½ cup dark chocolate chips, plus additional chocolate chips for sprinkling on top (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease a 8" baking pan and dust with a tiny bit of coconut flour or line with parchment paper.
3. Over low heat, melt unsweetened baking chocolate, coconut oil, and peanut butter in a medium saucepan. Stir gently until smooth and remove from heat.
4. Into chocolate mixture, whisk in sweet potato puree, sweetener of choice, and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly.
5. Beat in the eggs until the batter is smooth.
6. In a separate bowl, combine cacao powder, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt.
7. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in the saucepan. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
8. Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
9. Pour brownie batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle with additional mini chocolate chips, if desired.
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, being careful not to overbake. You may remove brownies from oven while still slightly gooey in the center.
11. For easy-to-cut squares, allow to cool in the pan completely before cutting and serving.
12. Serve as is, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Recipe from Choosing Balance
Peyton Pratte (@choosing_balance)

This sweet potato spice cake is a delicious Paleo and gluten-free version of the holiday classic. Made with sweet potatoes, almond flour, coconut flour, and maple syrup. Topped with an easy 2 ingredient icing, you’ll have a hard time not devouring all of this spice cake in one sitting!

Ingredients
1 ½ cup mashed cooked sweet potato
1 ½ cups almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
3 eggs
½ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup ghee
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tbsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice

Topping:
1 cup greek yogurt
2 tbsp maple syrup

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs.
2. Add in the peeled & mashed sweet potato. It can be mixed at this point to help get the sweet potato more blended.
3. Add in everything else and mix together with a hand or stand mixer. Best to use some type of electric mixer to blend in the sweet potato.
4. Line a cake pan with parchment paper, pour the batter in. Original recipe uses 8×8 but you can use a different size!
5. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.
6. Remove, let cool, and then add the topping.
   

While we love making sweet treats for the holidays, we also love being able to fit veggies and other nutritious ingredients into our holiday baking. Healthy eating is all about balance...so go ahead and make those brownies! Just try ‘em with some sweet potato mash for a delicious, nutrition-packed treat.

What veggies do you like to sneak into your baking?