Healthier Cinnamon Crunch Sweet Potato Muffins

Photo: Kristy Denney

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into chunks

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup skim or 1% milk

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

3/4 cup pecans (optional, for extra crunch)

Topping:

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick spray.

In a bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, applesauce, milk and orange zest. Whisk vigorously for 1 minute. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and stir until completely blended. Add the flour mixture and stir just until evenly moistened. Don't over stir, the batter will be slightly lumpy. Fold in pecans if desired.

Spoon the batter into each muffin cup, filling it 3/4 full. Sprinkle each muffin with cinnamon-sugar topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and passes the toothpick test. Lightly dust with more cinnamon-sugar topping. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Serv e warm.