Healthy Sweet Potato Muffins with Maple Pecan Butter

Mix your flax egg and set it aside to gel. By the time you add it to the batter, it should be thickened and gel-like.

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a cupcake tin with 12 paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sweet potato, apple sauce, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and gelled flax eggs.

Using a rubber spatula, mix in half of the dry ingredients until combined. Then fold in the rest until smooth.

Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, fill nearly to the top and use up all the batter. Sprinkle the tops with a few extra chocolate chips if desired.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely before serving. They’re best at room temperature, as they tend to be a bit too soft when they’re still warm or hot.

Drop the oven temperature to 300F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the pecans out in an even layer and bake for 8 minutes or until dark and fragrant.

Add the roasted pecans to a food processor and blitz until crumbled. Add the maple syrup and run the processor for about 10 minutes. It takes time, but the pecans will slowly transform from dry and crumbled to smooth and creamy. As the processor runs, it releases the oil in the nuts to smooth out the mixture.

If you find the pecan butter just will not smooth out, add a teaspoon of coconut oil at a time (no more than 3 tsp total) and keep running the processor until smooth. Blitz in the cinnamon and salt.

When the muffins are cooled, serve the muffins with the pecan butter on the side. You can either spread it on top or split the muffins in half and spread it in the middle. Enjoy!