Sweet Potato Muffins

That a 5 year old can make. No really, it is true. My children can make sweet potato muffins! The only thing you will have to get involved in is the drudgery of measuring out and washing up. And don’t be a control freak about it. I often have to just hold myself back from ruining the fun in the experience, especially when I interfere comment about how the blob that fell aside could have been a muffin. That just puts a damp mood on the whole thing so I am learning to let go and shut up. But let’s not cry over spilled milk, that muffin could have been unwanted calories. Win – Win right? Yeah, whatever. I would really rather just have the muffin, with a cup of tea.

This batch of sweet potato muffins really just came about by accident. I normally use a banana bread recipe to make muffins or cup cakes. You will probably find that although I love to cook, baking and making any sort of dessert is not exactly my strong point, but I do try. Is this an African recipe? I don’t think so, but hey, who can tell us where the banana muffin came from? But all that aside, I had my first banana bread in Botswana. It was quite rich, with nuts and seeds but I found the loaf a bit too dry for my liking.

It was not until I moved to Melbourne, Australia that I completely fell in love with a slice of banana bread that I often had before or after work. I really can’t remember but I think I bought it from a coffee shop somewhere along Collins Street near the corner of Elizabeth Street… I think. All I know is the slice was honey topped, buttery and smooth with no nuts. And I have thought of that banana bread slice ever since.

Now, when we created the sweet potato muffin recipe, it came about because we only had 2 bananas out of the required 3. To avoid disappointing my 5 year old, I improvised and used 2 left over sweet potatoes from dinner the night before. What resulted was the moisted muffins ever! And without further ado, I give you our sweet potato muffin recipe.

Recipe
2 bananas
2 sweet potatoes
2 large eggs
1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 level teaspoons of baking powder
1 level teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
Whole nutmeg (only a few freshly grated shavings required)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
2. Mash bananas and sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs, oil and sugar.
3. Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and pinch of salt. Grate in and mix a few shavings of nutmeg.
4. Spoon the batter into muffin paper lined cupcake tray.
5. Place into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Check if cooked using a cake tester or toothpick. If it comes out clean, muffins are done.

Allow more time if using a loaf baking tin.