Serendipitous Sweet Potato Muffins

We have had brisk weather here in SF for a week now. Sometimes the sun breaks through, but sometimes the clouds are too fluffy to be moved aside. Either way, it feels as if fall is fast approaching and I must admit - I am a bit excited...! I love summer, I love fall, I love winter, I love spring; every season has something wonderful to offer and it is exciting when a new one arrives. Or maybe I just needed an excuse to make these muffins.

I used to be a fan of the boxed Krusteaz Pumpkin Muffin mix. Around this time of year, Starbucks would also begin selling their Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin. While both were super tasty, neither were terribly nutritious and left me feeling "meh" afterwards. I was so excited to discover this recipe for a healthier, from-scratch Pumpkin Muffin from Gourmade at Home. I made a stop at Trader Joe's on my way home yesterday to gather a few needed ingredients. Call it serendipity, but they have yet to stock their shelves with pumpkin puree, so I grabbed a bag of fresh sweet potatoes and set off on my own adventure. I roasted the potatoes last night (350° for 90 minutes or until soft) and left them to cool on the counter. We enjoyed these healthy, not-too-sweet fall treats with our french press coffee this morning.

Serendipitous Sweet Potato Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground clove
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup fresh, mashed sweet potato (not pureed)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tbls. vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tbls. confectioners sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare muffin tins with a light coating of oil.
2. Mix cream cheese and confectioners sugar; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
4. In a large bowl, mix together sweet potato mash, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
5. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients; mix until barely combined. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk.
6. Divide the mixture into the muffin tin. Top with a small dollop of cream cheese mixture.
7. Bake 20-25 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

makes 12 regular muffins