High altitude sweet potato cupcakes, made with roasted sweet potatoes, frosted with fluffy marshmallow buttercream, and sprinkled with maple glazed pecans. These moist cupcakes are the perfect fall dessert for Thanksgiving, with cozy spices and all the flavor of sweet potato casserole.
You might also love these high altitude tested recipes for sweet potato dinner rolls, sweet potato biscoff pie bars, and sweet potato bundt cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Stays Moist and Soft for Days. Sweet potato cupcakes stay incredibly moist for days after baking, so the leftover cupcakes are just as wonderful as when they’re freshly baked.
Tastes Like Sweet Potato Casserole. My all time favorite Thanksgiving side dish is sweet potato casserole, which is really more like dessert than a vegetable with the buttery brown sugar pecan crumble topping. I don’t generally like marshmallows on sweet potato casserole, but I did add marshmallow creme to the buttercream frosting, for a sweet, subtle marshmallow essence that’s really great with the spiced cupcakes and crunchy maple glazed pecans.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- Sweet Potatoes. You’ll be roasting the sweet potatoes first, until they are soft and creamy, then pureeing them for a perfectly smooth texture that’s very similar to canned pumpkin. See my sweet potato casserole post for the best type of sweet potatoes to buy.
- Olive Oil. Keeps the sweet potato peel moist as they roast in the oven.
- Sugar. A combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar adds sweetness and moisture.
- Butter, Oil and Milk. Melted butter and vegetable oil adds flavor and moisture, but you can also use just butter or just oil, whichever you prefer. The milk adds a bit of extra moisture.
- Eggs. Gives the cupcakes strength, structure and moisture.
- Flour. All purpose flour adds structure and strength.
- Baking Soda. Leavening agent.
- Spices. You’ll be using vanilla extract and salt, as well as cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg for warmth and cozy fall flavors.
Buttercream
- Butter. You can use either salted or unsalted butter for your buttercream, just omit the extra salt in the recipe if you use salted.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla. Flavor.
- Marshmallow Creme. Adding some marshmallow creme or fluff to the frosting adds a subtle marshmallow flavor and creamy texture.
Pecans
- Pecans. For the maple glazed pecans, I recommend starting with raw, unsalted pecans.
- Maple Syrup. You’ll want to use pure maple syrup, not artificially flavored syrup.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
Instructions
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 425 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly rub the sweet potatoes with the olive oil, then wrap in aluminum foil. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, and roast for about 90 minutes, until very tender.
- Let the sweet potatoes cool completely, then remove the peel. Using a food processor or ninja, puree the roasted sweet potatoes until smooth. Measure out 1 cup of pureed sweet potato, and save the rest for something else.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the center of the oven, and line a standard sized muffin pan with 12 paper liners. TIP: Sweet potato cupcakes are a little sticky, and you may want to lightly spray the paper liners with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together 1 cup of pureed sweet potato with the brown sugar, granulated sugar, melted butter, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk just until smooth.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion the batter into the pans, filling them about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 18-22 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire cooling rack, and cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan, and set on the cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Marshmallow Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and vanilla. Increase speed to medium, and whip for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy. Add the marshmallow creme, and beat until well combined.
- Use a piping bag fitted with tip 1M, or just an icing spatula, to frost the cooled cupcakes.
Maple Glazed Pecans
- Over medium heat, toast the pecans in a non-stick skillet for about 4-5 minutes, until hot and fragrant.
- Add the maple syrup, vanilla and salt, and use a spatula to stir the pecans until coated evenly. Remove from the heat.
- Spread the pecans out onto a plate lined with parchment paper and let cool completely.
- Leave half of the pecans whole, and finely chop the remainder of the pecans. Sprinkle on top of the buttercream.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use sweet potatoes or yams?
In my sweet potato casserole post, I discuss the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, and which are best to use for baking.
Can I just hand mash the sweet potatoes instead of using a food processor?
I really recommend pureeing the roasted sweet potatoes, rather than hand mashing them, which can leave some of the fibrous texture rather than a silky smooth puree.
How should I store the cupcakes?
Store leftover cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
You Might Also Like
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High Altitude Sweet Potato Cupcakes
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Muffin Pan
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Food Processor or Ninja
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 large sweet potato (or 2 medium sweet potatoes)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ tsp (scant) baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- â…› tsp ground nutmeg
Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder
- â…› tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (6 oz) marshmallow creme or fluff
Pecans
- 1 cup unsalted raw pecans
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- â…› tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Instructions
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 425 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly rub the sweet potatoes with the olive oil, then wrap in aluminum foil. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, and roast for about 90 minutes, until very tender.
- Let the sweet potatoes cool completely, then remove the peel. Using a food processor or ninja, puree the roasted sweet potatoes until smooth. Measure out 1 cup of pureed sweet potato, and save the rest for something else.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the center of the oven, and line a standard sized muffin pan with 12 paper liners.TIP: Sweet potato cupcakes are a little sticky, and you may want to lightly spray the paper liners with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together 1 cup of pureed sweet potato with the brown sugar, granulated sugar, melted butter, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk just until smooth.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion the batter into the pans, filling them about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 18-22 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire cooling rack, and cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan, and set on the cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Marshmallow Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt and vanilla. Increase speed to medium, and whip for 3-4 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy. Add the marshmallow creme, and beat until well combined.
- Use a piping bag fitted with tip 1M, or just an icing spatula, to frost the cooled cupcakes.
Maple Glazed Pecans
- Over medium heat, toast the pecans in a non-stick skillet for about 4-5 minutes, until hot and fragrant.
- Add the maple syrup, vanilla and salt, and use a spatula to stir the pecans until coated evenly. Remove from the heat.
- Spread the pecans out onto a plate lined with parchment paper and let cool completely.
- Leave half of the pecans whole, and finely chop the remainder of the pecans. Sprinkle on top of the buttercream.
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