Sweet Potato and Five-Spice Muffins

  

I wanted muffins for breakfast. I had this thought as I hopped into bed last night. So, when I woke up this morning, I went straight into my kitchen and made some muffins... and ate them...for breakfast. I'm queen of my domain.



Sweet Potato and Five-Spice Muffins
From Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good
Makes 12

1 large sweet potato
100ml  extra virgin olive oil
100ml unsweetened almond milk
175ml maple syrup, plus 2 extra tablspoons for brushing the muffins
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
500g gluten free flour (if the flour doesn’t include xanthan gum add 1 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
11/2 tablespoons Chinese five spice powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Prick the sweet potato a few times with a paring knife or a fork and bake in the oven until soft (when a paring knife can cut through with no resistance) about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set the sweet potato aside until it’s completely cool. (I did this the day before).

Peel the sweet potato, discarding the skin, and mash the flesh in a mixing bowl with a fork. Whisk the olive oil, almond milk, maple syrup and vanilla into the sweet potato. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, five-spice powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Evenly distribute the mix between the paper cases.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. During the last 5 minutes of baking, brush the tops of the muffins with the extra maple syrup. Remove from the oven and leave the muffins to cool before serving.