Sweet potato muffins with sage and thyme

Surfing food blogs today I stumbled across a recipe for sweet potato muffins. I was skeptical at first; zucchini cakes I've heard of, but sweet potato seems too heavy a veg to make decent muffins from. But there was only one way to find out so I got out the grater, the mixing bowls and the flours. I made a few tweaks -- added sugar and a second herb (thyme), used a different cheese because I was out of cheddar, and replaced some of the flour with wheat germ.

An hour later, this:



was transformed into this:



I'm a convert. The sage and thyme came out as subtle notes, the tops were nicely golden and crunchy and I loved that the muffins were chockful of healthy ingredients. H's verdict: 4 stars out of five. He calls it a good "sandwich muffin" which I suppose is guy-speak for muffins that are more for breakfast or soup than for coffeebreaks. :-)

Sweet potato muffins with sage and thyme
Adapted from a recipe on Baking and Books

Makes 12 large muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 7 oz finely grated sweet potato
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup grated cheese (original recipe used cheddar, but I only had Gouda)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 5 sage leaves, chopped
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs, using leaves only
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin with spray, melted butter or olive oil.

In a large bowl, gently whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, minced sage and salt. Switch to a wooden spoon and add the sweet potato, sugar and cheese. Stir to combine, then make a well in the centre.

In a small bowl combine the olive oil, egg and buttermilk with a whisk. Pour into the well and mix until just combined - the batter will be thick. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins one tablespoon at a time, dividing the batter evenly among the muffin molds.

If using a jumbo tin, bake for 35 minutes, raising the temperature to 400 degrees F during the last 4 minutes. If using a regular sized muffin tin, bake for 25 minutes, raising the temperature to 400 degrees F during the last 4 minutes. Keep an eye on the muffins after you’ve raised the temperature to prevent over-browning. The muffins are done when light golden in color.

Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the tin. If cooling for longer than 5 minutes, move muffins to a cooling rack to avoid soggy bottoms.