Bay To Breakers Sweet Potato Muffins

Bob is running in the Bay To Breakers race in San Francisco tomorrow. He's actually going to RUN in it.  I planned on walking it with friends (the whole race is one long party, so why would you run?), but discovered that I had previously bought tickets to see Bombay Dreams tomorrow.  Oh well, next year I'll do it for sure.  Since Bob will be heading out to San Francisco before dawn, I baked him some sweet potato muffins.  He can eat the muffins in his car for breakfast.  I'm positive that they'll give him extra energy to navigate past all the racers dressed up like bananas or streetcars.  If you've never heard of this race, go to this site and see what I'm going to miss tomorrow.  I wanted to see the guy who comes each year decked out as a functioning bar.  He actually dispenses drinks to people as he races...well walks.

I've had a container of plain mashed sweet potatoes in my freezer for several months and wanted to do something with them.  This is just a basic muffin recipe where you dump everything together and bake.  The muffin has a very moist texture and is mildly sweet. It would have been sweeter with raisins in them. But, I used pecans instead and they worked fine.  The only negative thing I can say is these are the kind of muffins that stick to the little paper liners I baked them in.  Not a huge problem, but just so you know!  And I would bake two potatoes, just in case only one potato wasn't enough to make a cup.

Sweet Potato Muffins  (From Delores Riccio)

When baking sweet potatoes for dinner, bake one extra to make these muffins for the next day.
With the aid of a food processor, this batter is especially quick and easy to prepare. Sweet potatoes, whole eggs, wheat germ, molasses, and raisins are all rich in iron, which guards against fatigue and depression.
Ingredients

*    2 c. sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
*    1 tbsp. baking powder
*    1/2 tsp. salt
*    2 eggs or 1/2 c. prepared egg substitute
*    1 medium sweet potato, baked and peeled (about 1 c. mashed)
*    1/3 c. sugar
*    1 c. milk (may be low-fat)
*    1/3 c. vegetable oil
*    2 tbsps. each toasted wheat germ and molasses or honey
*    1 tsp. cinnamon
*    1/2 tsp. ground cloves
*    1/4 tsp. nutmeg
*    1/2 c. raisins or nuts

Directions
Spray a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray or line the cups with paper liners. Preheat oven to 400F.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.  In food processor, blend eggs, potato, and sugar. (Or by hand: beat eggs and mash potatoes before blending.) Add milk, oil, wheat germ, molasses/honey, and spices; process or beat until smooth.

Pour liquid mixture into dry ingredients. Mix just enough to blend. Stir in raisins or nuts.

Divide the batter between muffin cups. As soon as muffins are in the oven, reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake in the top third of the oven for 25 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top and dry inside.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Comments

[Glenna]

Oh I'd love to see the guy dressed as the bar. Gee, does he actually serve during the reace?
I've had annoying muffin recipes like that before too. I usually give the insides of the papers a quick shot of cooking spray (Pam) beforehand and they come out easier. The first time I tried that I thought the oil spray would just soak into the paper liners but does work.
Have fun at the play today! Be sure and take pics of the sushi afterwards. I'm so jealous.

[sher]

I've heard that the guy does serve drinks. I don't know how that's possible. Frankly, I wouldn't be able to drink alcohol and walk up those tall hills in San Francisco. I would wind up rolling down them, as I get tipsy after one drink. That could be memorable. Thanks for the tip about the muffin liners.

[steven]

I'm loving the sweet potato muffins. In the 80's I lived on the Bay to Breakers route and it was always fun to watch the runners from my seventh floor window. We used to think about throwing water balloons, but decided seven floors would turn the balloons into bricks.

[sher]

Steven, that must have been fun to watch the race from that vantage point! I understand that the race has gotten so huge, it's hard to walk at the beginning of the race. As I recall there were as many as 12,000 people in the race several years ago. Of course, most of them are in it for a lark. My husband is actually trying to run it.

[ann]

wait... seriously? people RUN in that race??
wow! my world view is shattered!
lol, just kidding, i have friends that fly out every year from nyc and la to actually run it, but man, are you a nice woman to make beautiful muffins like that for your man!

[Rosie]

So did you husband run in normal clothes or did he dress up in something interesting? He could have gone as Richard Simmons!

Muffins look great - I will have to make some next time I bake sweet potatoes...

[sher]

Ann,

My husband said it took him over 10 minutes to cross the starting line of the race, because the crowd of people was so huge. And there were still thousands of people behind him. He did run it, but I can see why a great deal of people just walk it, with little respites (party breakes) along the way.

Rosie,

Did he wear a costume?? He is a civil engineer, so no he didn't!! OK, I know that some civil engineers are wild and crazy and go to the Burning Man Festival each year and run around nude---but my husband will never wear a costume!! Never!!!

[Lucy]

These look really aianmzg! I almost never bake muffins anymore (I can't resist eating them one after another) but I can practically smell them from your photos. Mmm!