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Home » Recipes » Baking & Desserts

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ube Muffins

Modified: Jun 24, 2025 · Published: Apr 2, 2025 by Rhian Williams

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A collage of two Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ube Muffins photos

These Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ube Muffins are beautifully coloured, fragrant and perfectly moist! They're easy to make and refined sugar free too. Perfect for spring and Easter!

A halved gluten-free vegan purple sweet potato ube muffin

Purple sweet potatoes are a popular ingredient in Japanese desserts, and I have used them for a variety of different recipes, including ice cream, mochi, cheesecake, smoothie bowls and milkshakes. I adore their natural sweetness, perfume-like flavour, and of course their beautiful colour! They're also really healthy.

What are purple sweet potatoes?


Purple sweet potatoes (also known as ube) are a type of sweet potato that naturally has a bright purple flesh, and dark purple skin.

Where can you buy purple sweet potatoes?

You can buy purple sweet potatoes in some local supermarkets, grocery stores or Asian grocery stores.

Can you replace the purple sweet potatoes with normal sweet potatoes?

Yes! If you can't find purple sweet potatoes, you can use normal sweet potatoes instead!

How to make this recipe

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

  • Cook the purple sweet potatoes.
  • Place the cooked purple sweet potatoes and plant-based milk in a food processor or blender.

Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!

Cooked diced purple sweet potatoes in a food processor with almond milk
  • Blend until completely smooth.
Blended up puréed purple sweet potatoes and almond milk in a food processor
  • Mix together with all the other ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Raw gluten-free vegan purple sweet potato ube muffins batter in a mixing bowl
  • Divide the batter between muffin cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
Raw gluten-free vegan purple sweet potato ube muffin batter in muffin cases in a baking tin
  • Bake for 20 minutes.
Three baked gluten-free vegan purple sweet potato ube muffins in muffin cases in a baking tin

How long do these keep for?

Though these muffins do taste best when fresh, they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days. 

Substitutions you can make

  • You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
  • You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
  • You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
  • You can replace the ground almonds with ground walnuts.
  • For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
  • You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
  • If you can't find purple sweet potatoes, you can use normal sweet potatoes instead!
Two gluten-free vegan purple sweet potato ube muffins on a marble background

More gluten-free vegan muffin recipes

  • Carrot Muffins
  • Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins
  • Chocolate Muffins
  • Apple Muffins
  • Blueberry Muffins
  • Chocolate Banana Muffins
  • Banana Muffins
  • Orange Muffins
  • Lemon Muffins
  • Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
  • Gingerbread Muffins
  • Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
  • Savoury Vegetable Muffins

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

A halved gluten-free vegan purple sweet potato ube muffin

Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ube Muffins

These Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ube Muffins are beautifully coloured, fragrant and perfectly moist! They're easy to make and refined sugar free too.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: gluten-free sweet potato muffins, purple sweet potato muffins, ube muffins, vegan sweet potato muffins
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 203kcal
Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

  • 250 g (8.8 oz) raw purple sweet potatoes (ube) (about 1 medium-sized sweet potato)
  • 150 ml (⅔ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
  • 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
  • 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar * (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
  • Pinch salt
  • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
  • 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
  • ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
  • Cook the purple sweet potatoes by boiling, steaming or roasting them until very soft and tender.
  • Discard any skins, and place in a food processor or blender, with the milk.
  • Blend until completely smooth - you might have to mix it around a few times.
  • Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
  • Once melted, add the blended sweet potato mixture to the same bowl along with the maple syrup, vinegar, salt and ground almonds.
  • Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
  • Transfer the mixture between muffin cases in a muffin tin.
  • Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
  • Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Notes

*The acidity of the vinegar reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the muffins fluffy. If you can’t get hold of vinegar, replace it with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
**You can alternatively use almond flour.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ube Muffins
Amount Per Serving
Calories 203 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Fat 11g17%
Saturated Fat 4g20%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.4g
Sodium 54mg2%
Potassium 235mg7%
Carbohydrates 25g8%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 2949IU59%
Vitamin C 0.5mg1%
Calcium 127mg13%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

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Comments

    5 from 1 vote

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Anonymous

    April 02, 2025 at 6:57 am

    5 stars
    So beautiful!

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      April 02, 2025 at 6:58 am

      Thank you!

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Hi, I’m Rhian! I make easy, undetectably vegan + gluten-free recipes, including healthy comfort food and naturally sweetened desserts using plant-based ingredients.

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