These sweet potato blondies use just 9 ingredients and no flour, eggs, or refined sugar. Coconut flour and peanut butter keep them dense and truly fudgy instead of cakey. You won't taste the sweet potato.
Sweet Potato Blondies At A Glance
- ✅ Recipe Name: Fudgy Sweet Potato Blondies (Vegan!)
- 🕒 Ready In: 45 minutes (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes bake)
- 👪 Serves: 9 squares from an 8x8 inch pan
- 🍽 Calories: ~140 per square, or ~160 with chocolate chips
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Sweet potato, creamy peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut flour, chocolate chips
- 📖 Dietary Info: Gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, dairy-free, no refined sugar, egg-free
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: They come out of the oven looking underbaked, and that's how you know they're right. Let them cool, and they set into a dense, fudgy bar instead of drying out into cake.
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Why These Fudgy Sweet Potato Blondies Work
This is one of the first recipes I ever put on the blog, and it's still the one I make most. My mom used to make blondies like these for our family picnics, and they were always the first thing gone. I've reshot and rewritten this post since then, but the recipe hasn't changed, because it never needed to.
Just like my peanut butter chickpea blondies, these blondies are unbelievably fudgy, and I will eat the pan. What makes me feel okay about that is what's actually in them: 3 grams of fiber and about 40% of your daily vitamin A per square, from real mashed sweet potato and coconut flour instead of white flour and sugar.
Sneaking vegetables and legumes into baked goods is genuinely my favorite thing to do. If you like these, my fudgy chickpea brownies hide beans instead, and my avocado banana brownies use avocado for the fat.
Jump to:
- Sweet Potato Blondies At A Glance
- Why These Fudgy Sweet Potato Blondies Work
- What Makes a Blondie Fudgy Instead of Cakey
- Ingredients You'll Need
- Ingredient Substitutions & Variations
- How to Make Sweet Potato Blondies (Step-by-Step)
- My Best Tips for Fudgy Sweet Potato Blondies
- How to Store, Freeze, and Make Ahead
- Sweet Potato Blondies FAQs
- More Healthy Dessert Recipes You'll Love
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BEST DESSERT EVER!!!! I cannot believe there is a sweet potato in these. They are so dense and fudgey.
- Francesca
What Makes a Blondie Fudgy Instead of Cakey
Too much flour and too much lift. This recipe uses just 2 tablespoons of coconut flour, no butter, and no eggs, so the fat from the peanut butter and the moisture from the sweet potato keep the center dense. If yours came out cakey, you likely added more flour than the recipe calls for.
Ingredients You'll Need
These sweet potato blondies use just 9 ingredients and no flour, eggs, or refined sugar. The coconut flour and peanut butter do all the binding.
- Sweet Potato: Adds moisture, natural sweetness, and most of the vitamin A. Cook until fork-tender so it mashes smooth with no lumps. Skip canned sweet potato meant for pie, since the added sugar and extra water throw off the texture.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: This replaces the butter, so it's doing structural work, not just flavor. Use all-natural creamy peanut butter, the drippy kind you stir, the same kind I use in my healthy peanut butter truffles. Almond or sunflower seed butter both work.
- Maple Syrup: Sweetens without refined sugar and thins the batter enough to stir. Pure maple syrup only, not pancake syrup.
- Vanilla Extract: Rounds out the peanut butter and keeps the sweet potato from tasting savory.
- Cinnamon: Warms up the sweet potato and makes it read as caramel rather than vegetable.
- Coconut Flour: The only flour here, and the reason these hold together without eggs. It absorbs far more liquid than almond, oat, or wheat flours, so 2 tablespoons does the job that a full cup of regular flour would. Do not swap it one-for-one. If you have to substitute, use ⅓ cup almond flour for every 2 tablespoons of coconut flour.
- Baking Powder: Just enough lift to keep them from being heavy. Any more and they'd turn cakey.
- Salt: Balances the maple syrup and sharpens the peanut butter.
- Chocolate Chips: Use dairy-free chips to keep these vegan. Nuts, dried fruit, or coconut flakes work if you want to skip them.
Scroll to recipe card for quantities!
Ingredient Substitutions & Variations
- Make them nut-free: Sunflower seed butter plus dairy-free chips, and check that your chocolate is made in a nut-free facility.
- Sweet potato: Canned pumpkin works in equal amounts, and mashed banana works if you don't mind the flavor coming through. Do not use pumpkin pie filling or canned sweet potato pie filling, since both contain added sugar and extra water. Never use russet potatoes.
- Peanut butter: Almond, cashew, or sunflower seed butter all work. Sunflower seed butter or granola butter makes these nut-free.
- Maple syrup: Honey or agave in equal amounts. Honey means they're no longer vegan.
- Coconut flour: This is the one I'd rather you didn't swap, since it's doing the binding. If you have to, use ⅓ cup almond flour for every 2 tablespoons of coconut flour. Expect a softer, more delicate bar.
- Chocolate chips: Chopped nuts, dried fruit, or coconut flakes. Use dairy-free chips to keep these vegan.
How to Make Sweet Potato Blondies (Step-by-Step)
These come together in one bowl in about 15 minutes of hands-on work. Below is a photo walkthrough of each step, and the full recipe with exact measurements is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Step 1: Cook the sweet potato. Pierce it with a fork and microwave 3 to 5 minutes until very fork-tender, or boil peeled quarters for 10 to 12 minutes. Let it cool 5 minutes, then scoop out the flesh and mash smooth with a fork.
- Step 2: Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, stir the peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth.
- Step 3: Add 1 cup of mashed sweet potato. Measure it, don't estimate. Stir into the peanut butter mixture until the color is even.
- Step 4: Add the dry ingredients. Stir in the coconut flour, baking powder, and salt until fully combined. The batter will be thick.
- Step 5: Spread into the pan. Fold in the chocolate chips, press evenly into a parchment-lined 8x8 inch tin, and scatter more chips on top.
- Step 6: Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes. They will look soft in the center when you pull them out. That is correct. Cool completely before slicing, since the coconut flour keeps absorbing as the pan cools and that is what sets the fudgy texture.
My Best Tips for Fudgy Sweet Potato Blondies
- Measure the sweet potato; don't eyeball it. One cup, packed but not compressed. This is the ingredient most likely to throw off the texture, and a large potato can easily give you a cup and a half.
- Cool the sweet potato before you mash it. Straight out of the microwave, it will burn your hands, and hot mash thins the peanut butter more than you want.
- Don't use canned sweet potato meant for pie. Extra sugar and extra water. Plain canned pumpkin is a better swap if you're skipping the fresh potato entirely.
- They look raw coming out of the oven. Soft in the center at 30 to 35 minutes is right. If the center looks fully set, they're overbaked and will be dry.
- Cool completely before slicing. Not "mostly cool." The coconut flour keeps absorbing moisture as the pan sits, which firms the center. Warm blondies fall apart.
How to Store, Freeze, and Make Ahead
- Room temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator: Up to 1 week. I actually prefer them cold, since the fudgy center firms up even more.
- Freezer: Wrap squares individually in plastic wrap, place in an airtight container or freezer bag, and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 20 minutes, or eat them straight from the freezer.
- Make ahead: Cook and mash the sweet potato up to 3 days early and keep it in the fridge. The rest comes together in about 10 minutes once that's done.
Sweet Potato Blondies FAQs
No. The sweet potato reads as caramel once it bakes, and the peanut butter and chocolate cover what's left. Every person I've fed these to has been surprised there's a vegetable in them.
Too much flour and too much lift. This recipe uses only 2 tablespoons of coconut flour and no eggs or butter, so the peanut butter fat and sweet potato moisture keep the center dense. If yours came out cakey, you likely added more flour than the recipe calls for.
Plain canned puree works, but not canned sweet potato meant for pie, which has added sugar and extra water. If your batter looks loose, add an extra teaspoon of coconut flour.
They're a better-for-you dessert, not a health food. Each square has 3 grams of fiber and a real dose of vitamin A from the sweet potato, and there's no flour, butter, or refined sugar. There's still maple syrup and chocolate in them.
You can, but it changes the texture. Use ⅓ cup of almond flour for every 2 tablespoons of coconut flour. Expect a softer, more delicate bar since coconut flour is far more absorbent than almond.
Yes. Swap the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter and use chocolate chips made in a nut-free facility.
Pull them at 30 to 35 minutes, when the edges are set and the center still looks soft. They keep firming as the pan cools. A fully set center in the oven means they're overbaked.
More Healthy Dessert Recipes You'll Love
If you loved these sweet potato blondies, here are a few more fudgy, secretly wholesome treats to try next:
Did you make this recipe?
If you make this recipe, be sure to comment and rate it down below. Also, don't forget to tag me @healthfulblondie on Instagram and use the hashtag #healthfulblondie so I can see your delicious creation and share it with my followers!
📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato, (about 1 to 2 medium sweet potatoes)
- ½ cup creamy all-natural peanut butter
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips, (dairy-free for vegan)
Instructions
- Prep the pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line an 8x8 inch baking tin with parchment paper.
- Cook the sweet potato. Pierce with a fork and microwave 3 to 5 minutes until very fork-tender. Or peel, quarter, and boil 10 to 12 minutes until fork-tender.
- Cool and mash. Let the sweet potato cool 5 minutes. Scoop out the flesh, discard the skin, and mash smooth with a fork.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth.
- Add the sweet potato. Measure out 1 cup of mashed sweet potato and stir it into the peanut butter mixture until the color is even.
- Add the dry ingredients. Stir in the coconut flour, baking powder, and salt until fully combined. The batter will be thick.
- Fill the pan. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula, spread the batter evenly into the prepared tin, and scatter the remaining chips on top.
- Bake. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. The center will still look soft when you pull them out. That is correct.
- Cool completely. Let the pan cool fully before slicing. The coconut flour keeps absorbing as it cools, and that is what sets the fudgy texture.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe tested and developed by Tati Chermayeff, creator of Healthful Blondie. A former Division I rower, Ironman triathlete, and recipe developer based in Austin, TX, Tati creates high-protein and healthy recipes that actually taste like the real thing.
saskia Chermayeff says
THESE WERE SO GOOD. Not only were they so addictive, but they didn't taste like they were meant to be "healthy".
Tati Chermayeff says
THESE WERE SO GOOD. Not only were they so addictive, but they didn't taste like they were meant to be 'healthy'.
Francesca says
BEST DESSERT EVER!!!! I cannot believe there is a sweet potato in these. They are so dense and fudgey.
Tati Chermayeff says
Francesca, thank you! The disbelief is my favorite part. Nobody expects a whole cup of sweet potato in there, and that's exactly what the peanut butter and cinnamon are doing.
Kiki says
Made this recipe yesterday and they’re so delicious, the taste is perfect and it’s easy to make! This is a must try 🙂 Literal perfection, thanks for this recipe 🤎
Tati Chermayeff says
Thank you, Kiki! "Literal perfection" might be my favorite review I've ever gotten. So happy you loved them.