Today I have an awesome, healthy recipe for you AND a cookbook giveaway!

The recipe is for yam spice superhero muffins, and it’s from the brand-new cookbook: Rise & Run. (As you can probably guess, that’s the cookbook I’m giving away.)

Those of you who have been around for a while probably know that 1. I am not much of a runner and 2. I am obsessed with Run Fast. Eat Slow., and the follow-up cookbook, Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow., both by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky. Rise & Run is the pair’s newest book — it was just released today! — and is focused on breakfast and morning rituals.

In case you’re not familiar, Shalane is a four-time Olympian and NYC marathon champion, and Elyse is her friend and teammate from college who later went to culinary school. I have to admit, I was skeptical when I heard about their first cookbook. Many of the “healthy” recipes and cookbooks for “athletes” that I had tried before that were… not great. Some were actually inedible, if we’re being honest. But a friend had a copy of Run Fast. Eat Slow. and she said she had loved everything she’d made from it, so I decided to check it out for myself.

One of the first recipes I tried was for their original superhero muffins — delicious gluten-free muffins packed with oats, vegetables, and healthy fats — and I was hooked. Now I am constantly recommending their cookbooks to anyone and everyone, so I was super excited when I heard about this latest edition! Rise & Run has 24 variations on the original superhero muffins — including these yam spice superhero muffins — as well as breakfast cookies, smoothies, savory brunch foods, and a 14-week training plan.

A couple things to note about this recipe: It’s gluten free, so the muffins don’t rise much. That means you’ll need to smooth the tops of them down a bit before you put the pan in the oven, unless you want weirdly-shaped muffins. It’s not super sweet, so if you’re looking for something on the sweeter side, you may want to add a smidge more maple syrup/honey or use chocolate chips instead of pecans or walnuts. I used a sweet potato, not a yam, but you can use either (and any color of sweet potato will do!). And if you love these yam spice superhero muffins and want to read about Shalane and Elyse’s “indulgent nourishment” philosophy, enter to win Rise & Run! You don’t even have to be a runner to enjoy it. I promise.

One more note: Rodale books provided the recipe and the book for the giveaway, but I was not otherwise compensated. I just really love these books! Unfortunately, though, this giveaway is only open to U.S. readers. Sorry about that!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now for the recipe!

YAM SPICE SUPERHERO MUFFINS

Gluten-free // vegetarian (Makes 12 muffins) 

2 cups almond flour or almond meal
1½ cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
3 eggs
2 cups grated peeled sweet potato or yam (about 2)
1⁄3 cup maple syrup or honey
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted (sub 3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil for dairy free)
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and walnuts (if using).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sweet potato, maple syrup, melted butter, and ginger. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter will be thick.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake until the muffins are nicely browned on top and a knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven at 300°F for 10 minutes or microwave on low power for 30 seconds.

Recipe from RISE & RUN. Copyright ©2021 by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky. Photography copyright ©2021 by Erin Scott. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.