[RECIPE] Elizabeth's Favorite Health Food - Carrot Muffins

Elizabeth is sharing her favorite health food recipe. Her pick from Cookie and Kate is healthy carrot muffins. Thanks to the nuts and whole grains, these muffins make a good grab-and-go breakfast! They also freeze and defrost well.

healthy-carrot-muffins-recipe-1.jpg

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 2 cups peeled and grated carrots (that’s potentially a lot of carrots—about 3 large or up to 6 small/medium)

  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

  • 1/2 cup raisins (I like golden raisins), tossed in 1 teaspoon flour

  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey

  • 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature

  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).

  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Blend well with a whisk. In a separate, small bowl, toss the raisins with 1 teaspoon flour so they don’t stick together. Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and floured raisins to the other ingredients and stir to combine.

  3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)

  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

  5. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

These muffins are easily adapted to vegan and gluten-free diets, too! Find the full recipe and vegan/GF adaptions from Cookie and Kate here.

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