My dog Cookie usually comes racing when I get out the vegetable peeler. I swear, she can hear it slice through the air before it even strikes a carrot. Then she starts leaping up and down for carrot leftovers. She can be pretty demanding. I’ve made an entitled little carrot beast, and I’m not sorry in the slightest.
Cookie adored the development process for this carrot muffin recipe. It took me five tries to get them just perfect, so she received a lot of carrot leftovers in the process. They’re based on one of my cookbook recipes (very wonderful!!!).
These substantial muffins are packed with grated carrots, walnuts and raisins. They have tons of texture, yet they’re still light and fluffy.
Thanks to the nuts and nutritious grains, these muffins make a fantastic grab-and-go breakfast! They also freeze and defrost well. I just microwave individual muffins for 30 to 60 seconds, until they’re softly warmed throughout.
What makes these carrot muffins healthy?
Granted, “healthy” is a relative phrase, but here are a few reasons why I consider these muffins to be more nutritionally redeeming than most:
- Unlike normal carrot muffins made with refined all-purpose flour, these are made with white whole wheat flour.
- That implies they’re created fully with whole grains, but you can’t taste them because white whole wheat flour has such a weak flavor.
- Protein-rich Greek yogurt substitutes sour cream.
- Coconut oil or olive oil replace butter (olive oil is composed of more monounsaturated
- fat, and is regarded to be more heart-healthy) (olive oil is composed of more monounsaturated fat, and is considered to be more heart-healthy)
- Real maple syrup substitutes refined sugar, so these muffins are naturally sweetened.
- Combined, you end up with robust muffins that taste like carrot cake. You can have carrot cake for breakfast with these infants!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or ordinary whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups peeled and grated carrots* (from ¾ pound carrots—about 3 large or upto 6 small/medium)
- ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- ½ cup raisins (I like golden raisins), mixed in 1 teaspoon flour
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt***
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (sometimes called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
Also read: Healthy Apple Muffins
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If required, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (mine pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any fat).
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Blend well with a whisk. In a separate, tiny bowl, stir the raisins with 1 teaspoon flour so they don’t clump together. Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and dusted raisins to the remaining ingredients and toss to incorporate.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla and combine well. (If the coconut oil freezes in touch with cold ingredients, gradually reheat the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
- Pour the wet components into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until incorporated (a few lumps are good) (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 to 16 minutes, or until the muffins are brown on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tray on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerated for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.