Carrot (Cake) Muffins

Once upon a time I used to naively believe that the carrot cake or the carrot muffin was a little bit ‘healthier’ choice than some of the other alternatives out there.  It has to, right?  Carrots = healthy.  Then comes the day one realizes that carrot cake probably requires more oil and as much sugar as any other cake type recipe.  At least it still has carrots….

Ever since, I’ve been looking for a recipe that was actually a tad healthier (that didn’t suck).  THEN I finally found this one.  And it came at the perfect time, as I had just finished making pumpkin puree for the first time, and happen to have a few frozen bricks of it in my freezer at the time.

The result was a moist and flavourful cake.  I also appreciated the added texture from the coconut and whole wheat flour.  And it has a small fraction of the oil that a typical carrot cake recipe would have.  BONUS, it’s a good way to use of both carrot and pumpkin.  I’ve used this for carrot cake, and carrot muffins; the muffins make for a good quick breakfast.

PREP TIME: 20 min   COOK TIME: 30 min    TOTAL TIME: 50 min   YIELD: 16

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup of oil
• 3/4 cup of butter milk (OR 3/4 cup milk with 1 tsp white vinegar)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 cups grated carrot
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1 cup raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Combine wet ingredients, mix and gradually add the dry ingredients.  Do not overmix.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until brown and cooked through.  Alternatively, if making a carrot cake instead, this recipe should make 2 – 9 inch cake pans.  Cooking time will also be increased.