Healthy Carrot Apple Muffins
I love the Carrot Cake muffins that Starbucks recently started selling but wanted something a bit healthier.
Today I made these muffins. I made a dozen of them and decided to add pecans and raisins to the remaining batter and bake a variation.
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 apples peeled and cored
1/2 cup turbinado brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
3-4 large carrots peeled
2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/4-1/2 cup raw pecans (optional)
1/3-1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray muffin tin or place liners in the tin.
3. Mix eggs, oil, banana and syrup in a large bowl.
4. Shred apples and carrots with a grater. I like this one (using the fine grater wheel) by Salad King:
Mine is an older one. There are similar ones for sale at Amazon.com - just type "Salad King grater" in the search string.
5. Add brown turbinado sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.
6. Stir in grated apples and carrots.
7. Add oats and whole wheat flour.
8. Stir in pecans and raisins if desired.
9. Spoon into muffin tins, filling almost to the top.
10. Garnish with any or all of the following: shredded carrot, pecans, or oats.
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffin.
12. Cool for 5 minutes and move to a rack too cool completely. If you used muffin liners, be sure to cool completely to avoid the muffin sticking to the liner.
13. Enjoy!
These can be stored in an airtight bag or container. They can even be frozen and thawed. I like to put a frozen one in my lunch and let it thaw until lunch.
Here are the muffins with pecans and raisins:
