Carrot Spice Muffins
Here's one way to get your kids to eat their vegetables: Bake them into muffins (the vegetables, that is, not the kids!) I baked these muffins over the weekend, and my daughter E. didn't even bat an eye at the shreds of carrot in them, despite the fact that she's never even had carrot cake, as far as I know. They turned out very dense, slightly sweet, moist and tender and gently spiced. Best of all, since I used white whole wheat flour and only a bit of sugar, they're healthier than most muffins, even fat-free ones.
Carrot Spice Muffins
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Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (or a mixture of whole wheat and unbleached flours)
1/4 cup natural sugar
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup soy yogurt*
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup shredded carrots (about 3)
1/4 cup raisins
Optional topping: Vanilla sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray or use muffin liners. (I used silicone muffin pans.)
Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Add the liquid to the dry and mix just long enough to combine. Add the carrots and raisins and stir to combine.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups--it will be very thick. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar, if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
*People sensitive to soy may try substituting rice milk or other non-dairy milk.
Makes 12 muffins. Each contains: 132 Calories (kcal); 1 g Total Fat; (4% calories from fat); 3 g Protein; 30 g Carbohydrate; 0 mg Cholesterol; 244 mg Sodium; 3 g Fiber
posted by SusanV at 12:06 PM
51 Comments:
Oh yum, these muffins are calling my name. There's just something about the combination of carrot and spice. Although I was thinking about adding shredded zucchini too- (hopefully that won't screw them up). Thanks for sharing these healthy muffing alternatives! I'm glad that E enjoyed them, and that you baked tha carrots instead of baking her!
-Teresa
Those look awesome! I've been on a healthy-muffin kick lately, so these will definitely be added to my "To Do" list!
Looks yummy! I don't have any agave nectar- could I substitute maple syrup? If so- what amount would be comparable? I also don't have any soy yogurt- but thought of using soy milk. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Teresa, I've been thinking of doing zucchini muffins, too. Zucchini is moister than carrots, so you may have to adjust the liquid.
Lena, I hope you'll give them a try. They're the new favorites around here.
Addy, maple syrup isn't quite as sweet as agave, so you may need to add a little more of it. Why not use 3/4 of a cup of it and 1/4 cup of soymilk. I can't promise without trying it myself, but I think that should work.
What's agave nectar? I really want to make these, but don't have any of it. Are there any more commonplace replacements?
Agave nectar is a sweetener that comes from the agave plant. It's sweeter than sugar, so you need less of it; plus, it may be better for diabetics because of its low glycemic index(though that point is controversial). You can use any liquid sweetener instead: maple syrup (see above), rice syrup, even corn syrup or honey, if you're not opposed to them. Or you can use granulated sugar and add a bit more water.
ooh yummy. I have a carrot cardamom doughnut recipe that sounds like that also. Though I use mashed banana instead of applesauce, and they're gluten-free
Very very cool, Susan... and no added oil! Am impressed.
I would think a combination of grated summer squash would also work. Chopped nuts might be possible, too, but moisture would need adjusting.
Agave is a bit expensive and I'm glad you added some tips in comments about alternatives.
Anyway, I think you've a fine recipe here that can be tweaked in a couple of interesting directions (cranberries!! apples!! dates!!).
As always, thanks...
Great photos.
I made these today when I saw the recipe and realized that I had all the ingredients (with a few subs), and really needed to use some of them up.
I used WW pastry flour, soy milk instead of yogurt, and walnuts instead of raisins. The muffins are good. Definitely "healthy" tasting, but in a good way that makes me feel good instead of guilty when eating them!
Picture of my muffins here: http://flickr.com/photos/43131058@N00/410399085/
You should post about home made carrot juice. If you haven't tried it, it is absolutely the best thing in the world no matter what your taste. Start off with a bag of carrots, throw that in your juicer. You may want to just taste that, as it can be quite enjoyable. But here's where the fun comes in, you can add almost anything you want to the mix. Apples, cranberries, celery, tomato, cabbage, lemon, grapefruit, orange, ginger, anything with a distinct taste. You can make drinks sweeter than maple syrup to extremely bitter, and everything in between.
this morning i found that i had some leftover canned pumpkin, and decided that i wanted to make muffins. when i saw this healthy recipe, it seemed like the sort of thing i was looking for. so i replaced the amount of carrots for an equal amount of canned pumpkin, and ommitted the apple sauce for fear that the batter would be too wet. the muffins turned out well!
marygrace
Oh yum! I love that these are healthy and they look great. The carrot and spice combo will be a sure hit with Britty too!! :P
They looks so yummy and healthy.Great thing to have if you are on diet.I would love bake some of them for myself.Thanx for sharing this healthy stuff!!Emmie
These look and sound so fabulous- and I have all the ingredients- I'm going to make them today! Thanks for always making even healthy things that much better!
p.s. in response to David's comment, above, juicing carrots is where I get the huge amounts of shredded carrot pulp in my freezer that allow me to make these muffins! Juice and muffins... carrots just keep on giving!
These look great. I have an abundance of carrots right now and these are going to hit the spot. I also have some of the darker Agave nectar that I will try in these muffins. Thank you Susan for another awesome recipe!
they looks so good!thanks for the recipe
Gluten Free version, here we come!
OMG. first it was 'four drops sesame oil' in the cajun tempeh, now it's one whole tbsp. of flax seeds. she's conspiring to make us fat.
;-)
I think my mom would like these muffins. She's LOVES carrot cake and she's always shocked when she learns it's vegan.
Teddy
Susan, I just need to tell you that your muffins are fantastic. They are so light and moist. I will put pictures on my blog later today, but I had to compliment you. The whole family enjoyed them. I have never had a whole wheat muffing that was this light and moist. Way to go!
I will substitute dairy yoghurt for the soy. I am wary of soy, and so is my gynecologist, because I have had a pre-cancerous condition of the uterine lining. In consultations with physicians, all have advised me to severely limit soy, if I use it at all, and to use as unprocessed soy as possible, ie) edamame not soy milk or yoghurt or soy powders etc.
Back to the recipe: I've used a banana bread/muffin recipe from Christine Cushing at foodtv.ca that is delicious, although yes it uses yoghurt. For the fat it uses only 2 tablespoons of canola oil.
Although I'm not a vegan or even strictly vegetarian, I appreciate your recipes very much. I know when I do choose to eat this way the recipes will be tasty and well-tested.
These look delicious and I am delighted to see that you are making a carrot recipe the week that our great big vegetable challenge hits C for Carrots.
We have just tried a carrot and polenta cake recipe which was delicious - but your recipe is even healthier!
GreatBigVegChallenge
I love it when things are tasty and nutritious at the same time :)
Thanks for the recipe! I just made these but substituted silken tofu for the soy yogurt and a banana for the apple sauce (because I didn't have neither.) They turned out soft, moist and perfect!
I found this recipe randomly on Google actually. I unfortunately had to sub a lot of things since I live in a country without things like agave syrup, applesauce, or whole wheat flour, but they still turned out yummy.
I definitely recommend trying these with wild blueberry soy yogurt if you can find it in your country. It added a nice element :)
We made these with my boyfriend who isn't a vegetarian, but he trusts my "food sense" so he was all up to baking these for a party we went to. We did quite a bit of substituting, no agave nectar in Finland, soy yoghurt is too pricey and we didn't have flax seeds either, so we substituted water, orange juice (because I wanted some orange there), a little more apple sauce, a few tablespoons of soy flour and a bit more sugar. The dough tasted wonderful, like gingerbread, and of course the whole place smelt great when they were baking.
The final result was a bit disappointing at first as we baked them in paper muffin cups and when we ate the first ones half of the stuff stuck to the cups. But we should have just been a little patient, they were just fine when they had completely cooled down. My BF found them a bit spongy, but still wants to make them again.
And they were a big hit at the party where I was probably the only vegetarian. I don't think anyone knew they were vegan and almost no-fat. So we'll definitely be making more in the future, especially since there's so little work needed.
Susan, we can't find agave nectar here in Australia, and I don't have soy yogurt in the house cuz i don't like any of it that I've found ... so I tried your substitution suggestion of 3/4 c maple syrup and 1/4c soy milk. They were wonderful! Even my skeptical hubby found that he loved them! Thanks for a big hit, as many vegan muffin recipes I've tried have bombed. These were great!
Anna
They turned out just great! Took a little bit longer in the oven though - about 25-27 minutes.
I am so happy that I first decided to make only three muffins...I ate them all as soon as they were ready. And I am even a huge fan of muffins...But those are just DELICIOSO!!!
I just came across your site yesterday and LOVE IT! I made the pupusas last night...
My 2 year old and I got up early and made these for breakfast- we used Honey (I know, not vegan) instead of Agave and Almond Milk instead of soy yogurt but we otherwise true to the recipe... The whole house smells lovely and the muffins were moist and fluffy. I'm always looking for new lowfat muffins. Thanks so much!
wow, these look amazing Susan! I am so making these!!:)
Hey Susan!
Lovely muffins! But liquid sweeteners are super costly in Singapore, I only have the dry sugar. Can I still make these?
Hi again Susan--this is a great recipe. I made them back at Easter, and have been meaning to tell you that my son and his girlfriend loved these, K especially. She brought four home with them, and M reported, laughing, that he only got one, and K wanted me to e-mail her the link to your recipe. The next time I saw M, he was about to eat the last muffin, then said, maybe I'll bring this home to K. She's kind of down and in a bad mood today, and when I left the house, I told her if I found something to cheer her up, I would bring it back." And so he brought her the last muffin. So a sweet story to go with your sweet and spicy muffins. Thanks again for all the great nurturing your recipes are providing us.
I made these yesterday and they turned out great!
I just made these yesterday and they turned out great - very moist!
I'm really confused. Flavor-free soy yogurt is next to impossible to buy here without wasting tons and tons of gas driving around to all the specialty stores - which defeats one of the purposes of being vegan. I've never ever found fat-reduced soy yogurt. Even the flavored kinds are hard to find! You use it in almost every single baking recipe.
I know that 1/4 cup soy yogurt can be used as a binder = 1 egg. But in this recipe you also use flax seeds (1tbsp plus a little water = 1egg) PLUS you use soy yogurt. Do you intend to "replace" the binding equivalent of 2 eggs in this recipe? You recommend that soy yogurt could be replaced with a non-soy milk. Does this mean it's *not acting as an egg replacer/binder in this recipe? Please specify when you're using it as a binder so that I can substitute another binder for it. Please specify when it's an ingredient adding some other property such as moisture and I'll just add soy milk instead. Thanks!
Unsweetened soy yogurt is very easy for me to get (available at a store my husband passes on his way to work every day) and because I achieve the most delicious results using it, I tend to include it a lot. Generally I use it as a fat replacer, but sometimes it's just a generic moisture-adder (meaning it doesn't replace anything specifically and I just thought it would taste good!) I think here you're safe to assume it's a moisture added and go with the non-dairy milk. When there's no apple sauce, prune puree, or mashed banana, it's probably acting as a fat replacer, in which case you can use apple sauce, prune puree, mashed banana or (if you don't care about the fat) canola oil or margarine. I don't think I usually use it as an egg replacer--I use flax and extra leavening for that.
Ah ha! At last the riddle's answer. Thanks Susan!
Mmmmm! These tasted great. I did everything the same except I used soy milk instead of yogurt (didn't have any) and it turned out so yummy and moist. Thanks for another great recipe!
I took a double batch of these guys to work during our "Bikini Month" (healthy snacks only) and later, people complained that I hadn't made enough! Considering that I work at a veterinary clinic in dairy country, and most of my co-workers back up at the suggestion of anything vegan, I feel this is serious praise indeed. Thanks!
These muffins are so sweet (as in nice and cute, but sweet tasting as well!) I don't know if it was something I did or if it was just how the recipe was, but my muffins came out a bit chewy. I didn't over mix the batter, so I don't think it has anything to do with that. Do you have any suggestions? Your site is amazing, by the way!
These muffins are in the oven right now and they look delicious. I substituted vanilla hemp milk for the soy yogurt, and added a bit more of the spices. I can't wait to try them!
I'm wondering though, the medium/gluten free dude, how does one make them gluten free?
Thanks Susan! Yum!
Hi Susan. I managed to find all of your ingredients here in New Zealand - we have an excellent organics shop that stocks both agave nectar and plain soy yoghurt. I found though that the muffins took more like 30 mins to cook and even then they were still a bit soggy on the bottom (the toothpick was not coming out clean). Once they cooled, they were no longer soggy but they are a bit chewy because of the longer cooking time. That said, they are still very delicious and my husband loved them! He has been taking them in his lunch to work.
Wow, I'm incredibly impressed with this recipe. Mine are in the oven as I type, with only 5 minutes left. The batter was delicious. I used less sugar than called for, and it still tasted sweet. Next time I might even omit the sugar altogether and just use the agave. But what's really great about these muffins is that they actually ROSE. Everytime I've tried to make vegan muffins lately, they turned out chewy and gummy, and didn't rise at all, making me restrain from serving them to others. But these are rising nicely (I actually put too much batter into each cup, and now they're huge). I used a cheese grater to shred my carrots, so that's an idea for anyone who doesn't have any other method. Thank you so much!
Wonderful recipe. Moist, delicious muffins that rose nicely. I used half wheat flour, half unbleached flour, and soymilk instead of yogurt. Also, I used the carrot-apple pulp from my juicer for the shredded carrots.
These muffins are nutritious and at only 132 calories each, they are suprisingly filling. Thank you for the fabulous recipe.
I am definitely going to make these.
Although I put chocolate chips in every muffin I make, i wonder if that will work??
Thanks for sharing the recipe
Yum! Just made these and they turned out quite dense but still soft and delicious. Although I did use all ww flour, vanilla soygurt and whole flax seeds bc i carelessly read the recipe.lol. all in all this is the perfect get up and go muffin!
oops forgot to mention I ran out of agave nectar so substituted brown rice syrup
Made these on the weekend and they are AMAZING!
Thanks so much for all of your recipes!
My mum's doing the montignac diet (no mixing of carbs and fat) and i'm a vegan. But with a little help from this miracle blog i made one helluva feast! I made the vegetable couscous and then a fruit salad with these tasty little jewels for dessert. They turned out homagawd... this being positive. (i used entirely whole wheat flour by the by. Tasty and healthy, i could get used to this).
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