Healthy Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups regular whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups carrots (peeled and grated)
½ cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
½ cup raisins (tossed in 1 teaspoon flour)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
½ cup honey (or maple syrup)
2 eggs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon raw sugar (for sprinkling on top)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray.
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.
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.)
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 raw sugar. Bake muffins for 13 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
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 2 months.
