I have had this post in drafts, in its entirety, since July 2019. It’s almost been a year! I just never uploaded pictures to it, then lost the pictures and here we are. I updated the recipe a bit and made the muffins again. Old words, new photos, carrot apple muffins. Enjoy!
For the first time in a long time, I baked something. It took a week to complete. I forgot how many days exactly.
That’s not to say it was a complicated project or that it should take that long. It’s just that I started it right before what I think could be called a heat wave, but I didn’t finish it by the time it got too hot to turn on the oven. I refused to turn on my oven when my weather app said the low was 73 (yes, even in the middle of the night and early morning) and my thermostat said 81.
Honestly, I’m done complaining about the weather. It’s a little boring at this point, even to me. It’s a moot point.
Somehow it was comforting to know that I stopped in the exact right spot of my baking and was able to pick it back up later at the exact right time. When baby Maggie needed me, I put the big bowl of dry ingredients in the fridge along with a the small bowl of grated carrots. I started back up on a Monday morning. I had set an alarm for 6:45 am and got to baking while she miraculously slept until about 7:45.
If you make these carrot cake muffins, it shouldn’t take you nearly as long as it took me. Unless you also get interrupted by a small child and decide you don’t want to spend the free time you have working on your baking project for a week because it’s too hot to turn on the oven any way.
Of course, it’s possible that you could be interrupted during a baking project by something other than a small child. It could be a phone call, or a dog, an older child, work, whatever is relevant to you.
Throwing the ingredients in the fridge and getting back to baking later made me think of knitting. I have tried knitting and crocheting each before but never was much interested in either. I like the portability of those hobbies. It’s fun to see someone take a ball of yarn out of their bag in a waiting room and turn it in to something else.
These muffins make a great breakfast or grab-and-go snack. They are also vegan. Applesauce and extra baking powder are used when eggs traditionally would be.
Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Carrot apple muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots (about 2 large or up to 4 small/medium)
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans*
1/4 cup raisins*, tossed in 1 teaspoon flour
1 1/4 cup applesauce
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil
Preheat oven to 400 F. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray. If your pan is non-stick it won’t require any grease.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 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 applesauce and beat together with a whisk.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon or silicone spatula, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. 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 3 months.
Notes: *If you plan on serving this to a toddler, be sure to finely chop the nuts and cut the raisins up. I recently got a nut grinder from King Arthur Flour so I don’t have to hand chop nuts any more and I love it.
This recipe is flexible. You can not only substitute but also use more or less of certain things easily to suit your preference. You can add more or less carrots, walnuts and raisins.
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