Carrot Spice Muffins.

How about a recipe? Hasn't it been awhile since I interrupted my regular medically-related posts to describe a sweet and satisfying treat? I think so!

Carrot Spice Muffins

I made these muffins using carrot-juice pulp (made fresh in my juicer). This yielded a moist muffin, but without much carrot flavor AT ALL. I still named them carrot muffins because they do contain a lot of carrots and all their healthy benefits (vitamin A, beta-carotene, and fiber). If you don't want to make carrot muffins, you could use shredded zucchini or shredded coconut instead, just adjust the liquid in the recipe accordingly.

These muffins can be made: Sugar-free, Oil-free, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, and Refined-flour free, if you follow my instructions. However, feel free to adjust the recipe to make use of your own pantry contents. You'll note that I used thawed juice concentrate instead of sugar. Whaa?! Crazy, I know, but all you do is buy a can of frozen juice concentrate, let it thaw, and then use like you would maple syrup or honey. The thawed concentrate is slightly syrupy and ridiculously sweet, making it a great sweetener for baking.

2 cups oat flour (or whatever flour you chose)
1/2 cup whole, rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)

1/4 cup coconut milk (or vegetable oil)
1 can of thawed concentrated pineapple juice (or 3/4 cup maple syrup)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/3 cup raisins (or dried apricots, chopped)
2 cups carrot pulp--which is leftover from juicing carrots (or shredded carrots)

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Combine wet and dry. Stir in the nuts, fruit, and carrots. Pour the batter into lightly greased muffin tins. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes, depending on oven temperature (ovens vary slightly in temperature) and how big your muffin tin is. Use a toothpick to check doneness (insert a toothpick into muffin; it should come out clean without any batter on it in).

Makes 24 mini muffins (this is what I made) or 10-12 regular-sized muffins.