carrot muffins

carrot muffins/cake has of course been done numerous different ways... when coming up with this recipe, i was trying to mix flours and flavor in a way that would give me a lot of protein, fiber, and other vitamins along with the natural sweetness of the carrots. so this recipe can of course have a number of substitutions depending on your taste, and i continue to play around with it depending on my mood. it's a favorite of my niece and nephew, so is definitely kid friendly :)


Carrot Muffins

1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup Teff Flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
*1/4-1/3 cup almond meal (if you like a more nutty flavor)
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt (i use Celtic Sea Salt)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon (i use saigon cinnamon-fairly strong)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
*(you can also sub 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice for all of the spices)
1/2 cup-3/4 cup agave nectar -0r- 1/2 cup agave+1/4 cup Sucanat (depending on how sweet you want it)
2 TBSP blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
2 eggs (or egg substitution)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup hempmilk, rice milk, or almond milk
1/4 cup water
1 cup grated carrots (i use 2 organic carrots)
*if you like them sweeter you can add pineapple or another juice
*if you like nuts, they would be a great addition as well. i've also added cocoa nibs too.

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease muffin pans
-Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
-In your mixer bowl, mix your eggs, agave, water, milk, oil, molasses, and vanilla until incorporated.
-Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
-Add grated carrots to the batter and stir in by hand. - do not overmix! (i shred mine in the food processor in a matter of seconds) if your batter is too thick, add a little more water.
-Fill your muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for about 15 minutes. ** the oven in our new place is a bit off with temperature, so i would say bake for 10, check them, and then every five minutes after check again, because each oven time will vary.
-cool on a wire rack

You can eat these as is, or you can also ice them with this wonderful coconut cream frosting made with agave from Elana's Pantry.