I always think of muffins as just cupcakes with a health halo. Most muffin recipes, especially store bought muffins, are nothing more than sugar, butter and refined white flour. That’s why I’m bringing you this wonderful recipe from my favorite chef/dietitian, Ellie Krieger, RDN. Not only are these carrot cake muffins delicious enough to serve as dessert, they a filled with healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour, toasted walnuts and a pile of shredded carrots! Perfect for a fast and easy, nutritious breakfast. The recipe does have a longer list of ingredients but I promise you, it’s worth the little bit of extra effort. And since you’ll already have everything out on your counter, double the recipe so you can freeze a batch of muffins to have later. The muffins are dairy-free and if needed, you can sub a plant-based cream cheese as well. If you don’t have cream cheese, just dust the top with powdered sugar.
Carrot Cake Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (like canola oil)
2 large eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots, about 2 large carrots
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Directions
- Set oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
- Place walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in oven for about 3-5 minutes until you can smell them toasting. Remove from oven and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a large bowl, whisk brown sugar, oil, and eggs. Add applesauce, vanilla and carrots. Stir until combined. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 2-3 batches. Stir until combined and stir in walnuts.
- Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center is clean or has a few crumbs attached. Cool on wire rack.
- While muffins are baking, make the cream cheese frosting. In a small bowl, whisk together cream cheese and maple syrup. Using a small sandwich bag, cut off the corner and dollop on top of cooled muffins. Dust with cinnamon if desired.
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Thank you to Ellie Krieger, RDN for this recipe.
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