carrot muffins

Is it obvious that I like baking muffins? I have plenty of muffins recipes in my notebook and every time I think about what to post there is this voice inside that says no, you cannot post yet another muffins recipe. I find it a bit funny that in early 2009 I had never in my life baked muffins. I have no idea what was stopping me but after my first try there was no going back. My friend (Cafe)Sigrun was of course my inspiration; she was always talking about these amazing muffins she was making and one day I thought to myself that's it, now I'll give it a go and I went muffin pan shopping. I'm not pretending to invent the wheel with this recipe, I think the ingredients are pretty basic, but as you know I never use butter when baking and I don't drown my recipes in oil. Personally, I love using chopped pecans or walnuts in carrot muffins but my younger daughter is going through a phase where she doesn't want nuts in anything (too long phase, if you ask me!). As I like to make these for the children I leave the nuts out.

CARROT MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

• 250 g spelt flour, a blend of wholegrain and fine (2 cups)
• 2½-3 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1-1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½-1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• optional: ⅛-¼ teaspoon cardamom
• optional: ⅛-¼ teaspoon clove
• 1 large egg, free-range/organic
• 100 g organic raw cane sugar (½ cup)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or agave
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or other fine vegetable oil
• 75-90 ml (5-6 tablespoons) organic vanilla yoghurt (or plain yoghurt + ¼-½ teaspoon organic vanilla sugar)
• 175 g coarsely grated carrots (two carrots)

Update 4 October 2012: I was asked in an email how I make these with nuts. Usually, I use chopped walnuts and I use about 50 grams, which is about ½ cup. And when I use nuts I only use ½ tablespoon of oil because the fat from the nuts is enough. The muffins get too sticky in my opinion if I use 1 tablespoon.

METHOD

1. In a large bowl, combine the spelt flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside
2. In a medium bowl, combine the egg, sugar, maple syrup and coconut oil (if the oil is solid, place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use). Then add the vanilla yoghurt and combine
3. Coarsely grate the carrots
4. Add the wet ingredients and the grated carrots (and walnuts if using) into the large bowl and mix gently. Make sure not to stir, the texture of the dough should be rather light
5. Lightly grease a silicon muffin pan with some coconut oil and fill each muffin cup about two-thirds to the rim (makes 12-14 muffins)
6. Bake at 180-190°C/350-375°F/gas mark 4-5 for 20-25 minutes (fan oven: 175°C/325°C/gas mark 3)
7. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack

apple and cinnamon muffins - 'appins'

I have a confession to make; these are my I-need-to-manipulate-my-hubby muffins. If I don't have time to bake his favourite, the apple cake, then I can always make these, as the recipes are similar, and have my way with him. Well, sort of, he's not that easily manipulated! By the way, he calls these appins. All jokes aside, these muffins are very easy to make and if I remember correctly I put the recipe together for a Sunday brunch. Everyone in this household finds them delicious and I make them frequently. I always use one teaspoon of cinnamon and I don't think the taste is too dominant. Use less if you're sensitive to its taste. I have added a few baking options below the list of ingredients if you would like to pop them up. If using regular baking powder one teaspoon is enough.

APPLE AND CINNAMON MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

• 200 g spelt flour (1½ cup)
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg, free-range/organic
• 1 egg white (from a large egg)
• 100 g organic raw cane sugar (½ cup)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 large red apples, peeled and grated coarsely

Optional: You can use less cinnamon and/or add some ground ginger or nutmeg instead, or both. Sometimes I add a handful of chopped pecans and I have used raisins. If you really want to treat yourself then add 20 g of chopped organic dark chocolate and skip one tablespoon of maple syrup.

METHOD

1. In a medium bowl, combine the spelt flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Set aside
2. In a large bowl, combine the egg, egg white, sugar, maple syrup and coconut oil (if the oil is solid, place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use)
3. Peel the apples and remove the seeds. Grate the apples using a coarse grater and then add them to the egg and sugar blend and mix with a spatula
4. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently. Make sure not to stir, the texture of the dough should be light
5. Lightly grease a silicone muffin pan with some coconut oil and fill each muffin cup about two-thirds to the rim (makes 12 muffins)
6. Bake at 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 for 22-25 minutes
7. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack

apple and chocolate muffins

I put this simple recipe together last Sunday when preparing a late brunch for the family. Instead of using chocolate chips or cocoa powder I used organic chocolate hazelnut spread. I only buy organic ones; I never buy Nutella or such brands. You can also use my home-made version if you have it, just make sure it's at room temperature before you start. The chocolate hazelnut spread makes the tops a bit crunchy. The muffins of course taste good and they are not too sweet. If you are allergic to nuts you can use coconut oil instead of the chocolate hazelnut spread and add some cocoa powder or organic chocolate chips. If you use regular baking powder you'll only need one teaspoon.

APPLE AND CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

• 200 g spelt flour (1½ cup)
• 2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 large egg, free-range/organic
  
• 100 g raw cane sugar (½ cup)
• 3 tablespoons organic chocolate hazelnut spread
• 2 red apples (not too big), peeled and grated coarsely

METHOD

1. In a medium bowl, combine the spelt flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside
2. In a large bowl, combine the egg and sugar
3. Peel the apples and remove the seeds. Grate the apples using a coarse grater
4. Add the grated apples and the chocolate hazelnut spread into the large bowl with the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently. Make sure not to stir, the texture of the dough should be light
6. Lightly grease a silicon muffin pan with some coconut oil and fill each muffin cup about two-thirds to the rim (makes 12 muffins)
7. Bake at 200°C/400°F/gas 6 for 23-27 minutes
8. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack

banana muffins

These banana muffins are on our list of favourites; not only do they taste good, they also have plenty of healthy ingredients (there isn't too much sugar) – perfect in the children's lunch box. I baked eighty-two of them today for our son's birthday party at his kindergarten next week and of course we ate some too. I thought to myself that I simply had to share the recipe that comes from my friend CafeSigrun. By now, most of you should be familiar with her recipe website (I'm still so happy that it's available in English). I always use large eggs when making these. If you only have small ones then I'd suggest using three egg whites instead of two. You can use one teaspoon of regular baking powder instead of two of the gluten free one. If you want a very strong banana flavour then make sure the bananas you use are very ripe.

BANANA MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

• 250 g spelt flour
• 50 g rolled oats
• 2 heaped teaspoons gluten free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 egg whites
• 100 g raw cane sugar
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar or pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 5 small ripe bananas or 4 large ones

METHOD

1. In a large bowl, combine the spelt flour, rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
2. Peel the bananas and mash them with a fork (or in a food processor). Set aside
3. In a medium bowl, combine the egg, egg whites, sugar, agave nectar and coconut oil (if the oil is solid, place the jar in a bowl of hot water before use). Add the bananas and give everything a good stir
4. With a large wooden spoon, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Make sure to not stir; the texture of the dough should be light (at this stage it looks like a thick porridge)
5. Lightly grease a silicon muffin pan with some coconut oil and fill each muffin cup about two-thirds to the rim
6. Bake at 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for 20-25 minutes (depending on the size and quantity of the bananas, and the size of the silicon muffin pans I use, I get about 15-20 muffins)
7. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack

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