Carrot Cake Muffins

Carrot cake is one of those things I want to love more than I actually do. The idea of it — warm spices! something crunchy! bits of sweetness! sounds perfect. But most versions go way overboard on the sugar, and the result ends up more like a dense dessert than something I’d reach for in the morning. These muffins are my answer to that. They borrow all the best parts of carrot cake without being a cupcake.

I used (makes 3 large 1-cup muffins, or 6-8 smaller muffins):

• 1 cup all purpose flour (125g)
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 1 oz box of raisins
• 1/2 cup neutral oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (up sugar to 2/3 cup for something sweeter)
• 1 large egg
• 2-3 tbsp nut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt

To make:

• Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt
• In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until well combined. Then stir in grated carrots, nuts, and raisins
• Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, gently mix until just combined. The consistency should be thicker than pancake batter but thinner than cookie dough batter — be able to drop from a wooden spoon. Mine was still a big thick so I added in 2 tbsp of oat milk to thin
• Grease muffin tins and divide the batter between muffin cups, filling them ~3/4 cup full
• Bake at 375F for ~25 minutes for large muffins, ~20 minutes for small muffins
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack