This “favorite” recipe was a little unusual and I admit I was a little skeptical, but also intrigued. We were both amazed with the scrumptious results. Now, I must say that given all the carrots, walnuts and raisins we added, these muffins are not as light and fluffy as other muffins made with my Cookie and Muffin Mix. Still, topped with that little bit of tasty cream cheese frosting, they looked lovely, smelled wonderful and, as my friend with the sweet tooth noted, he did not even miss the extra sugar. Some of you had a chance to enjoy these carrot cake muffins last weekend and have asked for the recipe. So, as promised, here it is below.
Also, I’d like to add this note for our friends with diabetes: Since a good rule of thumb is to keep desserts to less than 100 calories, consider using mini muffin pans and adjust the cooking time. More nutritional information about the muffins appears below the recipe.
And yes, the muffin uses heart healthy olive oil. Nonetheless, I will be back in my kitchen developing a reduced-fat alternative as well. Come back to our website for further details. And in the meantime while our website is “still in the kitchen cooking,” enjoy our other recipes.
Carrot Cake Muffins Recipe
First, read the General Recipe Tips. Then, enjoy this recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1 box Marion’s Gluten-Free Cookie & Muffin Baking Mix
- 2 large eggs or equivalent egg replacer
- 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup of light Olive or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup of raisins
- 1 ½ cup grated carrots
- 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts
Directions:
- Line baking pan with paper cups or spray with GF baking spray.
- Grate and measure 1 ½ cups of carrots /about 2 medium size carrots.
- Chop and measure ½ cup of walnuts.
- Measure 1/3 cup of raisins.
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Place Marion’s Cookie and Muffin Mix in a bowl; add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder as well as chopped nuts and mix with whisk.
- Add egg and vegetable oil.
- Mix (with electric mixer) for 10 seconds at low speed and 1-2 minutes at high speed.
- Add chopped carrots, vanilla extract and mix for 30 second to 1 minute a medium speed.
- Using a spoon or medium size ice cream scoop, fill baking cups about ¾ full.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes depending on your oven. Do prick test after 20 minutes.
- Makes 12 delicious delightfully large muffins or 14 medium size muffins.
Nutritional info per large muffin: Calories: 256, Carbohydrate: 23 grams, Protein: 3 grams, Fiber: 2 grams, Fat: 18 grams; Diabetes Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1/2 Fruit and 3 Fat
Ingredients:
- 8 oz of Philadelphia reduced fat cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons of margarine
- 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Directions:
- Mix ingredients together and decorate the carrot cake muffins.
A word about nutritional information and diabetes exchanges: Whether you have diabetes or are simply concerned about nutrition and weight control, nutritional information and diabetes exchanges help you make informed choices for fitting delicious treats into your meal plan. That’s why our future website will offer this information for the majority of standard recipes.
A word about the “good stuff” in these carrot cake muffins: At 68 grams, our large carrot cake muffins are a bit larger than the usual FDA serving size. Still, they are a bit lower in calories than most muffins you would purchase in a coffee shop or store. They also treat your taste buds to delicious flavor while treating your body to lower amounts of sugar and sodium, 8 grams of healthy whole grain per serving, and all-natural ingredients, and they bake with heart-healthy fats. As an extra touch for a very special breakfast or brunch, you may enjoy adding the cream cheese icing or a tablespoon of your own favorite reduced-sugar cream cheese.
Additional variations and suggestions:
• For moister muffins: Add 4 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce to the dough before baking.
• Vegan and low-cholesterol version: Replace the 2 eggs with 3 teaspoons of chia/salba seeds. (This reduces the calories per 68 gram muffin by 10 and results in a 0 gram Cholesterol delight when enjoyed without icing).
• Cut the calories in half: Make 24 mini muffins instead of 12 large muffins.
• Make ahead: These muffins freeze well for you to enjoy whenever you like.
Suggestions for enjoying iced muffins:
• Use half of the cream cheese icing recipe adding 50 calories per muffin. The little mini muffins in the photo were decorated with such half portion which was sufficient to experience the pleasure of the contrast of the soft cream cheese melting in your mouth against the wholesome muffin with nuts carrots and raisins.
• Replace some of the sugar with ½ portion of cream cheese icing with your preferred sweetener.
• Use your favorite low fat icing available in the grocery store as an alternative.
