Carrot Muffins

When I was a little girl I was obsessed with eating carrots because someone had told me once that they were good for your eyes. Having grown up with a father who was born cross-eyed and blind as a bat, I ate carrots religiously. Needless to say, I have to carry a pair of glasses around in my purse for long-distance reading. Sigh.

Anyways, carrot cake is one of my favorite things. And around the holidays, its got that perfect flavor combination that makes you feel all warm and holiday-ish; nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon. And carrot muffins, because of the aforementioned flavor combination, are just fantastic paired with a fresh cup of coffee.

Lastly, this recipe packs THREE CUPS of carrots into 24 muffins which means lots of veggie goodness and fiber. I made these last Christmas and my mom, who is really not a pastry person at all, devoured two a day and my roommates made all 12 of a batch disappear in a day. But that’s ok! They’re so healthy! So go ahead and whip these up and you’ll have something to look forward to when you drag yourself out of bed in the morning – in fact, these just might be good enough to get you out of bed in the first place.


Carrot Muffins
Makes 24 muffins (but I usually half the recipe….)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots
1 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Line 24 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots, walnuts and raisins, if using them. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each.

Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before icing them.