Healthy Carrot Cake Whole Grain Muffins for #MuffinMonday

Carrots, raisins, and dates--sweetened with honey and maple syrup--combined with whole wheat flour and rolled oats for a deliciously sweet treat

Follow me | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook

Updated 3/2018
As much as I enjoy baking in my kitchen, fixing goodies for my family or something just for me, it's a treat to go out for a snack.  Choosing amongst the variety of offerings in the bakery case is Big Fun for me, and that's how I was inspired to make these muffins.


Our local military spouse group met for coffee at the grocery store down the street.  As previously mentioned, I'm a tea drinker and fancy coffee drinks are just plain lost on me. However, I like the conversation--I always learn something new that makes my life smoother. Military spouses bring a wealth of life experiences to the table, and we're a formidable asset to any community. Recently my fellow spouses have helped me prepare the house for market, and wow what a difference fresh eyes bring to your place!


I was peckish, so I scanned the muffins in the Bakery Case and saw Good (or Better?) Morning Muffins. The muffin was yummy, and got me wondering why I haven't combined my finely shredded Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share carrots into a muffin before. I played around with my key muffin recipe to come up with these, and the result is a whole grain muffin using honey, maple syrup, raisins and dates for sweetness.

I'm not normally one to throw the word "healthy" around, because I believe it can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways and I'm not about to say which way is best--and it's not a One Size Fits All definition anyway. I'm confident in saying that a baked good which tastes as good as these muffins, that doesn't happen to contain refined sugars and does pack in some protein and fiber, is healthy--at least compared to a slice of iced carrot cake that is, and if you're not allergic to the components of the muffin, that is.  And since it's got some of my favorite parts of carrot cake--I'm going with an easily searchable recipe title though I hope I don't prevent myself from making an even carrot cakier type of muffin!


For the penultimate recipe of hashtagcarrotweek, following the Rustic Roasted Carrots and Unagi Rolls with Carrot Sushi Rice [we'll take a short intermission for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches--3 of them--and Creamy Tomato Soup] may I present these [deep breath] Healthy No Sugar Carrot Cake Soaked Oat Raisin Date Muffins.


For more recipes using carrots, please see my Carrot Recipes Collection. For more recipes using dates, I'm working on a Date Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me looking to eat seasonally and locally and use up all the vegetables. I'm pinning more muffins on Pinterest, follow me there. I'm sharing interesting recipes and articles on my Facebook page, follow me there. I'm sharing a carefully curated look behind the scenes on Instagram, follow me there. Want to know How To Use This Blog?

Whole Grain Carrot Cake Muffins
By Kirsten Madaus

Carrots, raisins, and dates--sweetened with honey and maple syrup--combined with whole wheat flour and rolled oats for a deliciously sweet muffin. Preparation time includes soaking oats in buttermilk for one hour.

Prep time: 01:08
Cook time: 00:15
Total time: 01:28

Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup finely shredded carrot
¼ cup (2 oz by volume) vegetable oil
1 egg
⅛ cup (1 ounce by volume) maple syrup
⅛ cup (1 ounce by volume) honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (4 ounces by weight) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup golden raisins (or use the brown kind if you've got them)
¼ cup finely chopped dates

Instructions:

Soak oats and carrot in buttermilk for 4 hours or up to overnight [stored in the fridge, this keeps up to 5 days].

When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 12 well muffin pan** with vegetable oil spray or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine soaked oats, egg, oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla until thoroughly mixed.

Dump dry ingredients on top and stir until just combined, adding raisins and dates at the end of mixing.

Scoop mixture evenly into cups and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until top is lightly browned.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to completely cool.  Or eat them warm with a bit of butter--yum!

**My scoop holds 3 Tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) by volume, though the muffin batter is mounded in the scoop so I'm pretty sure I'm putting a good 3 ½ to 4 Tablespoons into each muffin well.  The muffin wells in my regular muffin pans each hold 3 ounces by volume.

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.
Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Here's what's in our Bakery Case this month!

• Banana Nut Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Butternut Squash & Apple Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheezy Garlic Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Papaya Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins from Food Lust People Love