Pineapple Carrot Muffins

My first test run on this muffin recipe was a few months ago when we were having a breakfast at Faye's (the brains behind LiveBakeLove).  She had invited a few friends and their kids to just hangout and have breakfast.  She asked me to bring muffins since we were going to have kids around.  I have a basic muffin recipe which I have posted on LivebakeLove a few times using different flavor combinations, love the recipe.  Since pineapple is in season right now, it's cheap and perfectly sweet so I thought this would be a good starting point for a muffin.  I was going to follow my normal recipe and add pineapple  and carrots when I realized I didn't have enough all purpose flour, but I did have wheat flour and cake flour.  So I said, what the heck.. let me give it a try. There you have it, the creation of my Pineapple Carrot Muffins!

 

Honestly, these muffins are so delicious, no wonder the kids at the party loved them so much. And the funny thing is they were eating fruit and veggies without knowing it. 

 

I decided to remake the recipe this past weekend and brought it to a potluck party.  I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top of them and served them as "cupcakes" without frosting, well... a hit again!  The flavor of the fresh pineapple and carrots with a hint of cinnamon makes these muffins delicious. Not overly sweet, but just enough sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth.

 

I hope you give these muffins a try.

 

Happy Cooking Everyone

Pineapple Carrot Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
3/4  cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup fresh crushed pineapple
1 egg, room temp
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

Prep-work:
1. Carrots- I took, grated carrots you find already packaged at the store and put them in my food processor for about 1 minute. Love the way the carrots grate down to little bits. You will need 1 cup of these grated carrots.

2. Pineapple- I took fresh pineapple which I had cut into chunks and put them in my food processor for about 1 minute. Once done, I drained the excess juice.  You will need 1 cup of the crushed pineapple.

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk the three flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the egg, milk, cooking oil and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.

3. Add the carrot and pineapple to flour mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until combined. Mixture will appear crumbly.

4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stir just until moistened, but do not over mix or you will have tough muffins.

5. Divide mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups

6. Bake for 20-24 minutes at 375 degrees.
7. Muffins will appear fluffy.

8. Serve warm or wait 10 minutes to cool and sprinkle with powder sugar.

Healthy Oatmeal Carrot Spice Muffin for a Happy, Healthy Easter

                           

Photos by Teresa Klein

This past weekend, Yvonne and I were excited to host our 2nd Annual Easter Lunch and Egg Hunt. It was a picture perfect southern California afternoon with clear blue skies and not a cloud the sky; the perfect day to enjoy an outdoor lunch with friends and their adorable kids followed by crafts and an egg hunt by the duck pond.

This year's lunch was (surprisingly) healthy and by surprisingly I mean it was totally unplanned!  We must have been inspired by the beautiful beach weather....

On the menu: a beautiful Cheese Platter, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with homemade Whole Wheat Pita Chips, Roasted Veggie Sandwiches on Olive Oil & Herb Focaccia, Turkey Sandwiches with Arugula and Lingonberry Jam, Whole Wheat Orzo Salad, Spring Salad with homemade Orange Vinagrette, Fresh Fruit and a Dreamy Lemon Curd Tart with Fresh Berries.

After lunch, the little ones enjoyed a little craft time customizing their own Rice Krispy Treat Nests.....

Then it was down to the duck pond for the hunt!

As usual, there was a take home treat for the parents. To go along with the healthy theme, Yvonne baked these delicious Oatmeal and Carrot Spice Muffins.

Prepwork

1.  Grind down the Cracking Oat Cereal in the food processor

2. Grate the Carrots

3. Set up you muffin tray with paper muffin cups. Spray them lightly with spray oil.

4.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees ( 375 degrees if you’re using a dark muffin tray)

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour (you can use wheat flour also)

2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking spice

½ cup Quick Oats

½ cup Old Fashion Oats

¾ cup Crackling Oat Cereal grinded

½ cup Shredded coconut

½ cup white raisins

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ Canola oil

¼  brown sugar

¼ Honey  (warm)
1 cup 1% milk

1  cup of grated Carrot

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and baking spice. Mix till well blended.

Add all the Oats and Oat cereal, coconut and raisins. Mix till all blended.

In a separate bowl combine egg,  vanilla and oil.  Blend together.  Now add the brown sugar, the warmed honey (by warming the honey, it makes it easy to blend together with the other wet ingredients) and Milk

Add the Egg mixture to Flour mixture and stir with spoon. Do not over mix

Add Carrot and combine, do not over mix.

Add the carrot mixture to prepared paper muffin cups. Fill cup to ¾ full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. They will be lightly brown on top

Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!!

We hope your Easter is blessed with good friends, good times and of course, good food!!

Happy Easter!!

~ LiveBakeLove