Wednesday 19 March 2014

Carrot, Hazelnut and Apple Muffins












When I bake with things like carrots, apples and nuts, I just consider it health food. Life is less complicated that way.



NOTE: You may have noticed I've sprinkled chopped hazelnuts on top of most of the muffins and left a few without the nuts on top. I have a son who wears braces and we have been warned within an inch or our lives that he is NOT TO EAT NUTS and l live in fear of his Orthodontist reading my blog.


Carrot, Hazelnut and Apple Muffins
slightly adapted from Delicious Days
Makes 12

100g hazelnuts
175g cake flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
200g carrots
1 apple
2 eggs
150g coconut sugar (or light brown sugar if you can't get coconut sugar)
100g sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.

Spread the hazelnuts onto a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 6 - 8 minutes, until golden. If they still have the skins on, immediately wrap them in a tea towel and rub the skins off. Set aside to cool. Once cool, put 80g of them into a food processor and blitz until the are a fine meal. Set them aside.  Roughly chop the remaining 20g and set them aside separately.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Peel and finely grate the carrot and apple. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs, coconut sugar and oil together until frothy.

Using a spatula, mix in the ground hazelnuts, grated carrots and apple (along with any juice that has collected). Add the flour mixture last, folding gently and being sure not to over mix.

Divide the batter evenly among the paper liners and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts. Bake for 30 -35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.



15 comments:

  1. Whenever you put a vegetable into something it automatically becomes health food. Mum taught me that - hence carrot cake, zucchini bread...also, peanut m&ms because peanuts are legumes, so therefore peanut m&ms must be a vegetable!
    These muffins look like awesome weekday snacks/weekend breakfasts. Love the vintage feel to the photos too!

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    1. Your Mum is definitely on my wave-length. And of course peanut m&ms are included in the list of healthy ingredients. I wouldn't have it any other way.

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  2. Hi Jennifer... love this recipe... especially the addition of hazelnuts... they add such a lovely flavour!

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  3. So pretty - and I love those cute cupcake papers!

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    1. Gah, I'm a sucker for cupcake papers. You should see my collection.

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  4. Fruit and vegetable, what a healthy breakfast :) Awww cannot eat nuts?? Bouh ouh! I'm sure you're taking care of that really seriously!

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    1. Thanks Gabrielle. I never knew how many nuts we ate until Linus couldn't eat them. Once he gets his braces off, I'm gonna go nuts with nuts.

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  5. Those look so delicious.. and I completely agree with your thoughts on healthy!

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    1. Thanks Maria. If carrots and apples are healthy, I don't know what is, right?

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  6. I love this recipe - with coconut sugar (love coconut sugar!) and apples, carrots and hazelnuts... Sounds so wholesome and comforting. Mmm!

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    1. Thanks Aimee. I love coconut sugar too... especially in a muffin with carrots, apples and hazelnuts.

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  7. Aaron wore braces for most of his teenage years and he's filled me in on the disciplinary action of his orthodontist when non-compliance arose. Ha! I can understand the fear! As for these muffins? GORGEOUS, with nuts or no nuts. I am also a fan of coconut sugar, I've been using it in everything as of late. Yay for nourishing ingredients that are better for the body. Beautiful post Jen xx

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    1. Braces are a drag... muffins are the opposite of that. I guess we (or he), can't have it all... just yet.

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  8. I enjoyed these muffins so much I came straight home and made a batch. They are so good. They will be part of my regular repertoire. Thanks for sharing.

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