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.