Muffin Mondays: Carrot Muffins

My policy here with the girls is ask and you shall receive.... as long as you supply the ingredients. So when one of the second year students craved carrot muffins, all she had to do was supply me with a bag of carrots. She showed up a couple of days later with a nice sized bag and left with the reassurance that she'd soon have some muffins. She had expressed to me that she missed her mother's muffins. Now, I know of the carrot muffins she had in mind and honestly, they were more cake than muffin and more sugar than carrot. Wanting something a bit more...wholesome, or at least something that more closely resembled a carrot muffin, I turned to my book shelf. My first instinct was to go thumb through Carole Walter's Great Coffeecakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More. Therein, I found an excellent recipe for Old Fashioned Carrot Muffins. I eliminated the fruit and nuts, maybe because I didn't have them on hand or maybe just because I don't always like too many extras to steal away from the main ingredient. The only other changes I made were to substitute oil for the butter and I coarsely grated the carrots instead of using a finer, more puree like form. Even though initially that wasn't deliberate, I enjoyed seeing the bits of carrot in there. It was quite rustic and authentic, in my humble opinion. When I gave these to the student who commissioned them to taste, I could tell that she was disappointed because they were not her mother's. But when she took them downstairs, they were devoured instantaneously and I received glowing reviews from the head of the school who had managed a muffin. I myself quite liked them.

Old Fashioned Carrot Muffins

adapted from Carole Walter

8 ounces carrots, peeled

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

few grates fresh nutmeg

pinch of cloves

2/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a twelve cup muffin pan or line one with muffin cups. Set aside.
Grate the carrots. I grated them coarsely but do as you please.In a bowl, place all of the dry ingredients.

Whisk to aerate and combine.

Add the grated carrots,

and toss to coat in the dry ingredient mixture. Set aside.

In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, place all of the liquid ingredients.

Whisk thoroughly to combine.

Pour over the flour-carrot mixture,

and whisk just until combined, taking care not to overmix.

Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups. Using a large disher works well here.

Bake for 25-28 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center is clean or has a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Serve to hungry students ASAP.