Want carrot cake for breakfast? Now you can with these carrot cake muffins! These lovelies come from Bouchon Bakery and can easily be topped with a streusel or even some cream cheese frosting. Now we’re talking!
Carrot cake. Is there anything more perfect for spring than carrot cake? I think not. I like to think of carrot cake as a perfect vessel for vegetables.
My 7 year old is a good eater, but sometimes she doesn’t want to eat her veggies. She’ll eat carrots if and only if there is ranch dip involved. Or, if there is carrot cake.
Here’s where these muffins come in.
I found out that these muffins were a great carrot-cake like breakfast item to throw in a ton of shredded carrots. You are welcome to top these with cream cheese frosting to make it even more like carrot cake, but I didn’t do that. I kept these pretty simple and only sprinkled on a little bit of coarse sugar for a crunchy topping. I also decreased the sugar and swapped out the oil to make these slightly better for you. If you wanted, you could also swap out the flour for whole wheat flour.
My daughter adored these muffins and happily ate these for breakfast. Next time, I will be packing in more carrots and possibly doubling the recipe.
Carrot cake muffins
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups plus 2 teaspoons (180 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon plus plus 1/8 teaspoon (3.11 grams) baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 1 and 3/4 cups shredded carrots
- Coarse sugar for topping if desired
Instructions
- n a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix together the sugar and applesauce on medium speed until well blended, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix well.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until a few dry streaks remain. Turn the mixer off and fold in the shredded carrots with a spatula.
- Transfer the batter to a clean bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight or up to 36 hours.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Distribute the batter evenly into a greased or lined muffin pan. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar if desired.
- Bake in your preheated oven for about 25 minutes, but start checking around the 20 minute mark to see if they are done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Allow muffins to cool slightly before serving.