Food 52

Carrot Orange Oatmeal & Walnut Muffins

In the winter my CSA sends lots of carrots my way. After making various soups with carrots, I was looking for a new way to use up all my carrots. There is nothing better on a cold winter day than the smell of fresh baked goods, and one of my favorite cakes is carrot cake. But I wanted to find a healthier alternative to carrot cake, that I could include in a boxed lunch as a mid-morning treat that I didn't need to feel too guilty about. So I modified various muffin and carrot cake recipes to come up with this carrot muffin recipe - its high in fiber from the carrots, oatmeal and wholemeal flour, low in sugar and has lots of juicy flavor from the orange and raisins, plus some great crunch from walnuts, and the Pepita/Sunflower Seed topping. Don't skip on the topping - the sweet crunchiness on top really adds to the overall flavor of the muffin. If you prefer sweeter muffins, you can always double the sugar.