If you have carrots in the refrigerator that are turning a little soft on you, no worries. Apparently, they are all the more better for baking that way. So what do I do? A little internet surfing with "carrot muffins" as my key searching terms. When I stumbled upon "carrot zucchini," well, that was even better because we got zucchini in our fruit/vegetable box this last week. And healthy was key. All in all, this recipe met more criteria than I could have asked for. I love healthy muffins. In addition to that, I love a good healthy muffin recipe.
What makes it a healthier alternative to your usual muffin? Well, for one, it has vegetables. Wonderful. Second of all, it uses primarily whole wheat flour. I usually try to throw in a little whenever I bake, but I have definitely learned that some recipes can only tolerate a very small amount. It can be a little gritty, but that's okay in a muffin with vegetables. Also, this recipe uses canola oil and applesauce instead of vegetable oil. Quite a few baking recipes call for vegetable oil, but canola is a perfect substitute and a much healthier one. The applesauce has a similar consistency, so it can often be used to replace a portion of oil required in a recipe. Lastly, there's no white sugar in this recipe; just brown. And the cinnamon and ground nutmeg give it a nice spice. Oh, and I chopped some almonds and put a little brown sugar on top before baking. It adds the most delightful crunch.
A pretty healthy sweet treat if I do say so myself. I mean, who doesn't like a healthier version for dessert or for a mid-day snack? Okay, maybe that's just me, but come on...you are what you eat, right? I do love real dessert though. Like not-so-good-for-you dessert. Like donuts. And cake. But, you shouldn't really have that all the time. In that case, this healthy muffin is the perfect choice. Plus, it's darn tasty.
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