What to do with extra carrots: Make carrot-oat-raisin muffins {Gluten-free option}

Our friend Forest brought over his juicer on Sunday and showed us how get our juicing groove on. We made a yummilicious cantaloupe-orange juice. We had a bunch, I mean a bunch, of carrot pulp leftover afterward. I couldn't bear to just throw it out. Instead, I created this muffin recipe and served it up for my kids lunches and one of our on-the-go breakfasts this week. They were moist and the kids gobbled them down.

Carrot-oat-raisin Muffins

Ingredients:

1 large egg
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 cup raw milk or almond milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt (for creamier, thicker batter texture)
2 cups oats, uncooked
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (Bob's red mill) or 1 cup gluten-free baking mix (Pamela's)*
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flaxseed, ground
1/2 cup honey (or coconut palm sugar)
2 cups carrots, shredded or pulp from juicing (could substitute zucchini or apples)
1/2 cup raisins (could substitute in chocolate chips and/or walnuts)


Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend together egg, coconut oil, milk and yogurt.
3. Add dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and flaxseed.
4. Mix in honey/coconut palm sugar, carrots and raisins.
5. Grease muffin tins with olive oil spray. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter into tins. Bake 15-20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown on top and springy to the touch.

Makes 2 dozen mini-muffins or 1 dozen large muffins.

*Our family is increasingly trying out gluten-free recipes because we all have a sensitivity to wheat. I did use wheat flour in the first run of these muffins but my friend Brandy tells me you can always just sub Pamela's baking mix (basically a mix-up of non-wheat flours) when doing muffins. She tried these out and she said her 6 kiddos gobbled them down. I use Pamela's for our pizza dough now and we all love it!

Recipe of the Week: Carrot Tea Party Muffins

My girls (and the little boy I babysit) are into the "tea party phase." Today I decided to make up a new mini-muffin recipe using what we had on hand. Meilani had her friend Mia over and all four of the little ones put on aprons. Don't get me wrong: flour was flyin' and grubby hands were reaching in the batter but the result was this yummy (and healthy) new muffin recipe. Don't forget the flaxseed to give them some good omega-3s! We made these in our mini-muffin tins and they were perfect tea party fare. You could even frost them with cream cheese and honey blended for an extra special flair.

Ingredients:
1 large egg
2 tablespoons organic butter, softened
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 cups oats, uncooked
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons flaxseed, ground
1/2 cup honey (or organic raw sugar)
2 cups carrots, shredded (could substitute zucchini or apples)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend together egg, butter, milk and yogurt.
3. Add dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and flaxseed.
4. Mix in honey/sugar, carrots, raisins and chocolate chips.
5. Grease muffin tins with olive oil spray. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter into tins. Bake 15-20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown on top and springy to the touch.

Makes 2 dozen mini-muffins or 1 dozen large muffins.