Monday, March 26, 2018

Healthy Carrot Cake Whole Grain Muffins for #MuffinMonday

Healthy Carrot Cake Whole Grain Muffins for #MuffinMonday

Carrots, raisins, and dates--sweetened with honey and maple syrup--combined with whole wheat flour and rolled oats for a deliciously sweet treat

a plate of carrot cake whole grain muffins made with dates, raisins, honey and maple syrup for sweetness.



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Updated 3/2018
As much as I enjoy baking in my kitchen, fixing goodies for my family or something just for me, it's a treat to go out for a snack.  Choosing amongst the variety of offerings in the bakery case is Big Fun for me, and that's how I was inspired to make these muffins.


Our local military spouse group met for coffee at the grocery store down the street.  As previously mentioned, I'm a tea drinker and fancy coffee drinks are just plain lost on me. However, I like the conversation--I always learn something new that makes my life smoother. Military spouses bring a wealth of life experiences to the table, and we're a formidable asset to any community. Recently my fellow spouses have helped me prepare the house for market, and wow what a difference fresh eyes bring to your place!


I was peckish, so I scanned the muffins in the Bakery Case and saw Good (or Better?) Morning Muffins. The muffin was yummy, and got me wondering why I haven't combined my finely shredded Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share carrots into a muffin before. I played around with my key muffin recipe to come up with these, and the result is a whole grain muffin using honey, maple syrup, raisins and dates for sweetness.


Carrots, raisins, and dates--sweetened with honey and maple syrup--combined with whole wheat flour and rolled oats for a deliciously sweet treat.


I'm not normally one to throw the word "healthy" around, because I believe it can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways and I'm not about to say which way is best--and it's not a One Size Fits All definition anyway. I'm confident in saying that a baked good which tastes as good as these muffins, that doesn't happen to contain refined sugars and does pack in some protein and fiber, is healthy--at least compared to a slice of iced carrot cake that is, and if you're not allergic to the components of the muffin, that is.  And since it's got some of my favorite parts of carrot cake--I'm going with an easily searchable recipe title though I hope I don't prevent myself from making an even carrot cakier type of muffin!


For the penultimate recipe of hashtagcarrotweek, following the Rustic Roasted Carrots and Unagi Rolls with Carrot Sushi Rice [we'll take a short intermission for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches--3 of them--and Creamy Tomato Soup] may I present these [deep breath] Healthy No Sugar Carrot Cake Soaked Oat Raisin Date Muffins.


For more recipes using carrots, please see my Carrot Recipes Collection. For more recipes using dates, I'm working on a Date Recipes Collection. These are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me looking to eat seasonally and locally and use up all the vegetables. I'm pinning more muffins on Pinterest, follow me there. I'm sharing interesting recipes and articles on my Facebook page, follow me there. I'm sharing a carefully curated look behind the scenes on Instagram, follow me there. Want to know How To Use This Blog?


the ingredients used to make healthy whole grain carrot cake muffins


a plate of carrot cake whole grain muffins made with dates, raisins, honey and maple syrup for sweetness




healthy whole grain sugar free carrot cake muffins in the pan after baking


**My scoop holds 3 Tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) by volume, though the muffin batter is mounded in the scoop so I'm pretty sure I'm putting a good 3 ½ to 4 Tablespoons into each muffin well.  The muffin wells in my regular muffin pans each hold 3 ounces by volume.




Muffin Monday

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.
Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Here's what's in our Bakery Case this month!


28 comments:

  1. These look delicious, and will fit nicely into my "no sugar" diet at the moment. Thanks for the inspiration!

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    Replies
    1. I admire your willpower--I chafe at restrictions and would suck at a no sugar diet!
      I hope these inspire you to greatness!

      Delete
  2. These muffins are totally the type of thing I'd make! They look and sound SO wonderful. I'd love one right now with my afternoon tea. =)

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    Replies
    1. Amy,
      These muffins are yummy with afternoon tea. Thanks!

      Delete
  3. What wonderful muffins! Pinning to try them. I love that you use natural sweetners in them, like maple syrup and honey. Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday

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    Replies
    1. Cindy,
      I admit my first 'sugarless' muffin was a complete accident, but since that happy accident I've been having fun swapping out refined sugars for fruit, honey, and maple syrup. I'm glad to feed these to my kids and they're glad to eat them.
      Thanks for hosting!

      Delete
  4. So I just so happened to be out of granola, but I have a whole bunch of buttermilk soaked oats, carrots, raisins and dates so these are definitely in my near future. Tomorrow if I'm lucky and actually want to eat breakfast (and you know I do).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meghan,
      I ate breakfast 4 days in a row! First we were in Chicago and breakfast was included in the hotel rate, then my daughter's birthday Bacon & Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Whew--I need a break from breakfast ;)
      I'm glad you enjoyed them.

      Delete
  5. These look delicious! They are going in my recipe round-up to wrap up #carrotweek on my blog tomorrow!

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    Replies
    1. Julie,
      Thanks for including them in your wrap up! I have no more "weeks" planned--I'm leaping from Easter to Grilled Cheese Month to Cinco de Mayo to Spring and just bouncing all around.

      Delete
  6. LOVE these! What a fabulous use for carrots.

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  7. These sound really good! I like the "no sugar" part and the use of honey ...yummy!

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    Replies
    1. Arlene,
      I love honey. I could go off on a Winnie the Pooh tangent, but I'll just leave it at that.
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  8. This is my kind of muffin! I eat low-glycemic and don't use sugar, so this is right up my alley and looks really yummy! I love carrot cake!

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    Replies
    1. Lori,
      I am glad that this muffin works for your dietary needs--it's darn tasty, too.
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  9. I love when healthy and delicious meet! Sounds delicious,

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    Replies
    1. Laura,
      What is it, Walgreens that has the tagline "at the intersection of ___ and ___"? Could be a useful tagline to sub in healthy and delicious.
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  10. I love carrot muffins! I've only done them with apples... must try those dates. Second only to carrot cake. ;)

    Checking out your roasted carrots now...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura,
      Carrot and apples sounds really good together--I need to try that myself. My daughter loved the combination on her snack plates, you just know it would be good in a muffin.
      Thanks for hosting!

      Delete
  11. I enjoyed these muffins so much I came straight home and made a batch. They are so good. They will be part of my regular repertoire. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Hilda,
      Thanks a bunch for letting me know you enjoyed them. I appreciate it!

      Delete
  12. I am home sick today, and I am so happy that I have both carrots and apples on hand! This will brighten up my sick day. :)

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    Replies
    1. It's amazing to me how a tasty muffin can perk up an otherwise dreary day--I hope you enjoy them!

      Delete
  13. Wow, that whole name is a mouthful, Kirsten! I'm sure "healthy carrot cake muffin" is a great choice though. Bet lots of folks are searching for just such a recipe. How great to have a sort of built-in network of support in your fellow military spouses. Expat spouses overseas have been that for me and their friendship and advice has proved invaluable over the last 30+ years living abroad. Good luck with the house-selling!

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  14. Nice muffins! How do you get a post to move to the front of your blog and yet keep the same URL in blogger? Saves the need for redirects!

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  15. Wow, what a great blog. You have tons of great ideas on here, thanks so much.

    ReplyDelete