Anyway here is the recipe for the carrot cake muffins. I found the recipe from pinterest here. It is a King Arthur flour recipe and pretty much the most amazing thing I have ever tasted.
One 8oz package cream cheese
2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) AP flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided.
¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup grated carrots (2 med-large carrots) I usually add more.
1) Preheat oven to 400 F
2) Lightly grease or use paper liners in a 12 well muffin pan (I used 2 6-well silicone muffin pan and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray)
3) Unwrap the cream cheese and add 1/4 cup white sugar to a microwave safe bowl or a small pot.
Stir the cream cheese until smooth
5) In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. No Carrots yet!
Hang on, let me check my cream cheese
Some days I wish I had a microwave!
6) In a separate small bowl mix together the wet ingredients. No Carrots Yet!
Let's check on my cream cheese again...
We're getting there!
7) Grate your carrots. Since there aren't children in the house to hide veggies in food, I just did the largest hole on my box grater. Get as tiny as you need to hide them in the muffins. Run it through the food processor if needed!
*We usually buy carrots from Costco because we can get it in the 5 lb bag and we use it for piggy food. I grabbed a small bag from Wally World last night and I was super surprised at the size difference*
O_o
*If you have a dog... throw over the end of the carrot to them and let them play with it*
Hang on, I have the check my cheese again
10 minutes... and this is as far as I've gotten. -_-
8) Since these are muffins, we are going to use the muffin method (huh... who would have guessed :D) The muffin method is where we keep the wet and the dry separated until we are ready to mix. The next step is to combine the wet into the dry ingredients. Mix only for 10 seconds. I like to fold in the wet ingredients into the dry.
PS. This is how you fold if you need to know! Psst.. Right here!
9) Resist the urge to combine all the wet into the dry! Don't do it!! It will make tough muffins!
Ok one last check on the cheese, what ever it's at is what it's going to be.
I give up.. it isn't going to be smooth.. Slightly bumpy cream cheese!
11) Next starts the layering process. I like to use the small ice cream looking cookie scoops for this. I think they are a tablespoon each?? Maybe??
Can you see me in the reflection??
12) Put two tablespoons or two scoops in the bottom of each well. I spread it out with my fingers or the back of the scoop. My batter is really thick so it was pretty easy.
13) Place 1 tablespoon or 1 scoop of the filling on top of the bottom batter layer. Try to aim for the middle. I had some extra left over so I just divided it amongst all of the wells.
15) Bake for 20 minutes.
16) Let the muffins cool for a few minutes and then remove from the tin and cool on a cooling rack.
Anyway... Enjoy the muffins! I really like them because I get dairy, protein, veggies, and some carbs in the morning. I'm sure you can easily substitute applesauce for the oil and half of the AP flour for WW flour to make them more healthy.
Today I leave you with Baby! She's such a cutie!
