There’s so much more than carrot & apple in these babies – they’ve got ginger, maybe a bit of cabbage that snuck in, flax seed that brings a huge fiber payload, and some other goodies. They’re soft and yummy, dense and satisfying while remaining fluffy and moist, and I’m actually really proud of my original creation!
I’ve been looking for ways to maximize the fruits & vegetables in my life, and this idea came to me a few days ago after feeling the consistency of carrots that I had just juiced. Of course, not everyone will have juicer shreds, so that’s when innovation comes into play – bust out that grater or food processor & don’t be afraid to get messy (or to fail miserably, like my first attempt).
Here’s my ingredients:
– shreds from 6 carrots, 2 apples, piece of ginger
– oatmeal, whole oats
– almond milk
– almond extract
– vanilla extract
– wheat flour
– milled flax seed
– coconut oil
– olive oil
– turbinado raw sugar
– brown sugar
– 2 eggs
– baking powder
– baking soda
– salt
How I Approached It:
I looked up recipes for zucchini bread & carrot cake, just to give myself a frame of reference:
Food Network Carrot Cake Recipe
Mom’s Zucchini Bread Recipe
So, I looked at what they included & tried to determine what I needed and in what quantities (like certain essential ingredients – baking soda and baking powder – and what result was intended with other ingredients, like what butter would do & what I could use instead). I also looked at what I could substitute: turbinado sugar and brown sugar, instead of the TWO+ CUPS white sugar; wheat flour and flax seed, in place of white flour; the oats and milk as filler and moisture, instead of crazy amounts of flour or oil; coconut oil as a sub for the butter and other oils.
Directions:
Soak the oats in enough almond milk to cover them. I put them in the mixing bowl & left them overnight in the refrigerator.
Combine the carrot/apple/etc shreds with the oats, throw in vanilla extract and almond extract (I eyeballed & sniffed). Cover and put back in the fridge.
In another bowl, work the dry ingredients together:
– 1 cup wheat flour
– 1/4 cup milled flax seed
– 1 tsp baking powder
– 1 tsp baking soda
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/4 cup brown sugar
I melted 1/4 cup turbinado raw sugar with probably three teaspoons coconut oil over low, low heat on the stove.
Cracked the eggs in the wet ingredients & broke the yolks. Then, I threw in the coconut oil+turbinado & worked everything around a bit.
Threw in the dry goods and started mixing ‘er up! The batter was pretty dense, so I had to sub out the whisk and bring in the spatula for some quality scrape-and-turn action.
Once everything got worked together, I let the “dough” hang out in the bowl. Jelaine and I picked out a few records for the evening, poured glasses of wine, and made & ate dinner before Bake Time.
I preheated the oven to 375 (score +1 forJelaine – she looked up the temp bc it completely slipped my mind!) and set the timer for 15 minutes.
After that time, some of the larger-sized portions were still a bit wet on the bottoms, so I turned them all over in the tin and let them go for another few minutes (oh darn, I had to watch something bake while drinking wine). A good thing, though, is that it seems hard to dry them out bc of how dense & moist the juicer shreds are.
I ended up with around 22 muffins, & can’t wait to try them again. Luckily, we juice daily, so I’ll have the opportunity soon.
I’ll tweak the recipe here and there, but these muffins are definitely going to happen more around our house – they’re great for a quick snack or a warm & filling breakfast, and they’re a great way to sneak in veggies and fiber.
