Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins

I'm always playing with new ways to make muffins healthier. Healthier means limiting or omitting white flour, white sugar, oil and/or eggs. It can certainly be done and the results are very tasty. Now, the Morning Glory Muffins from La Vie En Rose Bakery are the kind of thing that make a girl weak in the knees. But you eat them as an occasional treat, not as a realistic breakfast. I wanted a muffin that I could eat as part of a healthy breakfast and tasted good. You know, something that makes you want another and then one later for a snack. The recipe below is that muffin. Here is what you do:

First preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a standard-sized muffin tin with non-stick spray or use muffin cups. Mix together the following dry ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup grated, unsweetened coconut
• 1 heaping tsp fiber supplement
• 1 tbsp protein powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• heavy 1/2 tsp salt

Mix the following wet ingredients together:

• 1/3 cup honey *
• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (homemade is best)
• 1/2 non-fat, plain yogurt (or sour cream)
• 3/4 cup water (Or milk of your choice. I've even used whatever tea I happened to be drinking at the time.)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients then add 1 1/2 cup shredded carrots and 1/2 cup golden raisins and combine well. There is no egg product in this so you can taste your batter as you go and adjust ingredients. Fill each muffin section to the top. I don't heap the batter or anything but I fill each section so that it looks full. Inevitably, I always get only 11 muffins. However, I really like the shape and height of my 11 muffins so 11 is great.

Everyone's oven is different and in our oven the back is hotter than the front. I always turn whatever I'm cooking about half way through. I baked these muffins for about 16 minutes. They are done when a knife comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes and then remove from the muffin tin and let cool on a wire rack a few minutes before eating. Enjoy!

* Sticky ingredients like honey, brown rice syrup, and molasses can be tricky to extract from the measuring cup. Spray the measuring cup with non-stick spray before filling it with honey and that honey will slide right out.