Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing daddies, daddies-to-be, and father figures! We love you and are so lucky to have you in our lives!
A special shout-out to my own amazing father, who has always gone above and beyond (like standing outside in the cold at 5AM to sign us up for swimming lessons, testing out egg salad recipes despite hating egg salad, etc. etc. etc.). Dad, thank you for being awesome and supporting me in all the things I want to do!
Since my dad loves carrot cake AND since he is the proud new grandfather to THREE wild baby bunnies that are currently being raised in my front lawn, I decided to make him some carrot cake muffins to enjoy for brunch today.
They are super simple to make (yay for one bowl recipes) and can add a bit of veggie-goodness into the Father’s Day brunch spread in a sneaky way. Plus, I think they taste just like carrot cake without the fuss and muss of making a huge layer cake!
The muffins start with the dry ingredients.
This whole recipe is a riff off of Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction master muffin mix – I made a couple alterations, but this recipe is LEGIT.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk everything to combine.
Then pull together the wet ingredients.
It starts with some vegetable/canola oil + unsweetened applesauce.
Then pop in some non-fat Greek yogurt.
And two eggs + vanilla extract.
Mix everything together….
… and then realize that you forgot to add the brown sugar. (whoops)
Give the wet ingredients a final stir to incorporate everything.
Then pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. I had to add about ¼ cup of skim milk to thin it slightly.
Add in some grated carrot and chopped walnuts… because it isn’t carrot cake without carrots and walnuts! You can add raisins in here too, but my crew doesn’t really like them so I left them out.
Portion out the batter into twelve muffin cups lined with paper liners.
Bake the muffins in a preheated 425 degree oven for five minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove the muffins and allow them to cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy them as is, or add a small smear of cream cheese (or cream cheese frosting… I won’t tell!).
Happy Father’s Day, guys!
oxox,
Catherine
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs
- 6oz non-fat greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- ¼ cup skim milk
- 1 heaping cup grated carrots
- ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a twelve-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine oil, applesauce, yogurt, brown sugar, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Beat to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients - stir to combine. Add in the milk. Portion out the batter evenly - the batter should almost reach the top of the muffin cup.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and allow them to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
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