Carrot and pineapple muffins
This healthier muffin recipe includes some wholegrains, as well as fruit and vegetables.
Ingredients
140g self raising flour
85g wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
A pinch of salt
150ml sunflower oil
100g caster sugar
200g mashed cooked carrots
3 pineapple slices from a can, cut into cubes, plus 2 tbsp of the juice
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g sunflower seeds, plus a few extra
Method
- Turn oven to 200C/GM6.
- Sift together the flours, the bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt, reserving 2 tbsp of the bran left in the sieve from the wholemeal.
- In another bowl, beat the oil with the sugar.
- Add the carrots, pineapple slices and juice, egg and vanilla extract.
- Mix in the seeds.
- Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture.
- Line the holes of a muffin tin with baking parchment.
- Divide the mixture between the holes, sprinkle with the reserved bran and a few extra seeds, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked.
- Leave to cool.
Notes
Takes 12
Takes 10 minutes, plus 25 minutes in the oven, plus carrot cooking and mashing time.
240 kcals each
Not suitable for freezing.
Copyright BBC Easy Cook Magazine, Immediate Media Limited
Reproduced with permission
Comments
I left out the bicarb as I suddenly realised I didn’t have any. However as my wholemeal flour was self raising, which was not specified in the ingredients, it probably didn’t make any difference. They certainly rose ok. The seeds I used were a mixture rather than just sunflower. I reserved too much bran for sprinkling – one tablespoon would have been enough.
Verdict
A nice moist fruity muffin which wasn’t too sweet. Suitable for breakfast, brunch or snacks. A great way to get a bit of fruit and veg in, although obviously not a substitute for the real thing. Lower sugar content than commercial varieties of muffin – just don’t forget that its still cake!
A brief warning – I had one left after 5 days and it started to go moldy. I think that’s fairly typical of cake made with soft fruit. I learnt that whilst eating cake with a bit of mold on doesn’t do you any harm – it doesn’t taste good!
September 26th, 2012 at 10:12
[…] such a things as healthy cake? Probably not. But there are cakes that can be healthier and these carrot and pineapple muffins from Live for Food definitely fall into that category. They are packed full of fruit, vegetables […]