Carrot Coconut Walnut Apple Muffin

WOW! Ever heard of so many gorgeous ingredients in a muffin? Along the lines ... the more the merrier. This is not only merrier but fantastically scrumptious. Unfortnately I cannot take the credit for this. I only baked them according to Stephanie from Joy of Baking's recipe. For those of us who are not born to bake (like me) take it from me these are as easy as ... muffins! I did make minor variations though in the amounts of certain ingredients.




Ingredients:

280g all purpose flour
200g white sugar (the recipe calls for 250g but I think with all the other ingredients it becomes naturally sweet)
50g walnuts - toasted and coarsely chopped
270g carrots - grated
1 large apple - grated
2 teaspoons baking powder (actually the recipe called for baking powder and baking soda, but I did not have any baking soda so I just increased the amount for baking powder)
1 cup coconut (fresh or dried - I used the dried type)
3 large eggs
180 ml canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/2 ground cinnamon

For the cream cheese frosting:
56g butter - unsalted and at room temp.
110g cream cheese
3 tablespoons icing sugar



Method:

Muffins
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line your muffin tin with muffin paper liners or simply grease the tin.

Toast the nuts until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Mix the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder. salt and cinnamon together. Add the walnuts and coconut and mix.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, oil and vanilla extract and then fold in the grated carrots and apple. Add this mixture to the dry mixture, stirring until the dough is moist. Divide mixture in the muffin tin and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (mine were done in 20). Allow to cool completely before adding the frosting.

Frosting
Cream the cheese and butter together until smooth. Mix the icing sugar into this until it is nicely incorporated.

Using a teaspoon place a bit of the frosting on each muffin.

My advice - If you are going to serve these immediately I would recommend to place the frosting on the muffin straight away. I made the frosting and placed in a separate bowl and placed it in the refrigerator. Every time we want to eat one I just put a spoonful on the muffin. As I store the muffins in a tin (not in the fridge), I did not want to leave the frosting on the muffin. This way the frosting is cooled, lasts longer and has a better consistency.

Verdict:
Brilliant! A mother's dream, as it contains fruit, vegie and nuts. Not too sweet and deliciously fluffy.
I gave Soeren one for dessert after dinner last night. He said to me "and after the muffin I get my fruit?" I said "No .... the fruit is in the muffin!" ;-) You all can imagine how he beamed. Yes, this is going to be a hit. I had three yesterday and have to stop myself from going to the tin every time I am in the kitchen.
This recipe is for keeps - thanks Stephanie!
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2 comments:

  1. I'm going to try this - but without the coconut! Dont like coconut in sweets or baked goodies :) I dont think I'll miss the coconut anyway - there's so much else going on with this muffin! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wanna wanna wanna try this ! I shall probably omit the oil and use something to the equivalent of apple sauce ( trick learnt from Fat free Vegan Susan ) and substract the icing :)

    ReplyDelete

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