Is it carrot muffin season? Is there even a season for carrot muffins? I tend to associate them with spring and Easter but lately we’ve been eating them all the time. By “we” I mean E and I. C does not like carrot muffins, so more for us!

As I’ve said before carrots are good poop making food so I try to squeeze them in where I can. I also personally love carrot muffins/cake. With a good cream cheese frosting, mmm mmm. Although I don’t put cream cheese frosting on muffins, in my opinion if it has frosting it’s a cupcake and not a muffin!

We haven’t done much baking lately, there’s a good reason for it, which I will explain another time. But we needed some muffins so I pulled out the mixing bowls and E and I went to work. It’s definitely not spring outside, we just got another snowfall that closed schools for 2 days, but I think carrot muffins are appropriate for any season. And E doesn’t care what we’re making, so long as he gets to mix it!

After we made the muffins and cleaned up, I started on supper, leaving E to his own devices. Since we are still potty training I’ve been keeping a closer eye on him so insisted he stay out of his room. He brought his cars into the kitchen and played while I cooked. Supper was almost ready when I realized someone was missing. The dog. Normally he is also underfoot, waiting for his supper, but he wasn’t anywhere in the kitchen or living room. It dawned on me that E had been in his room earlier so I went down the hall and sure enough his door was closed. He had closed (and essentially) locked the dog in his room. The poor dog was waiting at the door for me, clearly concerned he had missed supper.

Anyways, everyone got fed and the muffins were delicious. The dog doesn’t hold grudges, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time he’s locked in a room by the toddler.

But if you like carrot muffins and need a good recipe, this is the one. I haven’t made many changes, except to cut back on sugar (naturally). If you want the original, which also has a cream cheese frosting recipe attached, it came from Celebrating Sweets. Enjoy!

Carrot Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 1 TBSP flour (I do half all purpose, half whole wheat)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/3-1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups shredded carrot (about 2 medium or 1 large carrot)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners, or grease muffin cups.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside (or let your toddler mix the life out of it while you do the next part).
3. Whisk together the oil, applesauce, sugar, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until almost combined. Stir in carrots.
4. Fill muffin tins to about 2/3 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Then move muffins to wire rack to cool. Enjoy!