Saturday, December 6, 2008

Spiced Carrot Muffins

I like carrots,but have not baked them into a sweet dish.I add them to gravies and other items but never baked them.So this time I decided to go for it and made spiced up sweet muffins with prunes and pumpkin pie spice.Actually my idea was to use the applesauce to replace the egg in the recipe,but used prunes instead.They add little colour and blend very well.The muffins are moist and tasty,though the same cannot be said about the looks.Anyway here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Dry:
All Purpose Flour:1 and 3/4 cup
Sugar: 1/2 or more as per taste
Baking Powder: 2 tsp
Baking Soda: 3/4 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Pumpkin Pie Spice: 2 tsp
OR
1.5 tsp cinnamon+0.25 tsp nutmeg+ 0.25 tsp ginger(fresh or powdered)

Wet :
Unsalted Butter: 4 tbsp melted and cooled
Prunes: 3 tbsp ground
Yoghurt: 3/4 cup

Main Ingredient:
Carrots: 1.5 -2 cups grated (peeled,washed and grated)

Preparation:

In a large bowl,mix all the dry ingredients.You can use more sugar as per taste and also replace half with brown sugar.You can use store bought pumpkin pie spice or make your own as mixing cinnamon,nutmeg and powdered ginger in the above proportions.I used fresh ginger instead of dry.

In another small bowl,mix well the melted,cooled unsalted butter,prune paste.Prunes are dried sugar plums and look wrinkly and are chewy.Basically it is a dry fruit and is used in various dishes.I had dried prunes and I rinsed about 10-12 of them and soaked them in hot water for a few minutes.This softens them and allows them to be easily ground.The recipe here had 1 egg and I used prune paste to replace it.If the wet mix is too thick,add 1 tbsp or so of water /yoghurt.

Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and pour the wet mix into it.Blend until combined.Fold in the grated carrots.

Pour scoop/spoonful into lined muffin cups and bake in a preheated oven at 375F for 20 minutes.Cool on a wire rack and serve.

They were not sugary,so can increase the sugar.They came out tasty and were moist and soft.The prunes blend well,such that you do not feel/taste them when you bite into the muffins.You can see the prune piece from the pic,they actually work similar to raisin or atleast here they do not overpower the spices and carrotty taste.You can use egg or other replacers like applesauce and tofu as well instead of prunes.

As I said,I was about to use applesauce,but I saw in Egg Replacement Event:Pureed fruits announcement that Madhuram had included a prunes as well.So I wanted to see how they work here.Thus used it.The muffins came out very well and are on the way to Egg Replacement Event: PureedFruits .


21 Comments:

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

cinnamon and carrot are a gr8 pair just like apple and cinnamon. muffins have come out perfect!

Beyond Curries said...

Thanks for the cute entry Sweatha. Actually I have also got prunes, but yet to try a recipe. Back to my questioning again, were you able to taste the prunes?

Cham said...

Muffins with prunes and carrots , gal where did u find these recipes ? muffins are pretty aromatic too....

anudivya said...

A nice combination of ingredients, and they looks good too.

Priya Suresh said...

Thats a lovely combination of ingredients..muffins looks really colourful n delicious...prefectly baked..

Yasmeen said...

Yogurt and fruits do make a good replacement for eggs.I also add fruits to my muffins ,which ever in the season.

Indranee Batabyal said...

Lovely muffins...equally tasty and healthy!

PG said...

These look lovely! I would love to make these for my son. After we've finished this eggless cake with apple puree I made today! :D
have to post the recipe yet.

BTW, I've one question. Are prunes simpy dried plums? Here we have a variety of plums which are oval and not round and are called zwetschgen instead of pflaumen (plums) and I read that these are called prunes.
So, I'm a bit confused !?!

Uj said...

Cinnamon and Carrot perfect combination.. Looks delicious and perfectly done :)

Unknown said...

wow what a combo sweatha looks so yummy and you used yogurt superb dear

Adlak's tiny world said...

Who has taken that half... dont u know i am on the way to pick up that... send me a ton instead. HM....Hmmmm...

Anonymous said...

this sounds like just the recipe for me!! carrots and spice... coming together in a muffin, my baking item of choice!! bookmarked!!

soma said...

Love all the ingredients that wnet in there!!
Soma(www.ecurry.com)

Red Chillies said...

I am very drawn to the recipe considering that this is healthy. I have never tried anything with prunes and also pumpkin spice is new to me.Loved the recipe though.

Pavani said...

looks yummy n mouthwatering muffins yaar..

Sunshinemom said...

Look at those mounds! Tasty looking muffins, Sweatha and I love cinnamon so much.

I wanted to make something too - went searching for baby food puree yesterday but did not find any. Not able to think of anything right now for the event. Maybe I will just copy yours but then I will have to substitute the yogurt with tofu again!

Aur aapke comment pe main to hairan hoon - abhi se pet bhar gayaa? Abhi to dessert baaki hai:)

PG said...

thanks for the info! It surely was helpful!

lubnakarim06 said...

Oh wow carrot and cinnamon. Spicy and fruity wow. You rock. Why did u ate my muffin???? :-(

Uma said...

the muffins look so yummy! BTW, thanks for letting me know about the bread event. I have added the event to the post.

Anonymous said...

Carrots and spices can never go wrong : ) And add some sugar and flour, we are now in heaven!

Great post!

Chris said...

I've just discovered your blog and it's fantastic! All your recipes look elegant yet simple. I'm definitely trying out these muffins soon :)

Thanks for visiting my Blog

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