Healthy Carrot Almond Muffins

These carrot almond muffins were a blessing! When you have taken out gluten, even grains, from your diet you are left with seeds and nuts. One cannot eat only whole seeds and nuts day in day out. A bit of variety is needed, and so we had our sights on almond flour and coconut flour. Yes, it is still a lot of nuts, but this time it is in another form. If that makes sense.

Well, it made sense for my son who especially enjoys baked goods and so we have to prepare a number of baked goods he can enjoy while on this diet. Now, at the moment we are not tempted to undo things, and go back to eating everything, because we are seeing some remarkable improvements. These were expected because it is quite similar to the experiences of others.

We noticed for one, his complexion has improved and the acne he was getting is going away quickly. He is a lot more at ease and content with things and people around him. He does not fuss, or get too emotional when he wants something, or if someone tells him something he does not like. He is showing a bit more understanding, and he has not protested for eating this way on the gaps diet, even though he is not getting access to most of his favourite snacks (the very snacks that caused him much trouble).

All this has happened within 21 days. Under other circumstances, I don't think we could have stopped him from getting any of his favourite snacks or drinks without some expressed grievances. However, our boy has shown a renewed interest in music, including church music and classical music.

Grain-Free Carrot Almond Muffins

Anyway, it is not that difficult to bake with almond flour. Now, this flour, is for lack of a better word, almost sandy, light but a bit gritty to the feel. It is unlike wheat flour. It does not stick together easily, it does not really rise or stretch, but it can retain a lot of moisture. You have to make sure the flour is at room temperature before you use it.

A good balance in the ingredients is necessary to produce a baked good with almond flour that is palatable. When I first used it to make pancakes, I did not like the texture at all. The flour absorbed the oil too well. This happen again when I greased the ramekins and it absorbed the oil and yet ended up sticking to the dish. I did not want a spongy almond muffin. I did not want to taste the egg in it and the oils used. That is why I settled on a muffin that look a lot like a coconut drop.

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Carrot Almond Muffins Recipe

In the beginning, I was frustrated at first, but decided that I would not use oil for baking with almond flour. I would use butter. It worked well enough for me. Now, I have to say that even though I am using almond flour in this recipe, it is by no means a vegan or vegetarian recipe at best I'd call it keto. I included butter, eggs and sour cream. Also, converting this recipe to become vegan or vegetarian might not be a good idea. After all, almond flour does not work like the grain flours.

Another thing, this recipe does not include sugar, or any powdered sugar substitute. I used raisins to add the sweetness to the muffins. However, if you want you can substitute the raisins with sugar or any other sugar substitute. Note, do not not substitute equal amounts of the raisins for sugar. Use less, for instance 1 cup raisins for 2/3 cups brown sugar.

Anyway, here is my keto carrot almond muffins recipe. Enjoy!

Carrot Almond Muffins

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter, soft
2 small eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup blanched almond flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup finely ground carrots, packed* ¹
1 cup raisins, finely chopped (you can also use dates and prunes)* ²

Directions:

Prepare all the ingredients for the recipe. Prepare the muffin tins. Lightly grease the muffin tins and line with wax paper. Make sure the butter is at room temperature and soft.

Beat the eggs until foamy. Then add the sour cream and butter. Beat once more until well blended.

Next, mix together the almond flour and baking soda. Then add the carrots.

Note:

1. The carrots should be grated fine and measured packed in the cup. My carrots were what was left after I made some carrot juice. My juicer is not the best for squeezing all the juice out of the carrot, so I decided to make use of this carrot for the muffins.
2. I used only raisins for this recipe. They were soaked to have them softened and then chopped finely by hand or in a food processor. However, you can use instead prunes, or a combination of raisins, prunes and dates. Make sure they are all chopped very small and combined to measure about 3/4 to 1 cup. Remember that dates are sweeter than raisins.

Next mix the ingredients together. The dough should be easy to hold together, not runny. Let it rest for 15 minutes before placing spoonsful of it into the prepared and lined muffin tins. There is no need to pack or flatten the dough down. This could cause the muffins to stick too much to the parchment paper once baked. Place the muffins in the oven and bake.

Mix the carrots and almond flour.

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture.

Blend the ingredients well. You will get a soft light dough.

Mix the chopped raisins into the dough with a spatula.

Next, place in prepared muffin tins. Pre heat the oven at 350 degrees F then bake for about 25 minutes.

This recipe will make 12 small muffins. It was quiet enjoyable and satisfying to eat. These keto carrot almond muffins are a healthy addition to dinner and breakfast. You will not miss the grains!

Well that's it for another post …Stay tuned for more healthy Trini recipes.

Ah gone.

If you are interested in more of our Caribbean recipes, we also have an amazing cookbook that is available on Amazon. It has over 600 amazing recipes that's all Trini to de bone. CLICK HERE to learn more.