Carrot Date Muffins (gluten free)

Here's yet another recipe I found on my Whole Foods Recipes app, but if you don't have an iPhone, the recipe is also posted on the Whole Foods website. Let me just go ahead and admit that I didn't have any amaranth or millet flour when I decided I had to make these muffins, but I did have exactly 3/4 cup of Pamela's Baking Mix sitting in my pantry just begging to be used, so that's what went into my muffins instead.

For the muffins, you'll need:

2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3/4 cup amaranth flour or millet flour (except I used Pamela's Baking Mix)
3/4 cup ground almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

I hadn't beat the eggs or melted the coconut oil when I took a picture of the ingredients, but don't worry, it all got done.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a 12-cavity standard muffin tin with paper baking cups. Put the dates and carrots in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the walnuts, and pulse until they're finely chopped.

 

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, and then add the coconut oil, lightly beaten eggs, and maple syrup. Stir it all together to combine completely.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients. 

The recipe says to then pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients, but I did it the opposite way because my wet ingredients were in a bigger bowl. Stir the mixture until just combined. 

Divide the batter evenly between the lined muffin cavities. I forgot to snap a photo of this step, and I didn't do such a great job of dividing the batter evenly, but they still came out okay.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. After a few minutes, remove them from the pan and let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

These are delicious, and I really want to make them again using amaranth or millet flour like the recipe calls for, just to compare and see what (if any) difference it makes in the taste and texture. They are plenty sweet and don't need any kind of topping, but they also taste a lot like carrot cake, so I think a modest amount of cream cheese icing on the top would be seriously yummy. If you like carrot cake, that is. 

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