Recipe: Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

For a quick and easy weekday breakfast at our house, I like to try and bake up a batch of muffins, usually on the weekend. I freeze them to keep them fresh, and then we just lift out 2 for the next morning. I’ve done this for Matt in the past with corn bread muffins, but now that we’re both working, we go through the batch twice as fast! To change it up a bit, I saw a great recipe for a healthy and hearty muffin that even had vegetables in it.

It was Chef at Home who first baked up these carrot and oatmeal muffins, and, since he hasn’t let me down yet, I was excited to give them a try. I have always been a fan of carrot cake, but more so for the delicious and wonderful cream cheese icing, but I was willing to give these muffins a shot, too. I’ve baked these up twice now, making about 10 large muffins each time (perfect for the week at work). They freeze nicely, are moist and hearty, and are a very nice breakfast on the go. For a variation, try adding raisins or nuts, and also feel free to leave out the oil and instead replace it with more yogurt. I found we didn't even notice the difference.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated carrots (about 3)


DIRECTIONS

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.

SIFT together flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

MIX eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Stir in carrots and then dry ingredients.

SPOON into large or regular sized muffin cups. Bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on size of muffins).