Back for good...with carrot cake muffins

Now, some New Year's resolutions just take a little longer to put into practice, hence the silence on my blog but now I am up and running again and have quite a few new recipes to share. It's good to be back!

Carrot cake muffins

With my leg healed, I am back in full swing with my training and eating pretty healthily most of the time.  I say "most" because sometimes I just fancy a little treat and to be honest, I think that's how I manage to be good the rest of the time.  Also, people have very different ideas of what is healthy and what isn't - some love bread, others think it is the devil's work.  For me, the good old "everything in moderation" is pretty much spot on.

So, talking of resolutions, I went for a run today and did a few exercises (in the pouring rain, so I deserve extra brownie points, I'd say :-)).  Before I started working out with my trainer, I couldn't do a single pull-up but now - a mere 4 months on - I managed 8 in one go.  That  called for a celebration or at least that's what I am telling myself: carrot cake muffins!  These would work equally well as a tray bake and are so easy and yet completely yummy - definitely worth a try!  I will continue to amend the recipe to bring down the fat content but in the meantime, this version is perfect for a treat. Enjoy!

Carrot cake muffins (makes 8 - 10)

Ingredients:
150g carrot, grated
2 eggs, large
80 - 100g brown sugar
5 tbsp sunflower oil
100g wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
50g desiccated coconut or ground almonds
50g raisins
50g chopped walnuts (optional but I think they add a lovely texture)

For the frosting:
100g cream cheese
25g butter
40g icing sugar


Method:
1.  Grease the muffin tin or square cake tin (18cm tin).
2.  Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
3.  Whisk the eggs with the sugar, then slowly add the oil.
4.  Add all the other ingredients and mix to combine.
5.  Spoon the mixture into the muffin or square tin and bake for 20 -25 minutes until golden brown.
6.  Leave to cool, then decorate with icing/frosting.