One way to eat to beat diabetes is to use more intact grains, such as whole quinoa, rolled oats, brown rice or millet. Rolled oats can easily be turned into flour in your blender and used in making many healthy and delicious baked goods for you and your family.
Carrot-n-Oat Cake Muffins are one of my favorite ways to use oat flour. It is lightly sweetened, using both unsweetened applesauce, raisins, and organic cane sugar. Carrot cake muffins make a delightful treat for a child’s lunch or as a breakfast muffin alongside your steaming bowl of oatmeal. Either way, it’s a great way to be plant-strong while enjoying a tasty treat.
You can skip the eggs with this muffin. It is a totally plant-based recipe. We use flaxseed “eggs” to bind baked goods like muffins and cookies. Add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed in 5-6 tablespoons of hot water. Stir together, then allow it to sit for several minutes while you’re putting together the dry ingredients of the recipe. By the time you’ve got that put together, the flaxseed “egg” will be ready to add with the other wet ingredients–the applesauce, milk, and vanilla.
I’ve found flaxseed eggs so easy to use. Because of the lignans found in the seeds, the flaxseed mixture will form a gel like product that binds ingredients together as nicely as an egg. It makes for a great binder in your cooking and baking. Flaxseed is also an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, so essential for heart and brain health.
Our carrot cake muffins were gobbled up quickly at our last cooking class. So they definitely passed the taste test for husbands, wives and children. I hope you’ll like them too!
Carrots Health-Bite
Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, one of the compounds that give this crunchy veggie its bright color. It also produces vitamin A in your body, which is vital for boosting your immune system–so important during cold and flu season and fighting off other viruses. Vitamin A helps your body fight off invading germs, regenerate new cells, and stay strong.
Carrot-n-Oat Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 T ground flaxseed in 5 tablespoons hot water
- 1 3/4 cup oat flour can be gluten-free, if needed
- 1/4 cup rolled oats can be gluten-free, if needed
- 1 T baking powder
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3/4 cup soy or almond milk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 to 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup walnuts ground
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with foil liners or use non-stick or silicone pans. In a mug or cup, place the flax meal and hot water. Stir briefly; set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a large bowl, mix the oat flour, rolled oats, baking powder, coriander, cardamom, sugar and salt. Whisk together. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add the applesauce, flaxseed mixture (which should be thickened by now), applesauce, milk and vanilla to the bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in the carrots, raisins and walnuts until mixed together. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups ¾ the way up. Bake for 7 minutes at 425 degrees, then bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes.
