Wenham Tea House Carrot Muffins

These muffins come from the Wenham Tea House Cookbook. The recipe caught my eye as it had a reasonably small amount of fat and sugar (for muffins, anyway) and didn't call for nuts. The cookbook says each muffin is 149 calories, and 8 grams of fat. That is of course, assuming you don't coat them in cream cheese icing, which I did to four of them for dessert-the rest were frozen unadorned.
I have no idea why the muffins look green in this photo. It was dark here today, but green? No clue.




This does provide me with an opportunity to talk about tinned pineapple (you wanted to hear my thoughts on tinned pineapple, did you not? That's why you came here, don't lie). When I purchase tinned pineapple (as I frequently do as it regularly goes on sale) I purchase the sliced rings. My reasoning for this is that I can cut my own tid-bits, or need be, crush it with a fork. Oh, I know the twenty seconds it takes to do so could be better put to use reading the Daily Mail to see which celebrity I've never heard of has been photographed in an unflattering clothing item, but trust me on this-you don't want to be forced to stock all manner of pineapple on the odd chance you may need a certain type, and crushed pineapple will never, despite your best efforts, return to rings should you be taken by an overwhelming desire to bake an upside-down cake. Good god, would you look at the (lack of) punctuation on that run-on sentence? Tinned pineapple just brings that sort of thing out in me.

I know you're wondering, did the boys like the muffins? Indeed, they did-even the plain ones. That's good enough for me. The recipe makes 20 muffins, but I managed to fill 12 regular ones with the batter and had no overflow problems. It is always best to place the muffin tin on a baking sheet unless you're one of those people that nerd out over scouring the oven.

To store in the freezer, I purchase the least expensive fold-over type sandwich bags and save the twist ties from the produce department when I go shopping (what? You don't do that? What's wrong with you?). Twisted tightly to keep out air, the muffins will keep well for several months-but they'll never last that long. Twenty seconds in the microwave will bring them back to life (out of the plastic, please) or in warmer weather they should thaw by the time you've had a shower, commuted to work, etc. Don't frost them before freezing.

You Will Need:

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar (I reduced this to 3/4 cup and they were fine)
1 teaspoon each, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup salad oil
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup crushed, drained pineapple
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with paper liners, or grease well.

Sift dry ingredients together, add oil and stir until moistened. Beat in eggs. Add carrots, pineapple, and vanilla. Beat for two minutes (I did this by hand with a wooden spoon because I didn't feel like dealing with a mixer. It was really easy batter to mix). Spoon into muffin cups. Bake 25 minutes (mine took 28). Cool on rack.