Spiced Carrot Muffins
When my German pal, Jessica, approached me about baking some German desserts for the blog I immediately said yes. After all, I am half German. I studied the German language for 7 years. I plan on visiting Germany one day. I should have some German recipes up my sleeve, right? The first recipe she sent me was for these delicious and very moist cinnamon spiced carrot muffins.
This recipe is made by using the muffin method (liquid fat is barely mixed into the dry ingredients). For the leavening, baking powder is used, which brings me to the question I asked myself while baking these muffins: What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda? Baking soda needs to combine with an acid to activate it. Baking powder has an acid already built in. The baking powder and built-in acid are activated once they are moistened. Then they activate once more from the heat of the oven. That is why baking powder is called “double acting”. Both baking powder and baking soda produce gas when activated, and that gas enables the leavening.
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Shred up your carrots (about the size of the shredded coconut).
Mix your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients.
A bit of vanilla sugar is added to the wet ingredients. I made my own last year, but you can buy vanilla sugar at certain stores.
Spoon the batter about 2/3 full into the prepared muffin tins.
These spiced carrot muffins have a sweet, citrus flavor, and a lovely soft crunch.
- 2 1/3 cups (280 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup (110 g) Sugar
- 2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 2 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 2 medium Eggs
- 1/2 cup (60 ml) Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup (120 g) Apple Puree
- 1 cup (120 ml) Orange Juice
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Sugar
- 1 1/3 cups (175 g) Carrots, shredded
- 1 cup (90 g) Coconut, shredded
- Preheat the oven to 390 degrees F. Prepare muffin tray.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder cinnamon and salt.
- In another bowl, mix the eggs, oil, apple puree, orange juice, and vanilla sugar.
- Add the carrots and coconut to the wet ingredients.
- Gradually mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full.
- Bake the tins on the middle rack for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a muffin.
