Carrot Muffins

Introducing Luc! Light of my life, sous-chef extraordinaire and lover of homemade mayonnaise and ketchup…and these carrot muffins.

This recipe is adapted from the Carrot Cake recipe in Elana Amsterdam’s Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. She uses grapeseed oil and agave nectar, while I prefer ghee and honey. These are barely sweet at all and quite moist. Very good spread with cream cheese. The recipe includes baking soda, which is on the list of foods to avoid on the GAPS protocol because it can reduce stomach acid. I’ll play around with the recipe and see if it will work without the baking soda. In the meantime, enjoy these at your own risk and perhaps with a mug of warm broth and kraut juice to make up for the damage.

Makes 12 muffins or 24 mini-muffins

3 cups blanched almond flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 eggs
1/4 cup ghee, at room temperature (should be liquid or nearly so)
1/2 cup honey
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, chopped apricots, cranberries), optional
1 cup crispy or roasted nuts, chopped (walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans), optional OR shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin pan with ghee (or get a Demarle muffin pan and never grease again).

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Combine thoroughly and use your fingers to break up any chunks of almond flour. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, ghee, and honey together, then add to the almond flour mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Mix in carrots, fruit, and nuts.

Scoop batter into muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning the pan once half-way through baking, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the center muffins comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 20 minutes or so, then serve.