Gluten Free Carrot Muffins (GF/V)

Imagine, sitting on your deck in the blissful quietness of the morning, drinking a hot cup of coffee with a delicious  muffin in your mouth. I mean crumbs will probably be falling out of your mouth but it sounds like a pretty great way to start your day. This could easily be YOU if you make these Gluten Free Carrot Muffins and have a deck.  These carrot muffins are the perfect breakfast muffin because they are packed with protein and carrots, are super nutritious and vegan to boot!

These gluten free muffins are toasty on the top but fresh and moist on the inside, basically the perfect pair. Pip was seen licking up the crumbs I dropped on the floor. Or maybe they were the crumbs falling out of my mouth as I viciously stuffed a full muffin into my mouth- who’s to know?

These yummy carrot muffins also get a big ‘Picky Husband Approved’ checkmark- but only if there are no raisins. Adam hates raisins. (This is just another example of why he gets the title of Picky Husband FYI). Luckily for him, I’ll leave the raisins out the the batch I know he will eat from. The things we do for love.

I hope everyone has a Happy Labour Day weekend coming up! We are heading to a friend’s cabin and I’m planning on  whipping up a batch of these beauties to share at brunch! They truly are a crowd pleaser! But whether you make these gluten free, vegan muffins for others or just for yourself (with extra raisins, of course), I hope you enjoy. ♥

Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

serves 8 

time to make: ~55 minutes

ingredients 

• 3/4 cup ALMOND FLOUR
• 1 cup OAT FLOUR
• 1/4 cup COCONUT FLAKES (or shredded coconut)
• 1 teaspoon BAKING SODA
• 1 teaspoon BAKING POWDER
• 1/3 cup of COCONUT SUGAR ( or DATE SUGAR)
• 1/4 teaspoon SEA SALT
• 1 teaspoon CINNAMON
• 1/2 teaspoon ALL SPICE
• 3/4 cup SHREDDED CARROT
• 1 teaspoon VANILLA
• 1/3 cup mashed BANANA (roughly 1 medium banana)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened APPLE SAUCE
• 2 FLAX EGGS
• 3 tablespoons (melted) COCONUT OIL
• 3 tablespoons ALMOND MILK.
• 2 tablespoons HEMP SEEDS
• 1/4 cup raw PUMPKIN SEEDS
• 1/3 cup chopped PECANS
• 1/4 cup RAISINS

Directions 

1. Begin by preparing the flax egg. Mix 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes, until a “yolky consistency has formed. note: I prefer to make flaxseed meal from whole flaxseeds by simply blending the needed amount right before making the flax egg.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin simply by rubbing coconut oil in the tins to avoid the muffins from sticking.
3. Combine all the dry ingredients together in one bowl (first 9 ingredients above). note: to make oat flour, simply measure out 1 cup of oats and blend until a fine flour forms.
4. Once the flax eggs have that egg consistency, add the flax egg, melted coconut oil, apple sauce, mashed banana, almond milk, vanilla and carrot to a bowl. Once nicely combined, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix.
5. Next, option to add in the additional ingredients (pecans, pumpkin seeds, raisins, hemp seeds).
6. Measure out a 1/4 cup of batter and place in each greased muffin tin. This should make 8 muffins.
7. Place in the preheated oven for 26 minutes. Check the muffins with a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before digging in.
9. Store muffins in a sealed container on the counter for 5 days. These muffins also freeze quite nicely.