Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Carrot Coconut Muffins

A special family occasion always calls for something which warms the heart as well as the palate. And when we are talking about celebrating the joy that our little girl brings into our lives, her twinkling eyes and impish smile which make every day a new wonder - then it has to be something which screams "Sunshine"!


These carrot coconut muffins do just that - their warm orange colour seems to be a shade of happiness itself and their moist insides burst with the goodness of carrots and apples. I saw them first quite sometime back on the Joy of Baking website and later on Meeta's wonderful blog "Whats for Lunch, Honey".
These muffins are the easiest thing to bake and use ingredients which we usually have at hand. My daughter loved making it with me and couldn't wait for them to bake and then cool to see how they turned out - very much the way she pestered us that whole morning for mehendi and then as soon as it was on she wanted to take it off and see the colour "NOW"! :)

I didn't make the cream cheese frosting since I didn't think they were needed at all - warm them just a little in the oven and you're good to go. I used homemade unsalted butter instead of the oil in the original recipe and toned down the sugar a wee bit.These muffins are apparently also called "Morning Glory Muffins" - I can see why!


Carrot Coconut Muffins


1 1/2 cups maida
1/2 cup wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs

2 cups grated carrots
1 apple, peeled and grated (should be crisp and not the mushy kind)
1 cup grated coconut (I used fresh coconut)
1/2 cup walnuts, lightly toasted, peeled and chopped
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (For some reason everytime I combine cinnamon and salt, the dish seems to get over salted, so this time I did away with the salt in the original recipe,completely)

Method:
1. Sift the flours and the baking powder,cinnamon powder and soda together.
2. Beat the eggs and keep aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together till creamy.
3. Mix in the eggs and vanilla essence into the butter and sugar and then add the flour, grated carrots, apples, chopped walnuts and coconut mixing just until combined.
4. The key to spongy muffins is not to mix the ingredients too much but just till they come together.
5. Spoon the batter into lightly greased muffin pans or you can line the muffin pans with muffin papers and then spoon the batter into them.
6. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180C (350F) for 22-25 minutes till a skewer inserted comes out clean. Rest for 10 minutes and turn out of the muffin pan and let it cool completely.

10 comments:

Pallavi said...

Nice Muffins.. Thanks for your note on my blog. Cool.. Which website do you write for ?

Yes, when it comes to making decisions, I am that way too..I listen to everyone.. but then its always what I think is the right thing to do that I go with.. I have some very specific things in mind as to how I want to raise my kids.. and I am sure every parent does.. Looking at other people's experiences sometimes gives us insight into what to do or what not to do.. So, I think its nice to have people around.. We have a ton of friends who've have older kids, and before I am faced with that situation with mine, I already have an opinion about how I would deal with it.. I am a planner :) Not all plans work with though.. but its good to have a plan..anyway.. right ?! I hope to hear from you more.. !

FH said...

Gorgeous color and makes a great breakfast to grab and go! :)

Cham said...

Wow, fruit, veg and coconut, such a different muffins, no wonder the little one will jump with joy!

Archana said...

Lovely ones Miri...she must have had loads of fun baking with you :)

Bong Mom said...

They really bring sunshine :)

BTW say your comment at Indo's, would love to see your video on J&J and also in femina :D (Used to love Femina, haven't seen it for a while now)

Sig said...

Was it her birthday? Belated wishes to the little one... those muffins look adorable, I am sure those made her very happy :)

Miri said...

Will mail you Sandeepa - thanks! :)

Finla said...

Wow the muffins look so perfect and yumm.

Unknown said...

These muffins are a nice treat....One question, which oven do you use...is it an OTG or microwave-oven...thanks :)...all your baking recipes are amazing..

Miri said...

Supriya - Thanks so much! I use a microwave cum convction oven and do all my baking in the convection mode.

So its, practically the same as baking in an OTG oven.