WHOLE WHEAT CARROT APPLE MUFFINS

Over winter break Chad and I took an amazing trip to California.  If you follow me on Instagram, you already know all about it.  If you don’t follow me, I’ll do my best to try to cobble together a post detailing our trip!

We started in LA and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway (making stops along the way) all the way to San Francisco where we met up with friends for a few days and then headed back to the cold east coast (still trying to figure out why we ever got on that plane back given this freezing cold weather…)

It was literally one of the prettiest drives I’ve ever done in my life.  I still can’t believe that there are places THAT beautiful in our country.

Anyway, one of our stops along the PCH was Big Sur where we stayed in a little cabin that came complete with our own outdoor fire pit and s’mores materials (!!).  Being a long-time reader of Eat, Live, Run, I remembered a post Jenna did on Big Sur Bakery and warned Chad far ahead of time that we would definitely be making a stop there before we headed out the next day (which we did, probably way earlier than Chad would’ve liked given my inability to contain my excitement over it).

It definitely did not disappoint.  It’s ADORABLE inside and it doesn’t hurt that the moment you walk in the door you’re greeted by their pastry case which is filled with all kinds of goodies.

We ordered our coffees and our food and while we waited, I couldn’t resist grabbing a carrot apple muffin from the case, just to try/snack on later in the trip.  I think it might have been my first ever carrot apple muffin but needless to say, it made such an impression that it was still stuck in my head 3 weeks after returning home.  At which point I decided it was time to experiment with making my own.

I tried to go a little healthier with these since I’ll be using them as afternoon snacks and as part of my breakfast so I reduced the size and skipped the sugary crumble topping.

I have to say, I was really pleasantly surprised with how these turned out.  They’re super hearty thanks to the whole wheat flour, packed with fiber thanks to the shredded carrots and apples but still manage to have that light, fluffy feeling of muffins.

Definitely worth giving a shot if you’re looking for a quick, filling, not-too-sweet and easy snack to have on hand!

{whole wheat carrot apple muffins} – adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

makes 14 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 heaping teaspoon of apple pie spice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (but not melted)
• ¼ cup plain non-fat greek yogurt
• ½ cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 apples (peeled, cored and grated in a cheese grater)
• 2 medium carrots (peeled and grated in a cheese grater)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
• Line a muffin pan with paper liners
• Combine butter, yogurt, honey, egg and vanilla extract whisking until combined
• Add flour, baking soda, apple pie spice and salt to the wet mixture
• Gently fold ingredients adding in shredded apples and carrots at the very end, mixing one or two more times around the bowl until just combined
• Scoop batter evenly into prepared muffin pan and bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes and serve or package to freeze for easy on-the-go snack and breakfast options!

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