Adrienne Arden (Digital Services) made carrot pecan muffins for last month's birthday break. They were nutritious and delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe with Muse readers, Adrienne!
Adrienne’s Carrot Cake or Muffins/Cupcakes + Cream Cheese Frosting
Have two mixing bowls and a food processor with a grating disk ready.
In the first (largest) bowl, combine these ingredients either by hand or using a small mixer:
1 cup + 1 Tbsp. cooking oil (not olive or peanut)
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Beat until creamy.
In the second bowl mix with a wooden spoon:
2 cups sifted flour
¾ to 1 cup chopped pecans
3 cups grated carrots (6 medium freshly peeled carrots)
You can use pre-shredded carrots from a store, but the flavor will suffer.
Combine all ingredients into the large bowl by adding the flour mixture a little at a time using a wooden spoon.
For a 13x9x2” pan: Lightly grease and flour the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes; test for doneness with a toothpick. Let sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack to cool.
For muffins/cupcakes: Place liners in muffin tins and fill ¾ full. These do not puff up much, so if you slightly overfill it won’t be a problem. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes. Check for doneness at 20 minutes.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
Always a favorite on carrot cake! Beat until fluffy:
1 8-oz. package of cream cheese
1 ½ cubes of unsalted real butter, softened
1 lb. box of powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ to ½ tsp. milk