Healthy carrot and orange muffins

A delicious and satisfying breakfast or snack!

I don’t know about you, but I’m really not a fan of muffins that are more like cupcakes than the nutritious, filling baked goods I want them to be. My ideal muffins don’t have too much sugar, have a nice density and offer a little bit of a protein hit too, usually with nuts or seeds. These beauties – with oats and whole wheat flour for extra goodness – hit all the right notes for me and the combination of butter and oil gives them a great texture. As with all good muffins, they freeze beautifully – both before or after baking. They’re my current favourite post-workout treat; right up there with these blueberry-cornmeal muffins which I also adore.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (45 g) rolled oats
• 3/4 cup (90 g) whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
• 2/3 cup (135 g) packed brown sugar
• Grated zest of 1 large orange
• 3/4 cup (177 mL) orange juice
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) buttermilk *
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (57 g) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) vegetable oil
• 1 cup (82 g) finely shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup (55 g) chopped toasted pecans

*make your own by adding 1 teaspoon of white vinegar to room-temperature milk

Method

• Preheat oven to 400F. Line 16 muffin tin compartments with paper liners and set aside.
• Combine the dry ingredients (oats, flours, salt, baking powder and soda, spices, and brown sugar) in a bowl and set aside.
• Combine the wet ingredients (orange juice, buttermilk, eggs, orange zest, vanilla, butter and vegetable oil) in a large measuring cup or a bowl, then add the wet ingredients to the dry. Stir just until incorporated, then stir in shredded carrots and pecans.
• Divide the batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake for 17-18 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
• Once cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage.

Makes 16 muffins.