Carrot Muffins

I don't bake muffins very often, as I prefer quick loaves like banana and zucchini bread. However,  I needed to make some muffins to give away (to some hardworking nurses!!!) and found a great recipe on Allrecipes. They taste a lot like the McDonalds carrot muffins that I used to really like.  Like many quick bread and muffin recipes, a lot of people suggest substituting the oil with applesauce.  I never have done this, but they swear that you can't taste the difference.  Plus, I always have oil in my cupboard and rarely have applesauce on hand.  They are pretty tasty even without icing !


Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated carrot

Icing:

1/4 cup softened cream cheese
2 tbsp softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Method:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  In a larger bowl combine all the wet ingredients (including the carrot) and mix well until frothy.   Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients taking care to only mix until the ingredients are combined.  It is important to not overmix .

Makes 12 muffins. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes and only grease the bottoms of the muffin cups.  When done, let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing.