When making snacking foods for my family, such as muffins, I try to stay away from highly refined white flour. And whole wheat flour has a bad rep for being too dense. Not to worry – these are light and tender and if you offer these to anyone, they won’t even know these muffins happen to be healthy.

The recipe is based loosely on William Sonoma carrot muffin but I converted it in a way to make whole wheat flour work in this recipe – decreasing the flour, while increasing the liquid. I also changed butter to healthy olive oil and sour cream to Greek yogurt, which is not only healthier but gives this muffin a better structure and a higher rise. I used to try to sweeten my muffins with honey or maple syrup, but so much research points out that honey really isn’t a healthier alternative – all added sugar is still added sugar and is processed by our bodies in the same manner. However, I’m sure eventually I’ll post a recipe for carrot muffins that relies on the use of honey.

Hope you give these delicious muffins a try!

DifficultyBeginner

Yields12 Servings

⅔ cup light brown sugar

⅓ cup olive oil

1 cup Greek yogurt

2 eggs, straight from the fridge

2 tsp vanilla

¼ cup milk

1 ½ tsp cinnamon (feel free to add a pinch of nutmeg and ginger if you wish)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt, heaping (or 1/2 tsp kosher salt)

1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour

2 cups peeled and finelsy shredded carrots

½ cup raisins, optional

½ cup walnuts or pecans, optional

Turbinado Sugar, for sprinkling the top of the muffin

Preheat the oven to 400. Grease lightly or line your muffin tins with paper muffin liners.

Whisk olive oil and sugar until thickened. Add Greek yogurt, milk, vanilla, egg, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk until well combined.

Add the flour all at once folding gently to combine with a rubber spatula. When the flour is about 75% folded, add carrots, nuts and raisins, if using, and finish folding until everything is evenly combined. Do not overmix. Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle a little bit of Turbinado sugar on top of each muffin. I also added a whole pecan to the top for garnish.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-23 minutes, until puffed, golden brown, firm to touch and the skewer inserted comes out clean. 20 minutes is usually what works for me. The internal temperature of the muffins should be around 206- 208°. Remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes then wrap tightly with plastic wrap to trap the moisture and make these extra tender. Enjoy!

Ingredients