Carrot-Ginger Muffins

I got this recipe from – surprise! – What To Expect. They were originally called lemon-ginger muffins, and sounded like just what I needed to calm the queasiness. Plus, I found them very interesting because they don’t call for any cane sugar, just white grape juice concentrate! However, they also call for 1 cup of grated carrots. The resulting muffins, while good, didn’t taste like lemons and barely tasted like ginger, but the carrots were definitely present, so I changed the name to adjust expectations accordingly. I did like the result, though, and it was satisfying that the Engineer called them “little bundles of goodness.” I’ll keep this recipe ratio in mind if I decide to experiment with natural sugars, too!

1 cup whole-wheat flour (I used ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour and ½ cup white whole wheat flour)
¼ cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
¼ cup rolled oats
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ cup chopped pecans (I didn’t use them)
1 cup white grape juice concentrate
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tsp. minced lemon zest
1 cup grated carrot

Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners. (I needed 18 in all.)

In large bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, flaxseed, oats, ground ginger, and baking soda. Stir in nuts, if using.

In medium bowl, combine juice concentrate, eggs, oil, vanilla, fresh ginger, and lemon zest. Whisk to blend. Add the juice mixture to the flour mixture, and stir gently just until the batter is smooth and well blended; do not overmix. Gently fold in carrots.

Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin tin. Bake about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Remove muffins from tin; let cool completely. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 3 days or individually wrapped in plastic wrap (and then in an airtight container or freezer bag) and frozen for a month.