Courgette and Carrot Muffins
Served as they are for breakfast or a snack, or topped with a cream cheese icing as a dessert, these courgette and carrot muffins make a delicious summer sweet treat.
Servings: 12 Muffins
Calories: 278kcal
Equipment
- 12-hole muffin tin lined with paper cases
Ingredients
Muffins
- 100 ml sunflower oil
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 260 g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 80 ml Greek yoghurt
- ½ tsp vanilla paste
- 80 g walnuts chopped
- 200 g courgettes grated
- 160 g carrots grated
Cream Cheese Icing (optional)
- 60 g butter softened
- 115 g cream cheese
- ½ tsp vanilla paste
- Pinch of salt
- 250 g icing sugar sifted
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 170 °C
- Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases.
- Put the sugar, oil and eggs in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a hand whisk) and beat on a slow speed until everything is well mixed. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add to the wet mix and beat slowly until there are no more lumps of flour. Scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.
- Add the Greek yoghurt and vanilla paste and beat one last time.
- Add the chopped walnuts and the grated courgettes and carrots to the mix and fold in until everything is incorporated.
- Spoon the mixture evenly into the paper cases – each should be around 2/3 full – and bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes. When cooked, the muffins should be a golden colour, and the sponge should bounce back when you press lightly.
- Leave the muffins to cool in the tray for 10 minutes before carefully lifting them out and cooling completely on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Icing
- To make the icing, use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or a handheld whisk, and combine the softened butter and the cream cheese. Add the vanilla paste and a pinch of salt and mix briefly.
- Take the sifted icing sugar and add it gradually on a low speed – be careful not to whisk too fast, or the icing sugar will fly everywhere! Once the icing sugar is added and well combined, place it in your piping bag with a fluted nozzle, and pipe on top of your cooled muffins.
Notes
- Note that the nutrition values do no include the icing. With the cream cheese icing, they would be 429 calories per muffin.
- Cream cheese icing is optional - the nutritional values show the un-iced version
- I like to do half the icing recipe and do a 50:50 split. That way, I can have a plain one for breakfast or be more indulgent with an iced one for dessert!
- You can make these muffins gluten-free by using the same quantity of flour and adding a teaspoon of xanthan gum.
Nutrition
Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 182mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 2310IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 1mg