Coconut Carrot Cake Power Muffins

Who wants cake for breakfast?

Wait. The better question is: who DOESN’T want cake for breakfast?

While I generally consider myself a savory gal when it comes to my early-day eating, I often swap in my egg and avocado toast for something on the sweet side. Like a croissant or a muffin. There’s nothing better than some sort of pastry alongside a piping hot cup of coffee. Yum.

These muffins fit the sweet bill and taste a lot like carrot cake but are little powerhouses of health! They’re loaded with carrots, apples, bananas, oats, coconut, warming spices, hemp seed, and flaxseed. Loooots of yummy but good-for-you ingredients. They really end up tasting like a carrot cake, sans the cream cheese frosting.

I came up with this recipe for my very picky toddler. What are the odds that a food-obsessed blogger would end up with a kid who won’t eat anything but PB&J, mac and cheese, and bananas. Insert giant eye roll here. I am constantly trying to get him to eat what we eat, but as soon as he gets whif of a veggie, he’s out. Kieran: 141, Broccoli: 0.

So, I find myself sneaking veggies into foods I know he will eat. Smoothies are a great way for me sneak in some greens, and muffins are a close second method. I can put always anything in a muffin and he’ll eat it, especially when they end up tasting as good as these do. You may remember me talking about this before, and much to my dismay, the battle still rages on with my headstrong boy. So more muffins to the rescue!

I’m calling these power muffins because, nutritionally speaking, they really are just that. They’re loaded with veggies, fruit, heart-healthy grains, and omega-3s. The coconut adds a slightly tropical flair, and I adore the way the flakes look on top of these otherwise orangey-brown muffins. It makes them festive! And cute!

And who wouldn’t want cute, festive little cakes masquerading as healthy muffins for breakfast?

No one, I tell ya. No one. Not even my picky 2-year-old.

Kieran: 141; Mom: 1. I’ll take it.

Coconut Carrot Cake Power Muffins

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• Yield: 16 muffins 1x

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Ingredients

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• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 ripe banana, mashed (roughly ⅓ cup)
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• ½ cup milk of choice (dairy, almond, coconut)
• 1 cup grated carrot (roughly 2 large carrots)
• ½ cup grated apple (roughly 1 large apple)
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• Pinch of fine salt
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 1 tablespoon hulled hempseed
• ½ cup flaked unsweetened coconut, plus a few more tablespoons for topping muffins

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners (I needed one full-size tin and one half-size tin). Spritz the liners with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, banana, applesauce, brown sugar, and milk. Mix well.
3. Using a food processor (or box grater), grate the apple and carrots.
4. In a second bowl, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, spices, flaxseed, hempseed, coconut flakes, and grated carrots and apple. Mix well to combine.
5. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing until everything is just combined. Resist the urge to overmix – you want to stir until there are no clumps of dry flour/oats.
6. Fill the muffin tins with the mixture, filling each muffin cup about ¾ full. Sprinkle each muffin with a pinch of coconut flakes.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are set in the middle and golden brown around the edges. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
8. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days (they will last up to a week in the fridge).