k  Fruity carrot, orange and spelt muffins  k

k  (sugar free and dairy free)  k

With trees in ibiza laden with the sweetest oranges I have ever eaten, I love to find different ways of incorporating them into my recipes.

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With the combination of carrots and fruits it is not dismimilar to a carrot cake recipe, but not overly sweet as the sweetness comes naturally from the fruit. I’ve used date syrup that gives a lovely deep richness but maple syrup works really well too. You can experiment with the fruit by adding sultanas or whatever fruit you like, but leave in the prunes as they are key in getting that good natural level of sweetness.

orange-33 I’ve used spelt flour which is fast gaining popularity as a health food because it’s loaded with essential nutrients including complex carbohydrates, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and more. Spelt is high in vitamin B2, niacin, thiamin, copper and magnesium – and because spelt is highly water soluble, these nutrients are easily absorbed by the body. It’s is a good source of dietary fibre which has been shown to lower cholesterol levels.

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I decorated the muffins with shards of lavender and kumquats from the garden, these are great eaten for an occasional breakfast treat – or for something more indulgent you can try adding a cream cheese, yoghurt and orange frosting…oh yes!

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The ingredients (makes 8 large muffins)

80g Date syrup (or maple syrup)
60ml olive oil
1 free range egg beaten
Juice and rind of 1 blood orange (or regular)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)
2 organic carrots, peeled and grated
70g chopped dried apricots
70g chopped prunes
200g organic wholemeal spelt flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

(optional – coconut sugar to dust)

 The method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350 F). Line a muffin tin with paper cases.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the date syrup, olive oil, egg, orange juice and rind, vanilla paste, carrots and chopped dried fruit.
  3. In another bowl add the spelt flour, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarb soda.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the fruity mix, and stir thoroughly to combine. Careful not to over mix otherwise you might get flat muffins.
  5. Divide into muffin cases. Put into preheated oven and bake for approx. 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.
  6. Remove from the oven, remove from the muffin tray and cool on a rack, these will keep perfectly well in an airtight container for up to a week.