Spiced Carrot Kale Muffins
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Spiced Carrot Kale Muffins are a hearty, wholesome treat that blend vegetables with warm, aromatic spices. Shredded carrots bring natural sweetness and moisture, while chopped kale adds subtle, savory green nutrients. These muffins are warmly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of ginger.
I’ve only recently started eating greens like Kale, Chard, and Escarole. They aren’t readily available in my market where I live and they aren’t something I’ve picked up when I’m out of town shopping.
What is Kale?
Kale is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the cabbage family. It’s known for its thick, curly leaves and strong, slightly bitter flavor.
However, there has been an influx of kale and other greens at the farmer’s market. My brother was also telling me how wonderful kale was and gave me his recipe for Quinoa, Spinach, and Kale Lasagna. I’ve also tried kale in this Hot Sausage, Kale, and Cheddar Quiche.
I already had several recipes I wanted to make including a soup and a chicken dish but I wanted to make something more creative. I was really looking to make a baked good but that seemed out of the question.
Then I started thinking about other vegetables I use in my baking and came up with zucchini and carrots. That’s when the idea hit me to try a carrot cake muffin with kale in it.
I’ll be honest and say that I was a little worried about how they would turn out. I used some extra spices to give the muffins a wonderful flavor.
Can I add different spices to these muffins?
Yes! Use whatever combination of spices you enjoy most in your vegetable based muffins. Allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom are all good choices.
I chopped up the kale into small pieces and added them along with the carrots. When they came out of the oven they smelled wonderful but they didn’t look great. The orange and green flecks in the muffins made them look more like a savory muffin then a sweet muffin but I gave them the benefit of the doubt.
I’m so glad I did! They were delicious and filled with all the benefits of carrots and kale. The muffins taste of spices, raisins, and have a hint of the vegetables but it’s a wonderful combination.
I’ve been having 1 or 2 for breakfast ever since I made them and I feel good knowing that they are good for me. I can’t wait to take some to my brother, who loves kale, so he can try them too!
Carrot Kale Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose lour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
- 4 Tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup carrots shredded
- 1 cup kale finely chopped
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- zest of 1 orange
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix well and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl cream the brown sugar and butter. Add in the Greek yogurt and mix well. Stir in the egg and vanilla.
- Pour the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. The mixture will be dry and crumbly.
- Stir in the carrots, kale, raisins, and orange zest. Mix until just combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin filling each cup 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are turning gold and a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the tin and cooling completely on a wire rack.
- Store in an air tight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
I realize this is an old post, but this turned out great for me. I used regular plain yogurt instead of Greek (didn’t have Greek), two teaspoons of orange blossom water instead of orange zest (didn’t have oranges), and two cups of carrot-kale-ginger pulp left over from juicing. I think the extra moisture from the yogurt made up for the dryness of the juicer pulp, so everything turned out great. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Orange Blossom water sounds really yummy in this recipe.
Do you think that I could substitute the flour for almond flour?