Carrot Cake Quinoa Oat Muffins

These muffins are packed with good for your ingredients, but then cream cheese frosting slathered on two of these babies disguises any shred of healthiness!

These muffins are an AWESOME, healthy (the muffin is good for your body, the cream cheese frosting is good for the soul) way to start your day, or a healthy dessert at the end of the night.  Made with minimal sugar and all whole grain ingredients so you can feel good indulging, which makes it that much better.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

4 ounces unsweetened applesauce

2 large carrots, shredded

¼ nut butter

¼ cup honey (optional raw honey or maple syrup)

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 cup heaping cup old fashion oats (gluten-free if desired)

1 cup heaping cup cooked quinoa

¼ cup walnuts (chopped)

½ cup raisins

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

Frosting: (optional)

6 ounces 1/3 fat cream cheese (I used a block)

3 tablespoons Greek yogurt

2 cups powdered sugar

yield 12 muffins 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Combine cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, salt, applesauce, carrots, nut butter, and honey in a large bowl.
  3. Next mix in the chia seeds, oats, and quinoa until well combined. Add in baking soda and egg and mix until just combined.
  4. Fold in walnuts and raisins.
  5. Spoon two heaping tablespoons into each muffin cup and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until gold brown on top.  Let cool completely.
  6. For the frosting:Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and place bowl in fridge for 15-20 minutes, then add to a zip lock bag.  Cut the corner off and pipe the frosting on top of each muffin.

Notes

*subtract 1 gram of protein, 20 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of fat if you aren’t doing the icing!   comes out to about 151 calories per muffin!

*If you want to make a healthier frosting use cinnamon laughing cow wedges or mix a little maple syrup with some whipped cream cheese