Carrot (Pulp) Muffins
Written by Karen on March 13th, 2009
I am a big juicer, as in I make fresh juices almost daily. And most often that juice will contain a pretty hefty amount of carrots, for color and flavor. My compost pile was turning fairly orange from the excess pulp, so I decided to try other ways to use the pulp in my kitchen first. I figured I could substitute the pulp in a recipe that called for grated carrots, which is what I did in the following recipe with a few other adjustments.
Carrots have been a regular feature in my CSA box the past few weeks, as they are in peak season and boasting maximum sweetness and crunch. We certainly know of their nutritional benefits which relate to our eyes, but did you know they also promote healthy lungs? Just one cup of carrots provides over 680% of our daily requirement for vitamin A – good for both vision and lung health. Carrots are also high in fiber, low in calories and a rich source of anti-oxidants for the heart.
Carrot Muffins
If you can’t use the pulp right away, freeze it in a plastic bag and defrost before baking. You can also use grated carrots – equal amounts apply. While I switched to whole wheat flour, you might experiment with other whole grains. Either way, it’s a delicious way to get your veggies and a healthy dose of fiber, starting at breakfast:)
Makes 12
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Teaspoon sea salt
2 Teaspoons cinnamon
1 Teaspoon nutmeg
2 Teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup Sucanat or brown sugar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 Teaspoons vanilla
4 medium to large pastured eggs, beaten
2 cups carrot pulp
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease approximately 12 muffin tins thoroughly. Mix dry ingredients first. In separate bowl, mix sugar with olive oil, water and vanilla. Add beaten eggs and blend thoroughly. Lightly incorporate the carrot pulp and nuts. Finally add dry ingredients. Put into muffin pan and cook for about 20 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes and serve.
>>Interested in learning more about juicing?
13
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Way back in the 70′s when juicing was newer, I did this. I used the carrot pulp in carrot cake. It made a good tasting cake, used a very nutritious by-product and reduced waste. Carrot juice, by the way is ONLY good fresh, and is very good for you. Enjoy both!
14
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I haven’t done a lot of juicing but I have been making my own nut milks, which produce a lot of pulp I hate to compost or throw away. I have to try this with some nut pulp in place of some of the flour and see if it works.
Maggies last blog post..Spiced Braised Red Cabbage and Glazed Corned Beef
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Kathryn,
As soon as I posted this I thought about carrot cake, and actually have one in the oven right now – great idea! I will do a post on juicing – I agree, it is a wonderful way to consume many nutrients.
Maggie,
I have been meaning to explore ways to use the nut pulps as well. Tag – you’re it!
P.S. I just bought a grass-fed corned beef and plan to make it with the braised cabbage…
Karens last blog post..Carrot (Pulp) Muffins
14
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I’m thrilled about this. Why didn’t I think of doing a recipe with my pulp? I did try making raw crackers by keeping all the pulp from my juicer, then blending it up, adding seeds and putting it in thin layers in my dehydrator. It came out tasting like CRAP. So now i never want to juice bc i hate the wasted pulp. I’m gonna try this!
Michelle @ What Does Your Body Good?s last blog post..It’s apples to apples and an announcement
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I just got my juicer today. I used pineapples, strawberries, apples, oranges, blackberries, and beets. I took the pulp from that and mixed it with flour and one packet of blueberry muffin mix. It made the best muffins!
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Christy, Oh my gosh – that sounds amazing! Very clever and delicious. Thanks for sharing.
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These were great! They turned out well and the whole family gobbled them up! I will try to experiment with other pulp as well.
Thank you
25
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Very delicious muffins, i forgot the Vanilla Essence and never had walnuts, (not been oout to collect them this year yet) and they turned out great, a wee bit salty though but just dusted then with icing sugar and that will sort that out. can highly recommend Alison Holsts marvelous muffin book, for more recipes. Thanks keep up the great work.
21
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Thanks for this recipe, i made it last night and am tickled with the results! The olive oil flavor comes through slightly, which is unexpected but nice (i’m considering making a non-sweetened savory version of these). I found the batter to be almost unmanageably stiff, perhaps due to super-dry pulp, so i added about 1/4 c water and everything turned out great!
21
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Jerud,
I’m so glad it worked out even with the adjustments you made. Was your pulp fresh? I should make them again to test the dryness. And I like your idea of making a savory version. I took Lewis’ suggestion and reduced the salt; just edited it on the site.
Thanks for the feedback and happy holidays!
11
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This recipe is great! The second time, I substituted pineapple/orange/lime/carrot/apple pulp for the carrot pulp and it came out even better than before. If you’re looking to make it more healthy, substitute 1/2 the oil with applesauce and use 2 egg WHITES in place of each whole egg. Also, I added soluable fiber to the recipe and used flaxseed meal for half of my eggs (the other half I used eggwhites). If you mix 1 TBSP of flaxseed meal with 3 TBSP water, stir, and let sit for 2 min, it takes the place of one egg. It came out great, my family polished them off in no time at all!!!
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Adrienne, Wow – I love your dedication to this recipe! It all sounds fabulous, and thanks for including the flax/egg substitute (although eggs are a health food, unless there’s an allergy.) I try to incorporate flax whenever possible.
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Naturally Sweet =-.
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yumm! I made these using celery, apple, and orange pulp. Excellent recipe…although I would like to know the nutrition content.
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I am a big carrot juicer as well. I just love the taste of carrot and orange juicer. But it’s really hard to find good store bought carrot juice. So i just them on my own but use the pulp for carrot cakes. This recipes sounds really yummy. Now, i will try it, im pretty sure my friends will be happy because they won’t have to eat the carrot cake all the time.
Thanks for the great recipe.
.-= Carrot Juice´s last blog ..Top 3 Carrot Juicers =-.
4
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Thanks for the recipe! I just got a juicer and like many others I hate to throw the pulp away so I went searching for a muffin recipe that called for carrot pulp and found yours. I made a batch and they all got eaten! The second time around I added 1/4 cup of applesauce to make them more moist and 1 cup of raisins. Yummm!
5
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Made these with a few changes: 1/2 cup 10 grain cereal substituted for 1/4 cup of the flour, added golden raisins, used local sunflower oil instead of the olive oil. Also, my muffin tins are just your average-sized tins and this recipe made 21 muffins, not 12. Bonus!! =D
3
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Just ate the first of these muffins! Very good flavor! I substituted 1/3 cup agave nectar for the sugar and water. Next time, I’ll keep the water and omit some of the oil instead. A keeper.
3
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Hmmm. I just happened upon this very interesting link I found on your chocolate coconut pudding recipe page. http://www.glutenfreeforgood.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-agave-nectar
I’ll try these muffins again WITH the Sucanat. Thanks for the info.
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Kristin, Carrot Juice, Shay, Heather and Vicki – thank you all for such wonderful comments and tips on substitutions. I just juiced carrots again this morning and can’t wait to try some of your suggestions!
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I was wondering if you have a reason for not mixing your muffin ingredients in the traditional way, with the wet ingredients going into the dry ones. I made the carrot pulp recipe twice now using the traditional way of mixing and they’ve turned out great. Today I skimped a little on the Sucanat but added chopped cranberries. I omitted the water and added only 1/3 cup olive oil, but I added a cup of carrot juice. Quite yummy!
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Hi Vickie,
I actually have been meaning to switch it back to the ‘traditional’ way of mixing…as you have done. I’ve tried both and they are equally successful. Thanks for sending notes on your substitutions – these muffins are very versatile!
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I am sure this recipe is awesome as is, but I made a few substitutions for some of the ingredients…instead of 4 eggs, I substituted 2 eggs and 2 TBS flaxmeal with 6 TBS water. instead of brown sugar, I used about a cup of dates and 2-4 TBS honey. instead of 1 cup olive oil, i added about 2tsps of coconut oil then filled to 1 cup line with olive oil. I also added more water to desired consistency of batter. these muffins were great! my very picky 6 year old who won’t try anything new ate two of these with a little cream cheese frosting and loved them! thank you for this great recipe. I now have one carrot pulp recipe that is a sure winner for my family.
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You need to adjust your recipe to have the wet ingredients mixed separate from the dry ingredients!!! I’m not much of a baker and tried it your way and was so frustrated that I couldn’t get the ingredients to incorporate!! I called my mom and she told me what the problem was, so before anyone else makes these please adjust the recipe!!
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Kasey – So sorry you had trouble with the mixing and baking. I was remiss in making the adjustment sooner after I had similar problems (not sure why I did it that way in the first place – its not the norm!) Thank you for calling attention to it – it is now officially corrected! I hope you will have better success in the future.
29
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I made two pans (since I didn’t have muffin pans. One was the original and the other one Adrienne suggested: Applesauce and Egg Whites. I did a blind taste test on my family and Adriennes was the preferred one. I think I’m gonna add some dried cranberries to give it a kick and fresh blueberries for that antioxidant and juicy punch the next time.
30
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OK that does it – I am re-posting this with all your great suggestions! Just need to take some new pictures…
thanks, everyone!
2
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This recipe was very very yummy. I made it as is, except for the walnuts I don’t care for them. I had enough for 16 muffins. I will definetly be making them again…soon! Thanks! Heather
2
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Thanks, Heather! Glad they were such a hit.
24
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We just started juicing and I came across this recipe…I LOVE it!!!! I have used all kinds of pulp and they always still turn out great. I added some coco powder to my last batch with a veggie pulp mix and topped with a powder sugar frosting…mmmm good. Thanks for the recipe.
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I have been juicing a lot and thought surely I can do something with this pulp-found your blog-muffins just came out of the oven and they smell heavenly. I used Chinese 5 spice in place of the cinnamon because I LOVE it and I didn’t have enough cinnamon! Can’t wait to try!
8
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New to pulp and juicing not to healthy cooking. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I changed a couple of items to be more inline with my health.
I replaced the wheat flour for gluten free. I replaced the EVOO with room temperature 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1/2 cup homemade applesauce. I also replaced one egg with 2 egg whites and used pecans. Wow what a great fiber muffin. Thanks again.
8
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Once again, I am so impressed with the options you are coming up with! I, too, have used GF flour and coconut oil which are my new favorite blends. Now I must try the Chinese 5 spice. Thanks everyone!
Karen´s last [type] ..Sweet Potato Tacos
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Hi Karen,
My boyfriend and I recently started juicing and I’ve been searching for ways to use the pulp. My first attempt at pulp muffins was a total bust, but this recipe turned out great!
I made just two adjustments (b/c I didn’t want to go to the store for the two things I didn’t have): I didn’t use nuts; and instead of 2 cups whole wheat flour, I used 1 cup almond flour and 1 cup white all purpose flour. The muffins came out super moist and not too sweet!
Thank you!
P.S. Next time, I’m going to try using walnut oil instead of olive oil, just to see how that changes the flavor.
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Such a wonderful base recipe to work with here. I adapted it to make savory muffins, using kale and tomato pulp in the place of carrot pulp, removing the nuts and vanilla, keeping the cinnamon and nutmeg, and adding half a seeded, chopped jalapeno pepper. Delicious!
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I too adapted this recipe, to cut calories a bit more, and they still came out great. I made a splenda/sugar-free maple syrup concoction for brown sugar(3/4 cup splenda 1/4 cup SF maple syrup), and I used 1 cup apple/prune purée instead of the oil. Also, I added 1/2 cup flax meal for an ultimate fiber muffin. They came out awesome! Thanks.
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Heather,
I have used walnut oil and it is stupendous! I like the addition of almond flour, too.
Katherine – LOVE the savory ideas! This recipe just keeps on giving:)
John – interesting about Splenda. I don’t use it. Wonder what stevia would be like? I love using flax – can’t believe I haven’t done that yet. I add it to everything else!
Karen´s last [type] ..The Best Carrot Cake Ever
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I made these muffins with brown rice four and a few other changes and they turned out great!!
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Yeah, Karen! Thanks for sharing -it seems to be the gift that keeps on giving:)
Karen´s last [type] ..Turnip Soup with Greens