I heart carrot cake.

I have an obsession with carrot cake. If I see it or smell it you better get.out.of.the.way. I don't know when I started liking carrot cake. It must have been within the last 4 years because before that putting the words carrot with cake just didn't sound good. OHHH but it is! My friend Regina and her mother-in-law made me gluten free carrot cake for a concert we went to and it was delicious. So delicious that by the end of the night there were no plates being used... literally there were fork marks in the cake... yummm!

Realizing that carrot cake isn't the healthiest dessert for you (even though it has carrots in it) it will NOT be eliminated from my life. NO CAN DO. So I've been trying to find some healthier gluten free versions (if that's possible) of the recipe. I just started an account with My newest obsession (www.pinterest.com) and happened to stumble across the most glorious carrot cake recipe that I had to try. I mean seriously look at these puppies

My mouth literally waters just looking at these!

So, as you can imagine the next day I ran to the grocery store and stocked up on the ingredient to make these glorious gluten free beauties. (For those of you who don't eat gluten free just substitute the gluten free flour for regular or whole wheat flour) TRUST me on this one... you are going to want to make these. Even better they are super easy to make!

Here's the delicious recipe I found at King Aurthur Flour

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-well muffin pan.

Or line the pan with paper muffin cups, and grease the cups. More on this later.

Let’s start with the filling. Place one unwrapped, 8-ounce package cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds.

Stir in 1/4 cup granulated sugar and a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia flavor. The Fiori is optional, but adds wonderful, subtle flavor to the filling. (I did not add this)

Stir until smooth. Set the filling aside while you make the muffin batter.

Whisk together the following:

2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt

Place the following in a measuring cup or small bowl:

2 large eggs

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Whisk until well combined.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients

Add 1 cup grated carrots, lightly packed; about 2 medium-large carrots. (Or get the pre-grated/shredded carrots at the store)

Stir to combine.

Note the word “stir;” beating isn’t necessary, and will toughen your muffins.

 

Drop about 2 tablespoons of the batter (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. (You can choose not to use muffin cups if you want, I like the muffin cups because it's less clean up) **They tested both: with cups and without**

Dollop on a heaping tablespoon of filling; a level tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.

Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups quite full. The batter will come to within about 1/4″ to 3/8″ of the top of each muffin cup.

A scattering of coarse white sparkling sugar across the top is never amiss when you’re making muffins. The sugar adds crunch, glitter, and flavor.

Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes. Notice the extra batter in its silicone cup.

When they’re done, a toothpick inserted into the cake part of one (not into the cream cheese filling) will come out clean. The tops of the muffins will feel firm to the touch.

Remove the muffins from the oven, and immediately tilt them in their cups; a fork works well here.

So delicious looking! You can eat them now but they recommend to let them cool for 30 minutes so the cream cheese filling can stiffen up a bit.

But let me tell you...eating them fresh out of the oven isn't a bad idea either!

PERFECTION!

Well, folks there ya have it! The yummiest little treat ever! I made half as big cupcakes/muffins and the other half I made in the mini cupcake pan. I kind of like the minis better... a little treat that goes a long way!:)

Enjoy! Let me know what you think/if you changed the recipe at all. 

What are some of your favorite treats to bake?!