Healthy Carrot/Spinach/Hemp Seed Muffins (gluten-free with vegan option)

Carrot/Spinach/Hemp Seed Muffins – Hungry All The Thyme

Carrot/Spinach/Hemp Seed Muffins – Hungry All The Thyme

This recipe was created thanks to my hankering for carrot cake. I wanted to make something that was healthy, that I wouldn’t mind serving to my kids for snack or breakfast. It is low sugar and refined-sugar free, as it’s sweetened with only a half cup of maple syrup and the natural sweetness that comes along with bananas and carrots. It is gluten-free, oil-free, and can be made vegan. It contains spinach, carrots, and hemp seeds (read about why I LOVE hemp seeds here).

INGREDIENTS:
Dry:
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups almond flour
½ cup gluten-free oats
1 Tbs baking powder
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs raw, shelled hemp seeds

Wet:
3 eggs or 3 flax eggs (to make vegan)* see notes below
1/3 cup mashed banana
½ cup pure maple syrup*
½ cup spinach, measured when chopped
1 cup carrots, grated

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350F and prep muffin pan with liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Prep the spinach by squeezing out excess moisture (as much as possible!) after rinsing and then finely chop spinach using food processor. Grate carrots. Set both aside to dry out while preparing other ingredients. Next, combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in separate bowl, including spinach and carrots. Combine wet with dry ingredients and pour into muffin pan, making each pocket 3/4 of the way full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

*Notes:
To make one flax egg, combine 1 Tbsp of milled flax seeds with 3 Tbsp water. For this recipe you will need to make 3 flax eggs, so 3 Tbs flax seeds and 9 Tbsp water. Mix together and set aside for minutes, as it will thicken as it sits. (May not be as fluffy if made with flax eggs instead of real ones.)

This recipe is low sugar, so not very sweet. Feel free to add extra maple syrup to sweeten to your liking.

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