Cleaner Eating Carrot Cake Cupcakes for a spring treat!
By Amanda Rice Healthy eating has been my passion since 2008 when I moved to Little Rock from Pine Bluff to work as a massage therapist. As most do, I started my new healthy lifestyle in a very extreme way. Initially, we have great intentions of maintaining the diet that we put ourselves on. But naturally and humanly, we fail. Once we fail and eat badly, most give up completely. I am guilty of this like everyone. Diets are extremely hard to maintain. That’s why I decided to quit torturing myself and my family with extreme dieting and create a “cleaner” eating lifestyle. The best part about cleaner eating is still getting to enjoy the foods you and your family love, without feeling like you’re missing out on anything. Cleaner eating does not mean fat-free or sugar-free foods, with nutrition labels full of big, scary, mysterious words. I’m here to tell you, just as you have probably heard before, those foods are poison to your body. However, there are great substitutes that don’t cost much (if any) more than fat- and sugarfree items that many people buy. Recently, I read an article that stated families will spend $25 or more on one fast food meal, but won’t spend $9 on a healthy jar of virgin coconut oil or $6 on a bag of almonds. Before I adopted this lifestyle, I was guilty of that very thing. When I looked at how much I was spending on foods that were not good for me and compared it to what I could spend it on, it was life changing. Yes, some of the ingredients in my “cleaner” eating recipes may be more costly, but they are healthy, whole foods that will change your health and life in a good way. Here’s a great “cleaner” version of a family favorite, Carrot Cake Cupcakes.
Clean“er” Carrot Cake Cupcakes with “Caramel” Frosting (Makes 12 cupcakes)
Ingredients 1 cup of finely grated carrots 2 cups of oat flour (old fashion rolled oats ground into flour) 1 tbsp. of cinnamon 3 tbsp. of agave nectar or honey 1 tsp. of baking powder 2 tbsp. of virgin coconut oil (melted) or sunflower oil (vegetable oil would work here too, but isn’t considered a “cleaner” ingredient) 1 egg 1 cup of milk of choice (I use skim or almond milk) 2 tsp. of vanilla ¼ tsp. of salt
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake wrappers. 2. Make oat flour by simply blending or processing 2 cups of old fashioned oats into a flour consistency. Among all of its benefits, oat flour is also gluten free. 3. Finely chop or grate the carrots. Using a food processor is a big time 28 | savvy k i ds April 2014
saver. You want them to keep some body so you see and taste them in the cake. 4. Throw oat flour, grated carrots and the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix until well blended. 5. Pour the batter to fill the cupcake wrappers ¾ full. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them after 15 minutes. Cupcakes bake quicker than cakes and all ovens are different.
“Caramel” Frosting This is definitely not a traditional frosting, but it’s great and much healthier than frosting made with real sugar, butter, confectioners’ sugar or cream cheese. Its main base is dates!
Ingredients 1 pkg. of dates (found on the aisle with raisins) 2 tbsp. of agave or honey 1 tsp. of vanilla 1 tbsp. of virgin coconut oil 1 tbsp. of almond butter or nut butter of choice (I make my own nut butter by simply throwing nuts in my food processor, turning it on and walking away. In 3-5 minutes, you have the healthiest form of any nut butter you can consume).
Directions First, soak the dates in warm water for about an hour to soften them before processing. Once soaked, remove them and add, with all other ingredients, to the food processor and let the machine do its job! Process until smooth. This frosting will blow your mind and pairs wonderfully with this carrot cake! These cupcakes without the frosting also make a fantastic breakfast or snack! My 18-month-old daughter devours them daily! Dates are a much healthier substitute to this frosting. The entire bag of dates, which makes enough frosting for 12 cupcakes, is 660 calories, 6 grams of protein and 24 grams of fiber. Oh and zero fat. Dates contain a natural sugar that forms as they are dehydrated. Each cupcake is 160 calories, 6 grams of fat (healthy fats from coconut oil), almost 5 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and it supplies 35% of your Vitamin A need for the day. Wow! Bet you didn’t think you’d ever see healthy nutritional facts for a cupcake that tastes this delicious! I hope this becomes a main dessert choice in your Easter meal. You know the Easter Bunny loves carrot cake right? Amanda Rice writes the blog www.alwayscleansing. blogspot.com, which features new recipes weekly. She has been with her husband Aaron for 11 years, is a stay-athome mother to 18-month-old Sophie, full-time student studying finance at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the marketing director for author Tracy J Nicholas.