Apple and Carrot Agave muffins

It is such a beautiful day. I am currently sitting outside trying to type this post while huddling under a canopy that is failing to block the sun and glare from my computer...I will prevail, and not surrender to the indoors today. I knew it was going to be a good day when I left church this morning and some sweet old bald dude came up to me and asked if he could borrow some of my hair for his bald head. I jokingly said, "I have plenty to spare." He then went on to say I had very beautiful hair. Have I mentioned before that I LOVE LOVE old guys...they have this old genteelness to them that seems to be lost to my generation. They are great! Anyways, I also knew today was going to be a good day because after my Mass, and gym, and a quick visit to a new bookstore, I knew that there were fresh muffins sitting at home anxiously awaiting my return. I am proud to say the muffins are gone, and the liner is thoroughly scraped, and my tummy very satisfied. It is such a beautiful day.

My Mom recently bought a juicer with the hopes of getting more fruits and veggies into our daily diet. So far we are very pleased with it, and use it every day. It is quite a pain to clean, so hopefully we will come up with a more time efficient solution. Every time you use the machine it collects all the pulp and extra stuff from the fruits and veggies in a little bin. We figured that stuff had a lot of nutritious value as well so I developed this muffin recipe last night. I am pleased to say that it is sweetened with agave and not refined sugars. Last summer I was dappling in the unrefined sugars baking world and had mild success. Overall, I really liked substituting agave for sugar in my muffin and quick bread recipes. The results were always fabulous, and the muffins rose really well with that perfect dome shape on top that everyone always strives to get with muffins. I plan on coming up with a banana bread recipe using agave in the near future. As a general rule if a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar I use 1/2 cup of agave. Like I was saying earlier, I used the pulp from our juicer after making a carrot, orange and apple juice for this recipe, but if you don't have that - equal amounts of shredded carrots and apples will do just fine.

Apple and Carrot Agave Muffins
from my insane pea sized brain and kitchen

Mix the following in small bowl and set aside
2 eggs (room temp)
1/2 cup coconut oil (or olive, grape seed, canola)
1/2 cup agave
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/2 cup milk

Whisk together in larger bowl. Then stir in the wet ingredients from above. Stir just until combined.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice

Add the following and mix just until combined.

6 oz shredded carrots, apples, or pulp from juicer
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup raisins

Fill lined muffin tins to top of liner. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I got 12 standard sized muffins out of this.

Enjoy!

My food quote of the day..."To eat, is always a treat."