Cranberry carrot muffins are a unique way to use leftover cooked carrots and cranberry sauce. These tasty muffins are full of flavor, and make a great breakfast or snack.

cranberry muffins

Ingredients
*makes 12 muffins

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup pureed cooked carrots or finely grated carrots. (If you don’t have carrots, you   can use left over sweet potatoes instead).

Zest of 1 orange

1/2 cup leftover cranberry sauce

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners, or grease with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  3. With an electric mixer, cream the butter on low speed. Once it’s creamy, slowly add the sugar. Increase the speed to medium/high and beat until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until they’re mixed in completely. Add the carrots and orange zest and mix until well combined.
  5. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix! Gently fold the cranberry sauce into the batter with a rubber spatula.
  6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, evenly distributing it between the 12 cups.
  7. Bake 20-25 minutes, (check at 20 min.), until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.