Spelt, Carrot Healthy Muffins

Yesterday, I made three recipes that I will share here in the next couple of days. And they all have pictures! I am on the ball!
Todays recipe I made from a cook book I bought just before Christmas! Pioneer Woman had done a cookbook review about this book on another blog a couple of weeks before and I really loved the idea of cooking with a bit less refined ingredients. The book is called Good To The Grain : Baking With Whole Grain Flours by  Kim Boyce. I felt like it might be a good idea with my baking addiction, to at least be making things a little more healthy. So I went out and bought some whole grain flours. I bought spelt, millet, corn, whole wheat and was given some coconut and buckwheat flour. I have used a lot of buckwheat and whole wheat. Todays recipe was my first trial with spelt flour.

These are amazing muffins by the way.
Not amazing like chocolate mud pie cake amazing. Because nothing can really compare to making any chocolate dessert goodness. I made chocolate mud pie too. Gary has been asking for it for ages but I have not been able to find a recipe that is made in a 9x13. Gary says the recipe I made is not at all the same either. I will have to keep searching. Its still really yummy though. Basically fudgy brownie covered with marshmallow cream while it is still hot and then covered with a thick layer of runny icing and swirled together. Then cool and slice. Very Very Very sweet. Almost too sweet. I do not think I have ever said anything was "too sweet" in my entire life.

I am not sure why I capitalized the V in very x3.

I am feeling quite distracted because I am watching Julia and Julie while I am typing this. Julia's relationship with her husband just makes me all teary. And all the excitement and heart break with blogging and cooking and recipes and kitchen failures...it just gets me. Maybe I'm just a bit emotional these days.

Here is the recipe! (yay, finally!)

Carrot Spelt Healthy Muffins

- Adapted from Good to the Grain By Kim Boyce 

Streusel:
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Spelt Flour
2 tablespoons Oat Bran
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/8 teaspoon Kosher Salt
3 tablespoons cold Butter, cut into smallish chunks

1. Put all streusel ingredients into a food processor (or dump them into a bowl and use a pastry blender)
2. Blend until mixture feels course and cornmealy

Kinda Like this. ( I dumped mine into a bowl so I could use my food processor again to grate carrots)

Muffins:

1 cup Spelt Flour

3/4 cup Flour

1/4 cup Oat Bran

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Sugar

1 teaspoon Allspice

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 1/2 cups Grated Carrots ( 2 medium carrots was a tiny bit too much, I threw the leftovers into dinner stirfry)

1/4 cup melted and slightly cooled, Butter

1 cup Buttermilk 

1 Egg

*I forgot! Preheat the oven! 350 degrees F!*

1. Sift the dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Pour the grainy stuff left in the stifter back into the bowl. We want all those yummy grains. 

(pour that stuff back into the bowl and whisk it all together)

2. Stir the grated carrots into that dry mixture. 

3. Mix together butter, milk and egg in a small bowl and gently stir into dry ingredients. Fold together till just combined.

4. Butter  8 muffin tins ( the recipe says 1/3 cup capacity muffin tins..but I have no idea what mine are. I used eight and piled them high with batter)

5. Fill tins till slightly rounded and a bit above the edge.  (this makes for beautiful muffin tops. I have never had such pretty muffins in my life!)

6. Liberally spread streusel over the tops of all the muffins ( I was super generous and still have some left over). Press down lightly so the streusel stick to the batter. 

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes ( yes they really do need that long)

8. Remove from oven and twist out of their cups to cool.

* these are very yummy eaten warm or later the same day (not as good then second day I am finding)