Super Carrot Muffins + Cooking with Toddlers
This recipe for super carrot muffins comes with tips on cooking with toddlers because it was the first cooking experiment I did with BOTH my two year old and one year old actively “helping” me. Needless to say, there were many lessons learned the day we made these!
First, I should say that my family is a member of a CSA program that provides us with a basket of fresh, local produce each week. Often, my kids and I are working to use these ingredients in what we eat every day and we sometimes need to get creative.
Several weeks in a row we received a bunch of carrots. My toddlers can’t safely eat raw carrots, and they do not love steamed carrots. My two year old and I made some yummy maple-glazed roasted carrots, but we were running out of ideas so we decided to make some carrot-stuffed muffins!
Any reasonable, adult person will be able to guess that making muffins from scratch with two toddlers is bound to be a dangerous adventure. However, I’d like to start by sharing some of the positive things we got from this experience, and the things we did right.
- I (as the only cook in the kitchen with the ability to actually read) looked up a recipe ahead of time and organized all the steps, paring the instructions down to be as basic as possible.
- I did as much prep work ahead of time as I could. Literally to the point that I just had three, large bowls of premixed things that my kids would stir together to make the batter. [I also had them arrange the muffin cups in the tin.]
- Well… that’s pretty much it…. it was my first time cooking with both of them… now onto the negative things, the things I wish I had thought of, and the lessons I learned through this (dare I say) harrowing experience…
Here are some things I hope you will consider so you can avoid the stress that I had! 🙂
- I really needed a tarp for my younger child. Really really truly should have thought of this. Also probably should not have let them do this in their tiny non-restraining Montessori toddler chairs on our living room carpet.
- In addition to prepping the ingredients, I should have also prepped cleaning materials: wet rags, wipes, paper towels, a mop… just something to help manage the mess as it was happening.
- I will probably try next time to split all the ingredients in half and let them each do their own mixing on separate sides of the same table. Looking back on it, I should have known putting a giant bowl full of flour in between them with two rubber spatulas was going to end in chaos (which, for the record, they loved).
- I will try to have a second set of adult hands around next time as well. I wouldn’t call it necessary, but it would definitely be really nice to have a 1:1 adult, child ratio during an activity like this.
- Maybe I’ll try to practice mindful meditation beforehand next time? More for me than for them, but boy was this an exercise in patience and deep breathing!
Those are my thoughts: good, bad, and ugly. Now onto the super carrot muffins!
Super Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds carrots
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon clove
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
Prepare carrots
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Peel the carrots and shred them using the grater attachment of a food processor.
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Measure out 2 cups of shredded carrot and set aside.
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Return the remaining shredded carrots to the food processor with the blade attachment and puree along with 1/4 cup water. Set aside.
Combine wet ingredients
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In a medium-sized bowl whisk together milk, vanilla, eggs, and oil.
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Whisk in both sugars until well combined.
Mix dry ingredients
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In a medium-sized bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and nutmeg.
Make batter
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When you are ready to make your muffins, combine the carrots with the wet ingredients in a large bowl
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Slowly fold in the dry ingredients to incorporate them and create the batter.
Bake
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Preheat the oven to 350F.
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Line muffin tins with papers or silicon muffin cups. [You will need to bake in batches as this makes 24 muffins.]
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Pour batter into each muffin cup using ladle or 1/4 cup. These muffins are dense due to all the carrot, so I would recommend filling the cups almost to the top- much higher than normal.
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Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife comes out of the center clean. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This recipe is written with kids in mind. You can assemble each of the three steps at any time (up to 24 hours) prior to baking, and then have the kids help combine them all and make the batter. Shredded carrot, carrot puree, and wet ingredients should be stored in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator until they are needed. I usually mix dry ingredients in a large plastic bag and leave it on the counter until I need it!
