Time for something a little indulgent and delicious! These little carrot cupcakes are easy to make and can be frosted or unfrosted depending on your mood. Previously, I’ve found the idea of grating carrots too much of a pain, but this recipe is worth it. I’ve also discovered it’s easy to bribe your teens to do the grating if you promised to frost them (the cupcake, not the teen….) so that’s a win in my book.

Gluten free baked goods can be hit or miss. I often buy them from shops or cafés but — despite them being gluten free — still end up feeling rubbish afterwards.

Maybe it’s the sugar, maybe it’s the flour mix or oils, maybe it’s cross contamination … I don’t know! But these, baked at home, never let me down.

They’re light, moist and have tons of flavour. Of course they also contain a dash of fibre and protein too, to help lessen the impact on your blood sugar. See the notes below for extra tips!

Spiced Carrot Cupcakes

(gluten free, dairy free)

Ingredients

(makes 18 cakes):

Wet mix

3 large eggs

1 cup mashed banana (approximately 2 bananas)

1 cup avocado oil

Dry mix

1 cup Bobs Red Mill all-purpose gluten free flour (packed)

½ cup Linwoods mix (ground flax, pumpkin and sunflower seed mix)

¾ cup – 1 cup Sucanat or coconut palm sugar

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

3 tsps baking powder

Pinch salt

Add in

2 large carrots, peeled and finely grated (approximately 1 cup, packed)

½ cup walnuts, finely chopped

Frosting (optional)

Earth Balance organic vegan buttery spread

Icing sugar

Cinnamon

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350F

• Line cupcake pans with liners

• In a large bowl, whisk together well all the wet ingredients

• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in the linwoods mix and Sucanat.

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet bowl. Using a handheld balloon whisk, combine the ingredients gently but well, lifting in lots of air.

• Stir in the carrots and walnuts with a spatula.

• Fill the cases ¾ full.

• Bake for 20 minutes and then test the tops are firm but bouncy. If so, take out of the oven and cool on a rack, If not — cook for a further few minutes, then cool.

• If you are frosting some of the cakes, which is the less than healthy, but delicious for a special occasion option, then soften ½ cup Earth Balance and gradually add sifted icing sugar. Start with 1 cup, and add more until your desired sweetness level is reached.

Add a large pinch of cinnamon too. You’ll find it quite stiff to mix together to begin with.

If you have added too much icing sugar and need to loosen it, then add a tiny splash of almond milk or any other plant-based milk. A little goes a long way so be careful.

Substitutions

Use Bobs Red Mill egg replacer to make these vegan. You can replace the walnuts with any other chopped nut or raisins.

Most GF flours should work, as should regular white wheat flour if you do not want to make these gluten free.

If you can’t find Sucanat/coconut sugar, you can use regular brown sugar. You can replace the avocado oil with grapeseed oil.

Tips

These are full of fibre from the ground seeds and carrot, so they make a good lower GI mid-morning or afternoon snack.

However, if you do frost these for a special occasion, have them after a protein rich meal (or have a handful of almonds first if you are having one as a snack!) Adding protein helps to further steady blood sugar.

• The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns BA Hons, Dip ION, BNTA is a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist trained by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in Britain. Join Catherine on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutrifitandnaturalnutritionbermuda or instagram @naturalbda