Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Cupcakes.

Cake. Mmmm, cake. This reminds me of my kids' all-time favorite blog post not written by their mother (they are a loyal couple of kids, I give them that):  The God of Cake. You should read it if you haven't already. The kids love it when I read it aloud, complete with funny voices and the occasional sound effect.

But anyway, back to cupcakes:

Sometimes I just get a hankering for some cake or a cupcake, but I never actually need an entire cake or 3 dozen cupcakes. Yesterday it was carrot cake that I wanted badly, but I couldn't justify baking an entire carrot cake  or 3 dozen cupcakes the day before I head out of town for Thanksgiving, so I did my best to cut my usual recipe way down. I ended up with 8 tasty little cupcake morsels, which is a good number for the 3 of us to demolish in 24 hours without feeling gluttonous.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Makes 8 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
• 3/4 cup carrots, shredded 
• heaping 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• heaping 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

For the frosting:

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese softened at room temperature
• approximately 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare a 8 wells of a muffin tin with cooking spray or paper liners. I used silicone cupcake baking cups sprayed with a bit of cooking spray.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl.
3. In another bowl mix together the egg, oil and sour cream until smooth, then add the vanilla extract.
4. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Then add the grated carrot and combine.
5. Fold in the chopped pecans and fill the muffin cups about 3/4 of the way with the muffin mixture.
6. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
7. Place the pan on a cookie rack to cool and then frost with cream cheese frosting when totally cool.
8. Make the frosting by beating together the softened cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until everything is mixed together and smooth. Add the vanilla and mix well. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar a bit at a time as the mixer is running. Stop occasionally to scrape down the bowl. Mix until smooth and use immediately.

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Mustard-glazed Carrots

Like many moms out there, I am always on the hunt for a vegetable side dish which is easy to fix and palatable to kids', well, palates. Bonus points go to a dish which is also somewhat healthy. Sure, you can batter, deep-fry and then serve a vegetable smothered with some fake-orange cheese sauce made from canned cheese soup and then watch in horror as your kids devour it, but that does not make it the best choice for a veggie side dish. An easy choice, yes, but not the healthiest.

I often set out a platter of fresh, raw vegetables cut into strips and small bowls with hummus, Ranch or Italian dressing. My kids' favorites are red bell pepper strips and chunks of zucchini, while I love the cherry tomatoes and Persian cucumbers. In cooler weather, once summer's fresh vegetables are just a fond memory, we're left with the root vegetables and winter squashes. My kids love carrots, but get tired of the standard raw carrot sticks. I tried this recipe out last week and, color me delighted, my older daughter went for seconds of this, saying, "Gee Mommy, these carrots are pretty good."

High praise, man. Gotta love it. ;-)

Mustard-glazed carrots

Ingredients:

• 4 large carrots, peeled (I ended up with about 3 cups of carrot slices)
  
• water
• 2 tablespoons butter or vegan margarine
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:

1. Slice the carrots on a diagonal, creating long, elliptical carrot slices.
   


2. In a large saucepan, bring carrots and enough water almost cover the carrots to a boil.
   


3. Reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes or until tender to your liking. Drain and set aside.
   


4. In the same pan, melt the butter until it is foamy. Add the brown sugar, mustard, and ginger, cooking over medium heat until the sugar and ginger are dissolved. Add the carrots back to the pan, tossing to coat.
   


5. Serve, adding salt & pepper to taste.
   

Notes:

• You may argue with me about how healthy this is, since the glaze includes some butter and brown sugar, but I don't think that a little butter now and then is a bad thing. It has GOT to be better than a platter of french fries, tater tots and fried mushrooms as a side dish. :D
  

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