I’ve been looking for something new to bake that I can throw into lunches and my kids will happily eat.

Dee, my friend with three little rug-rats as well, sent me her take on this recipe. (I changed it around based on what I had in my cupboard). But the basics are the same: crushed pineapple and shredded carrots. A fruit and veggie muffin – love it!

Full disclaimer: I actually hate pineapple. And I first thought it sounded kind of gross with carrots and raisins. But I thought I’d give it a go and see what my little gals thought. End result? I actually love these little bad boys!

For this recipe, I used all whole wheat flour, but you can play around with it if you want. I also added raisins because my kids love them – and I find they add a little sweetness to the muffin. I decided to make them into mini-muffin form because they fit nicely into the Yumbox and my toddler will eat anything bite-sized pretty much.

They’re pretty delicious! I’m going to attempt to convince my kids to fill up on these first before they hit the leftover Halloween candy. (Wish me luck).

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil – I sometimes substitute with olive oil, Dee substituted with 1/2 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated carrot – You could also do half and half with carrots and zucchini

1 cup drained crushed canned pineapple

1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray or grease up a mini muffin tin and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Mix well.

In a smaller bowl, combine the maple syrup, eggs, oil and vanilla. Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine until moist. Don’t over mix too much.

Fold in the carrots, pineapple and raisins.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, being careful not to over-fill. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes (based on your oven). My first batch took about 18 minutes, my second seemed to be done by 15. Always check the middle of your muffins with a toothpick.

Let me know what you think!