These muffins are often considered “kitchen sink” muffins meaning that you can pretty much throw in any shredded vegetable, nut, seed or dried fruit that you have on hand. I hope you all enjoy these muffins as much as we do! Happy baking everyone.

Ingredients:

•     1/2 cup hazelnut oil (can sub with grapeseed oil, walnut oil, light olive oil or melted coconut oil)
•     1/2 cup honey
•     1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
•     2 eggs, lightly beaten
•     1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•     1 cup grated carrots, plus extra for topping (optional but pretty)
•     1/2 cup grated beets, plus extra for topping (optional but pretty)
•     1 cup whole wheat flour
•     1/2 cup all purpose flour
•     1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•     1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•     1/2 teaspoon salt
•     1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•     1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
•     1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•     1/2 cup dried cherries (or whatever dried fruit you’ve got)
•     1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
•     sprinkle of pumpkin seeds for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a standard 12 cup muffin tin with oil and set aside.
2. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the oil, honey, apple sauce, eggs, and vanilla. Add the grated carrots and beets and set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until evenly incorporated. Gently fold in the cherries and hazelnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the top with pumpkin seeds and extra shredded carrots and beets if using. Bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin.
4. Serve warm with a pat of butter and drizzle of extra honey.