Orange Carrot Muffins with Chai Glaze

May 22, 2013 By in Baked Goods, breakfast Tags: , , 53 Comments

Hi gang… here’s a little healthy yum to share.

Orange carrot muffins with a fresh brewed chai tea glaze.orange carrot muffins-6It’s been a busy month as you might have seen but there’s a little routine starting to rear it’s head. The garden grows and with plenty of grass clippings for mulch, we might actually stay ahead of the weeds this summer… (we’ll revisit that thought in August!) Kale on the left and broccoli on the right has tiny baby heads beginning to form.

grass clipping mulchThese muffins verge on tea cake. With the moisture of the grated carrot they are dense but not too sweet. Fresh squeezed juice is optimal and pretty easy since you want the zest of an orange.

orange carrot muffins-5I use my little glass juicer for it- one of those that you might find at a garage sale:)

orange carrot muffins-3-2The recipe isn’t the simplest. Well, it’s far from difficult but requires a few ingredients and with the carrot grating (I actually pull out my cuisinart even for this small amount), I spent about 25 minutes prepping with another 25 min in the oven. I made the glaze from a little loose black chai but you’d find equal success I think with a tea bag. Just keep it strong.

orange carrot muffins-3

{Print Recipe Here}

Muffins:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter (1 stick melted)
 1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup grated carrot
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 T orange zest – always organic
Glaze:
2T strongly brewed chai tea
pinch of cardamom
pinch of zest
1 cup powdered sugar

I also did these a second time and used the little deco baking cups I’ve had on the shelf since I closed Chez Chloe in 2009.

orange carrot cakes-2I liked this photo below- I’m more prone to dream shapes up from the drippings of my glaze than gazing into the clouds…

I’m thinking on the left is a bunny head and ears or a legless rooster. A whale and  a snail on the bottom and right respectively.

orange carrot muffins-4These spent a couple days on the kitchen island and were perfect to nibble with tea.

orange carrot cakesTschüß xx

53 responses

      • Good question Wendy. The answer is a bit depressing in some respects. The last post I wrote up had 108 photos taken for 7 used. I have got into the habit of adjusting the aperture. That is usually good for at least 5 useless shots per 1 good one. Then there is the poor framing, the bad exposure, the hungry diners and so forth.

        Why do I love doing this?

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  7. Now we are talking! Wendy back in the kitchen. Wonderful .. is a must for me – without the glaze … will try them out this weekend.
    Wonderful to have you back!

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    • Thank you Viv- I’m a happy camper in the kitchen for sure. I’ve been on a brownie making kick but not sure if people get tired of brownie recipes. What do you think? They are a little heavier that these muffins but SO GOOD!

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      • Did your muffins today … excellent, but I’m bit thoughtful over the the oil and the butter – that is nearly 1 pint fat in total .. in the cake, is that right. ???? Will do a post about it. The recipe tells me both oil and melted butter .. but in the description the oil isn’t mention.

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      • The original recipe called for 2 sticks of butter and I cut the butter- It also had sour cream and I found them a little to wet so I took out the sour cream.
        I could see another half cup of flour though if you find them needing it- and you could stick with butter if you prefer. I also think you could cut the whole thing in half and make 6 big ones or 7-8 normal. How was the size for you?

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      • I did mine in indv. pudding dishes … so I got 7 out of it, but – and I cup down on the sugar .. only 3/4 cup.
        Yes, I think I will only use the butter next time – I couldn’t really see what difference the canola oil would do to the recipe. Otherwise they are excellent.

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      • Post about my muffin baking will be posted next week. Have decide to cut down on the blogging a bit … got so stressed the other day, 130 mails in one day.

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      • I think that’s wise. I do love it when I get in the blog groove (am feeling it more now) but am also letting go when I don’t/can’t get to it. Absolutely NO need to make it a stressful event. I find everyone is ready to embrace you when you are present, let you go when you need and there are no grudges when you disappear for a bit and come back as if you were there all along. lots of love Viv – x wt

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      • Wendy, you’re so right in what you’re saying. I think it’s a two way – street this with blogging – if I post I also feel that I should have time for others and their blogs, so I have decided to only post those day I have time to visit and comments on others post. So I rather cut down my posting – and those days I post I also have time to visit my friends.
        On the other hand I can post 2 per day … those days. *smile
        No, blogging shouldn’t be about stress to try to catch up – so I had to rethink and still be loyal to my friends. But I also feel shown interest needs response.
        Loads of …. thoughts goes to you.

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    • They didn’t in ours either but for a couple days on the weekend, I absolutely love when unexpected friends, neighbors drop by and we have a cup of tea and something to nibble. cheers…wendy

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  10. Oh Wendy! You spoil us! You’re so busy but the first thing you do is come back with some delicious treats. I love the photography too. You always put me to shame I’ve been so lazy with my photos. Every post is a work of art with you. These muffins look absolutely scrummy. I love carrot cake and the glaze sounds like a perfect way to jazz it up. Yum!
    Hope all is going well with the shop x

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    • You are to kind:) and thank you. The shop is great and I’m moving into some normalcy (well that’s relative to my personality but…) It’s a beautiful life.
      Can I use scrummy? love that word.

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  12. I like the looks of these. I am going to share this recipe with a couple little bakers I know at work. Sounds like a delicious combination of flavors.

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    • It really is- I started with just orange muffins, also very nice. But I thought why not take it up on the health factor a little with some carrots. It’s pretty close to carrot cake but still enough different.

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  14. Such lovely cupcakes, Wendy, and so worth the effort! Until the day I get myself a food processor that’s bigger than a cup (my brother in law gave me his tiny one-cup processor when I moved out), I have to grate the carrots by hand *boo hiss*. I’m glad to see your garden flourishing too – there’s nothing like fresh produce from one’s own garden and hard work!

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    • It really is quite similar to carrot cake- I like pineapple in mine and currants though. I do an oil cake from joy of cooking that I spice up a bit. These would be good for birthday morning tea cakes in bed:)

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  19. I am chai obsessed. I haven’t started making my own blend yet, but I plan to. Lately I’ve been getting the Oregon (darjeeling) blend and the Firefly (red rooibos) blend from Mountain Rose. Mmm…

    I can’t have gluten, but I plan to try out this flavor combination soon. I’ll let you know how it turns out if I do.

    As usual, gorgeous food photography. Thanks for sharing this. Chai cake would be amazing. I’ll watch out for that post. 😉

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  21. Oh, your garden is wonderful and so garden and fresh looking! I’ve given up on veggies and will stick to the farmer’s market, I seem to have a brown thumb and not enough space. I will try these muffins, I love chai and carrot so the combination would be heavenly. I saw a little fluffy tailed dog right above the snail:) xx

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  23. Pingback: a moment of weakness – orange and carrot muffins | myguiltypleasures

  25. Oh wow. Wendy, these look incredible. I am a sucker for any citrus baked goods, and the chai glaze makes these little cakes even more fragrant and special. Thanks for sharing your recipe (p.s I love the shapes that you saw in the icing drizzle. My husband and I always find faces or shapes in patterns, it’s one of my favourite things!)

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Thoughts, Comments, Questions ?