Despite being on my Healthy Living Week, life still happens and in this case, life included baking Carrot Cake Cupcakes. It was Christina’s 3 year Bramble’versary and Carrot Cake is her favorite dessert. Lucky for me, Facebook Fan Lyn S. from New South Wales had a recipe to share with me.
The recipe is from a small Australian cookbook called Jam Packed by Lana and Delia Raizon, published by The Five Mile press.
Ingredients:
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 tablespoons butter, melted (If you like a more moist cupcake, I’d recommend 6, FYI)
2 carrots, peeled and grated (Add an extra carrot if you loooove carrots)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
1 tablespoon cream cheese
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon boiling water
shredded coconut, toasted, to decorate
1 tablespoon butter (my addition)
Mix all the dry ingredients together, mix the wet ones in. Preheat oven to 350. Bake cupcakes for 17 to 22 minutes depending on strength of oven. Whip all frosting ingredients together.
Secret Anne-Marie’s-Mom-Trick: to check if the cupcakes are done, stick a sharp knife in it. If it comes out clean, the cupcakes are done. If it comes out ‘wet’, you know it needs to cook another few minutes.
When cupcakes are done, let fully cool before frosting.
As for me and my Healthy Living Week? Well, I had a delicious and oh-so-filling Baked Sweet Potato with nothing on it while making the cupcakes. It wasn’t quite a cupcake but there’s nothing more sweet than making a promise to yourself and sticking to it.
Anne-Marie says
You’re right – so many foods have incredible amounts of hidden sugars. I was looking at a sprite can yesterday and it had over an ounce of sugar in it. Yikes!
Anne-Marie says
Sweet Potato Chocolate Brownies? They sound delicious! Thanks for passing the link along.
Tiffany says
I don’t know why I just thought of this, I don’t know how healthy they are, but I love making sweet potato chocolate brownies. Sounds pretty weird, but they are tasty! Here’s the recipe. http://www.wholeliving.com/rec…
Enjoy!
Carol says
I tried going without sugar and lasted about 1 day. It is SO hard when you are used to not watching your sugar intake. Also hard becuz so many foods have hidden sugars! You do have will power to bake those cupcakes and not sample!
Morgane says
Wow you did REALLY good!!! Congratulations!!
TeresaR says
You are a wonderful role model for me, Anne-Marie!
Anne-Marie says
Nah, one of the things I’ve learned painfully over the years is if I can’t keep promises to myself and be accountable to myself, I’ll never be able to do it for anything or anyone else so if I make a promise to myself, it’s a contract – an iron-bound contract – so no cupcakes. Today, I’m not craving any sugar though so that’s a huge breakthrough! =)
Anne-Marie says
Strawberries are soooooo yummy! My girlfriend cuts them and then puts them in the fridge for four hours and the sweetness realllllly seeps out then.
Anne-Marie says
I’m on Day Five right now and excited that cupcakes don’t sound that good to me right now. Yay! That’s gotta be a breakthrough, right? =)
amywarden says
That’s some serious willpower!! Those cupcakes are awesome!!
Lianne393 says
totally!
Actually, today, I wanted something sweet, so I bought from strawberries. they were delicious!
TeresaR says
Ah, I guess I read the “despite being on my Healthy Living Week” comment, and just assumed you had one of those luscious looking cupcakes (I really was too distracted by the mouth-watering photos to see what you said after that…LOL!). Me, with my lack of will-power, I would have said, to heck with that; I’m going to have half of one at least! 😉
Anne-Marie says
I thought that was crazy too! It was more of a yellow. It also had a ‘white’ skin. I wonder what type it was … either way, it wasn’t all that bad. Not a cupcake but not all that bad.
PajamaMama says
And the same goes with kids….when I have out healthy snacks, they eat healthy snacks…but if it’s just chips, then they eat the chips.
What kind of yellow sweet tater is that anyway?? Down here in south Georgia our sweet potatoes are ORANGE! 😉
Jeannie
Anne-Marie says
I wish I was balancing out the cupcake. I didn’t have any cupcake at all because I’m doing a ‘Healthy Living’ week so no sugar at all. I miss refined sugar and white flour … =)))
Anne-Marie says
I love to snack/graze. I’m the consummate grazer. The key for me is to put out healthy stuff for me to snack on all the time =)
TeresaR says
Way to balance out the cupcakes with a no-topping sweet potato! We’re growing them again this year; sweet potatoes are so tasty. I think Martha Stewart has a brownie recipe that uses sweet potato puree…I should go check. =)
Lianne393 says
I’ve been eating healthy meals, but I do like my snacks. But I deserve them. I cleaned out an entire barn on Tuesday. and I’m still sore..
Anne-Marie says
He he … yes, yes they are! =) I love carrots with hummus …
Anne-Marie says
Totally sweet – it was surprisingly sweet. Then again, everything tastes sweet when no synthetic sugar has touched your lips in days!
Dana Cooke says
carrots are healthy, right?
SierraSnowSoaps says
Good for you! I love a well done baked sweet potato, and they can be sweet.
Michelle in NV