Carrot Spice Muffins (egg-free)

I thought I was done coming up with muffin varieties since I have several that the girls and I enjoy. However, the mood came over me to try something new, so I decided to experiment with egg-free carrot muffins. At first I used cinnamon and nutmeg to flavor the muffins, but that combination didn't taste quite right to me. Then I realized that I wanted something a little different and subtler, so I tried using cardamom with a bit of cinnamon. Wow. This flavor combination is so good that I'm willing to peel and grate two carrots first thing in the morning to make these muffins.

Carrot Spice Muffins
makes 6 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rice milk. I used Trader Joe's vanilla rice drink or vanilla flavored Rice Dream.
• 1 Tbsp. flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1 cup and 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/2 Tbsp. (which is 1 and 1/2 tsp.) apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup finely grated carrots, packed (about 2 small to medium size carrots)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 6 cups of a muffin tin with canola oil. Heat the rice milk in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir in the flax seed meal and set aside.

In a medium bowl sift the flour using a sieve or whisk. Add the baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and cardamom, and stir to combine. In a small bowl mix the sugar, rice milk and flax mixture, canola oil, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar. Peel the carrots and grate them onto a plate using the smaller holes on a grater. Measure the grated carrot by packing it firmly into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Add the grated carrot to the small bowl with the liquid ingredients and stir to combine. Then pour the carrot and liquid mixture into the medium bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir just until you don't see anymore dry flour.

Scoop the batter evenly into the cups of the muffin tin and bake for 18 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Use a narrow spatula to loosen the muffins from the tin. Then remove the muffins to let them cool on a wire rack.