Carrot Muffins (AIP)

AIP baking removes eggs entirely, and most bakers do not notice how much they lean on eggs until they are gone. These muffins ask you to trust a different system: gelatin bloomed right into the batter for structure, cassava and tigernut flour standing in for anything with gluten. That is a real adjustment. It asks something of you on a Tuesday morning, and 12 muffins waiting in the freezer means fewer decisions on a morning that already asks enough of you.

The grated carrot here is not just for color. Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A in the body, and vitamin A keeps turning up in research on the one-cell-thick intestinal wall that this whole protocol is asking to heal. Tigernut flour is not a nut despite the name; it is a small tuber, and the resistant starch inside it is food for the bacteria your gut actually needs, not just bulk in the batter.

A muffin built from a root vegetable and warm spice instead of a box mix carries its own quiet dignity. Let the kitchen smell like cinnamon and ginger while these bake, and eat the first one still warm, before you talk yourself out of the 2 minutes it takes.

Ingredients

Dry:

• 3/4 cup cassava flour
• 1/2 cup tigernut flour
• 1/3 cup arrowroot starch
• 2 tbsp gelatin powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt

Wet:

• 1 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla powder (see note)
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Add-ins:

• 3/4 cup grated carrots

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease each cup with coconut oil.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cassava flour, tigernut flour, arrowroot starch, gelatin, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt until evenly combined with no visible lumps of gelatin.

In a separate bowl, stir together the applesauce, melted coconut oil, honey, vanilla powder, and apple cider vinegar. The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to give these muffins their lift, so do not skip it.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until a thick batter forms. Fold in the grated carrots. The batter will be denser than conventional muffin batter; that is normal for cassava-based baking.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

These muffins store well at room temperature for 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days. They also freeze well: wrap individually and freeze for up to 2 months.

Note: vanilla powder is used here instead of vanilla extract. Standard vanilla extract is made with alcohol, which is excluded on AIP elimination. Vanilla powder (ground dried vanilla bean, no additives) is the compliant alternative.

*Adapted from Lichen Paleo Loving AIP*