Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups finely shredded raw carrots
• 1 cup finely chopped apple
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper or foil liners.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.  Set mixture aside.

3. In a large bowl, add the eggs, sugar and oil. Beat until combined and slightly thickened, then add flour mixture and beat until incorporated.

4. With a spatula, gently fold in the carrots, apple, coconut and nuts.

5. Fill muffin tins 2/3 to 3/4 full.

6. Bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool, then enjoy!

TEST KITCHEN TIP: Experiment with your own version of this recipe. For instance, if you dislike coconut, leave it out. Or, try chopped pineapple in place of the chopped apple in this recipe. Just drain the pineapple very well first.

Nutritional Information: (Serving size: 1/16 of a recipe [3.4 ounces])
Calories 311.05 • Calories From Fat (55%) 170.13 • Total Fat 19.47g 30% • Saturated Fat 4.24g 21% • Cholesterol 46.5mg 16% • Sodium 235.68mg 10% • Potassium 140.64mg 4% • Total Carbohydrates 31.32g 10% • Fiber 1.52g 6% • Sugar 15.93g • Protein 4.08g 8%