Good Morning Muffins

Remember my peanut butter banana muffins for our brunch at Melissa's place? I had Luzia over for brunch today and again, I decided for muffins. Only criterion: no peanut butter. Luzia is not very fond of it and I had promised her that, for the next brunch, I would bake something without peanut butter. These muffins are also nutty, though. I really like the crunchy hazelnuts and the sweet apple pieces. The carrots keep them moist. Really nice for breakfast together with a glass of milk or juice, for a picnic or as an afternoon snack.

Recipe
(from Delicious Days by Nicky Stich)

For twelve muffins:

80g ground hazelnuts
2-3 tablespoons hazelnuts
175g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of cinnamon
200g carrots
1 small apple
2 eggs
150g brown sugar
100g sunflower oil

 Line a muffin pan with paper cases. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Roast the ground hazelnuts in a frying pan until its smells nutty. Let cool. Chop the hazelnuts coarsly. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Peel the carrots and grate. Peel the apple and cut into small dices. Mix eggs, sugar and oil with the electric hand mixer (2-3 minutes). Then, add the ground hazelnuts, carrots and the apple. Then, add the flour-mixture and beat until just combined.

With the help of two tablespoons, fill the batter into your muffin cases. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts. Bake for about 30 minutes. Check by inserting a wooden skewer into one of the muffins. If it comes out clean, they are done. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then, cool on a wire rack. You can eat them warm or cold - they should be good on the next day also.

 The cute rack comes from Wohnallerlei.