Pumpkin carrot breakfast muffins

Woah, it's December! And thank goodness.

It has been a crazy year with plenty to reflect on. For one, I feel like I still have so much left to do to round out this year on a good note. But we often discount how meaningful the past year has been. The frenzy of the holiday season doesn't help either. This year, I graduated from college (with honours!), and in an unexpected turn of events landed a research gig where I help study viruses, travelled on my first solo trip to Lisbon, voted in local elections for the first time, and became a regular patron at a gym! I'm also low-key anxiously waiting for news about my application to medical school, and high-key anxious about learning how to drive (read: operating heavy machinery. woah).

Sure, there were some soul-crushing, confusing, stressful and tense times. Maybe they comprised more than half the year and maybe you're still struggling through those situations now. But this month marking the beginning of the end has made me a) lean more towards the positives; b) eager to put the past behind me. The fact that we still have Thanksgiving leftovers might explain why I'm stuck on reflective-mode.

I guess this is also a mantra for myself. Because there are days when I've had to re-make reagents in the lab because of a silly error, and nights when I've burned the pasta because I left the stove on "low" instead of "off". Face. palm. Times like these is way we need to focus on the bigger picture. Like darn, my PI seems to like my work today. Or yeah - that co-worker who complains all the time is getting her behaviour checked by more senior colleagues (and it wasn't just all in my head!)
Those moments are self-validating, but probably even better opportunities for self-examination. Check yo'self.

OK.
Faux-deeeep moment has concluded! As a weird segue to the muffins - these were borne out of a need to use some almond meal that I bought for my a birthday cake that was a fail. So, good thing that these breakfast goods are a TREAT. They're quite filling for their size, probably because of the almond meal. They're also extremely moist, so I would suggest refrigerating them right after they're made, and popping them in a toaster oven or microwave if you want to eat them warm.

Next time, I think I'll up the almond meal because I did find them a little too crumbly, and I'll probably replace some of the raisins with another dried fruit or seeds for calcium.

Notes: The original recipe called for a gluten free flour blend, but since I'm not coeliac/don't want to give up gluten I just used whole wheat. I think it lends a heartier texture and pairs well with the almond meal.

Pumpkin carrot breakfast muffins
Adapted from Minimalist Baker
Makes 12 breakfast-sized muffins
2 eggs
0.25 cup olive oil
Half of a 15 oz can pumpkin puree (about 1 cup)
0.25 cup honey
0.25 cup brown sugar
0.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon, 0.25 tsp ground cardamom, 0.25 tsp ground cloves
0.5 cup milk (or almond, soy, etc. mylk)

1 packed cup grated carrot
2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
0.5 cup almond meal
0.5 cup whole wheat flour
0.25 cup Thompson raisins (or any other dried fruit, chopped if necessary)
0.25 cup chopped raw walnuts (or any other nut)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Prepare a 12-count non-stick muffin tin with muffins liners. No need to grease or anything.

Beat eggs lightly, then combine with the pumpkin puree, honey, brown sugar and olive oil. Add the baking soda, salt and spices. Add the milk and stir to combine. Stir in the carrots to distribute evenly. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir.

Fill the muffin liners, leaving about 1 cm from the top. Bake for 30 min or until they smell fragrant and a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the muffin pan so they don't get soggy! Leave until cooled completely.

These will keep in a tupperware box for a good while - maybe 1-2 weeks - but they don't tend to last that long...