Carrot Salad Muffin 人参サラダ入りマフィン

My wife made this muffin to finish the left-over carrot salad which she made for a company dinner we had some days ago. She remembered that she made carrot muffins from shredded carrots before. So she used the same recipe and substituted the carrot salad for the shredded carrots called for in the recipe. Although the original carrot salad had many spices including cumin, cayenne pepper, and ginger, they mellowed in the muffins. The muffins came out quite moist and had a great flavor due to the muted tastes of the spices.  The crumb topping also worked well.

Carrot salad: (We posted it in 2012. We are listing the recipe again in a standard format. The recipe is based on the spiced carrot salad recipe found in the "500 appetizers" cookbook.)
Ingredients: (for carrot salad)
2 cups of shredded carrots (in the food processor), cook in the micro wave for 30 seconds, stir and cook about another 30 seconds until the carrots get a bit tender but still have crunch).
1 cup raisin 
1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 
1 tsp. cumin, 
1/2 tsp ground coriander, 
1/2 tsp paprika, 
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 
Candied ginger, finely chopped,  to taste, 
4 tsp. sushi vinegar plus juice of 2 limes
3 Tbs. olive oil, 
2 tsp. chopped mint.

Directions:

Mix all the spices together with the liquid ingredients and poured the dressing over the carrots and raisins. I let it sit for several hours for the flavors to marry (as a matter-of-fact the salad gets better every day).

Muffin: (we used the recipe from carrot bread muffin which was posted 
Ingredients: (for muffin)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsp. sour cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot salad

Crumb topping: (This is the crumb topping used for other muffins)
Ingredients: (for crumb topping)
1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
1/4 tsp. of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.
to make the crumbs combine the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
Add the butter, and mix with your fingers until the mixture forms crumbs.

To make the batter for the muffin in a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. In another large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients; melted butter, brown sugar, egg, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir the carrots, into the liquid ingredients until thoroughly blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with butter. Divide the batter among the muffin tins. Spread the crumbs on the top of the muffins. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

These were very good muffins, dense in texture and moist. The muted taste of all the spices added depth of flavor. The crumbs on top came out with an almost cookie texture and crunch while they added a pleasant burst of sweetness. These were actually much better than we expected.