Chocolate Carrot Cake Muffins and Chocolate Maple-Pecan Glaze

I'm going to start this post out with a late THANK YOU to everyone for you support after my last rant.  It means a lot to know people care about what I write and what I have to share.  It means even more to know I'm not alone in my line of thinking!

The whole "Ask and you shall receive" thing has become very apparent during this time, too.  It's one of those biblical things that have been taught to a lot of us throughout our youth, but it never really meant anything to me until I got older and realized, hey, this stuff really works!  And I've since left my "biblical/religious" past behind and have moved into a more "spiritual" life instead, but the saying rings true no matter what your persuasion.  If you put your desires out there to God or the Universe or whatever you believe in, you'll get a response.  It's all in how you put it out there, though, and all in what lies in your heart when you do so.  It's pretty cool.  And since putting it out there that I'd love to know I have a support system, that I'm not completely crazy and completely alone in my line of thinking, people have been coming out of the woodwork!  Okay so of course I already knew I wasn't alone, I have a lot of clients whom I get into lengthy conversations with about our natural lifestyles, and whether we have the exact same opinions and feelings or not we support each other and I've had really great experiences talking to all of them.  It's just that, in the recent past, it seemed like the more medical/pharmaceutical-minded people and the SAD- (Standard American Diet) eaters were more prevalent than those who, like me, realize all those chemical drugs are killing us and so is the processed food handed to us on a daily basis.  And it gets discouraging when that happens.  Anytime you believe in something, if the non-believers far outweigh the people who are in your support system, it gets hard to hang onto your beliefs and hard to still feel supported.

So, I'm going to take this moment to reflect on a post I wrote a few months back and express some gratitude, not only to you guys who are like-minded and appreciate what I have to say here, but also to the Universe (/God, /Higher Power - you know, that great Source energy we all come from and will return to, call it what you will) for answering me when I asked for more support.  I've heard from and met some really awesome people and am feeling more encouraged to keep sharing what I do instead of hiding in my little bubble at home healing my family naturally and eating my clean food and not sharing any of that knowledge with anyone else.

I decided to share a recipe too, before I forget how I made it!  I have a ton of recipes in the line-up to share with you but this is the most recent one and the one that's freshest on my mind.

So we have this co-op, right?  Most of you local readers know about that, and if not, it's CommunityHelpings4U.com if you want to check it out.  It's been a HUGE help for us in keeping our fridge stocked with produce.  And I order extras besides just the box so that way we're guaranteed to have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables through the next couple weeks.  Well, I wanted to order some carrots, and they have options like the 1lb bag, 2lb bag, 5lb bag, etc.  I thought I selected the 2lb bag.  No, this was definitely one of the larger ones.  This sack of carrots was the size of a couple basketballs.  I was not paying attention when I ordered, apparently!!  So now I have a ton of carrots to use up, thus the inspiration (/necessity) for carrot cake.  And chocolate.  Because my world is a better place when there's chocolate in it.

What's even cooler is that this recipe calls for only coconut flour.  Normally I bake with almond flour and limit my coconut flour use because it tends to make things turn out sort of bitter...  Not this time!  I was so impressed by how delicious these were!!  I may have been converted...

I got the original recipe from Primally Inspired, and of course made my modifications.  So this is my modified recipe, inspired by the one I just linked you to :).

I feel like these didn't turn out very pretty... Well, the glaze did, but not the cake itself.  Don't be fooled, they taste AMAZING!!

Paleo Chocolate Carrot Cake Muffins

Ingredients

6 cups shredded carrots
16 pitted dates, finely chopped
8 eggs (that's one thing I really dislike about coconut flour - it needs LOTS of eggs)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder


Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place chopped dates, eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla in a mixing bowl (or in a food processor - I chopped the dates in my food processor and added the rest of the ingredients to it).  Mix or blend until well incorporated. 
3. Add the coconut flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder and mix until combined.
4. Fold in the shredded carrots.
5. Spoon or pour batter into cupcake lined muffin pan and bak for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Let cool and either eat plain or frost with icing (recipe follows)

The glaze I put on it was a maple-pecan glaze recipe I found from Detonxinista, which of course I modified a bit to suit my needs (and added chocolate to it... I may have a bit of a chocolate addiction...).

It's finger-lickin' good

Chocolate Maple-Pecan Icing 

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp tapioca or arrowroot starch


3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

1. Microwave the chocolate chips and coconut oil for 30 seconds and stir until combined and smooth.
2. Mix in the maple syrup, vanilla, and salt.  Stir in the starch to thicken and stabilize.
3. Finely chop the pecans, or add to the mix whole and blend in a blender until smooth. (I did not blend, so my icing was a bit chunkier)
4. Spoon on top of muffins and refrigerate to set up.  Enjoy!