Carrot-Cake Muffins

My husband had to work late tonight, so I decided to fix him an extra-special breakfast before he left so we could eat breakfast as a family, instead of dinner. I found a cupcake recipe on Foodtv.com from Ina Garten, and did some healthy substitutions to come up with this delicious muffin. It was a wonderful breakfast.

Carrot Cake Muffins

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup white bean puree
• 1/3 cup oil
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white flour
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 cups grated carrots (less than 1 pound)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

  For the frosting:

  nocoupons

8 oz low fat cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the sugar, white bean puree, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter. Mix until just combined.

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 22 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook for a further 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

For the frosting, cream the ingredients together until smooth.

When the muffins are cool, frost them generously and serve.