Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and line 2 12-muffin tins with paper liners.
Sift together the flours, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time.
With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients. Add the grated carrots and the raisins if using to the remaining flour, mix well, and add them to the batter. Mix until just combined.
Scoop the batter into the liners, filling each about 3/4 full (you should end up with 22 muffins). Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and cook for another 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the muffins completely on a rack before serving.
So many of your comments helped me so much I just had to write and say Thank You All for all of the suggested alterations, and share what I did and how it worked out for future bakers. I wanted to make these as a tasty/healthy snack for my busy toddler, so I adjusted some things: I packed the 3 cups of shredded carrots very full/tight. I used 1 1/2cups of whole wheat flour (Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Organic Flour) and 1/2 cup (heaping) of ground flax seed (Trader Joes brand with blueberries) instead of the suggested flour types/amts. I used only 1 cup of dark brown sugar instead of the white and light brown. I used 1 3/4 sticks of butter instead of vegetable oil (I was raised by Butter Only bakers), and only 1/4cup olive oil. Because of the quite strong smell/flavor of the flax seed, I put in 2tsp of cinnamon and 2tsp of vanilla flavor. And to enhance flavor I also added 2tsp each of nutmeg, ginger and allspice. Worried about dryness with the whole wheat flour, I also added in one 4oz container of organic apple sauce when I was mixing the carrots and the flour before adding it to the other half. Using a tiny muffins pan by 'Chicago Metallic' I put a soup spoon sized dollop in each paper liner (they looked filled about 3/4 of the liner). I cooked them at 350F for approximately 17min (checking with a fork after the first 13). They are absolutely delicious!! Both toddler and husband agree with me! Next time I plan to add in 1/2 cup of quick cook oats (and an extra egg for moisture) to make them even healthier. Again to all: thanks so much for your help!
Made these with a small alteration. I cut the total sugar back to one cup and only used brown sugar. I didn't adjust any other ingredients. They were very tasty. I would make them again and try cutting back to 3/4 cup total sugar. The bake time for my oven was way too long. I did 10min at 400 and 5min at 350. There were cooked through at that point. I will start at 350 next time.
I really wanted to like this recipe, as I love a good carrot muffin and they aren't ubiquitous like blueberry. But my husband and I found these to be kind of ho-hum. I think I was expecting a more carrot-y flavor. I may play around with it a little.
I made these for my muffin-loving daughter (who is just about the same age as Merrill's Clara) when they appeared in the cooking for Clara column. They have become a favorite around here! I add flax seed sometimes. I make a whole bunch at once and keep them in the freezer for breakfast and snacks. Wonderful recipe.
I made these exactly but found that mine were done in 20 minutes. My oven temp is accurate so I'm wondering if you really cook these for 35 minutes after the initial 10 minutes at 400 degrees and, if so, why?
I would love to make this.. Can I place this into a 9x5 loaf pan instead of muffins? or is the flour too much for a 9x5 loaf? or should I lessen the flour, if yes by how much? Thank you :-)
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