Looking for a healthy snack to pack for a road trip? Try my easy carrot muffins!

TO FRANCE BY CAR
When we go on vacation to France, we always take the car. For one, it is much easier with our dog Pastis. He has his own seat in the back next to Kirstie and gets plenty of attention during the long trip. I wouldn’t dream of putting him in a dog hotel. He’s part of the family.
Traveling to France by car is much more enjoyable than by train or airplane. I revel in every single moment: from packing up the car early in the morning, to crossing the French border and feeling that sense of excitement as I think about the new adventures that await us in the days ahead. Seeing the vast fields and gently rolling hills that welcome us to into the country always fills my heart. Car trips enable us to stop along the way and admire whatever captures our attention, whether that be a new village or large city.

ROAD TRIP FOOD
Experience has taught me that buying food at fuel stations is not a great idea. Ready-made sandwiches and salads are usually filled with preservatives, very unsatisfying and much too expensive. The menus served at neighboring restaurants are not that much better either. In fact, I once became terribly ill after eating at such a restaurant. But even if you don’t have the same misfortune, who wants a badly prepared steak with soggy fries anyway?
My solution is to pack nutritious food from home: hard-boiled eggs, fresh sandwiches and salads, wraps and perhaps something sweet. Like these carrot muffins, which have become standard fare for our trips down south. The carrots and almond flour make them irresistibly moist and tender.

 

Muffins aux Carottes
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

  • 150ml milk
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
  • 230g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of fine sea salt
  • 200g grated carrots
  • 70g ground almonds
  • 1 egg
  • 110g light brown sugar
  • 70ml sunflower oil

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease the tin and dust well with flour, shaking off any excess. Put the milk in a jug and add the vinegar. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in the grated carrots and ground almonds. Add the egg, sugar and oil to the milk and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Do not stir too fanatically as this make the muffins tough. Divide the batter over the muffin holes and bake for approximately 25 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.