Never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them. Valentine’s Day gives us just such an opportunity. I am not about the commercialization of the day, but I do try to take time to reflect on how lucky I am to have the love of my family, and especially the unconditional love of a very patient husband. I think every relationship has bumpy times, and we have had our fair share, but a relationship that is grounded in love and mutual respect can sustain anything. I have never felt so much love for my husband, nor have I felt so loved. Every year, it just keeps getting better.
Work has been hectic for us both lately, so for Valentine ’s Day we opted to stay home, have a nice supper and watch TV together. I made some Valentine’s Day carrot cake muffins, and I must say I am really pleased with the result. I took a traditional carrot cake recipe and changed it up to make it gluten free, sugar free, and lower carb. I also played with the traditional icing recipe. I wasn’t sure about turning it into muffins, but that worked out well and provides portion control.
Carrot Cake Love Muffins
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 c oil
- 1/2 c Splenda or powered Stevia
- 2 T vanilla
- 1/2 c coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 c carrots, shredded
- 1/2 c raisins, optional (I just threw in a handful)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with liners, or grease with baking Pam. Combine the eggs, oil, stevia and vanilla in mixer and blend well (whenever you cook with coconut flour, you really need to up the egg content). In smaller bowl, mix coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, then on slow speed add into the batter until there are no lumps. Add by hand the shredded carrots and raisins. Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. YUM!
Guilt-Free Cream Cheese Icing
(this makes more than you need for 12, but I just kept piling it on)
- 1 cup whipping cream, whipped with some vanilla and a Splenda packet to stiff peaks
- 1 block cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup Splenda or powdered Stevia (to taste)
- 2 T vanilla
Whip the whipping cream and set aside. Whip the cream cheese, sweetener and vanilla until it lightens. Add a bit of unwhipped cream if necessary. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese on low speed until just mixed, or fold by hand. That’s it! I store these in the fridge because of the whipped icing.