100g (4 oz) plain flour<br />
100g (4 oz) plain wholemeal flour<br />
1 teaspoon baking powder<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda<br />
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon<br />
½ tsp salt<br />
175ml vegetable oil<br />
75g caster sugar<br />
2 eggs<br />
125g (4 ½ oz) finely grated carrots <br />
225g/8 oz tinned crushed pineapple, semi- drained<br />
100g (4 oz) raisins<br />
40g (1 ½ oz) chopped pecans (optional)<br />
175g cream cheese<br />
75g sifted icing sugar<br />
half vanilla pod or a couple of drops of vanilla essence<br />
<p>Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F) and line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases</p>
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<p>Sift together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, sugar and eggs until well blended. Add the grated carrots, crushed pineapple raisins and chopped pecans (if using). Gradually add the flour mixture, just beating until the ingredients are combined.</p>
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<p>Pour the batter into muffin trays lined with paper cases and bake for 25 minutes Allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove the muffins from the trays and cool on a wire rack.</p>
<p><strong><em>To make the icing, beat the cream cheese together with the icing sugar. Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the tiny black seeds. Stir these into the icing and spread over the tops of the muffins. If you don’t have a vanilla pod, you can add a few drops of vanilla extract instead. </em></strong></p>
Carrot & Pineapple Muffins
These are probably my favourite muffins. They are like miniature carrot cakes and are lovely and moist. You can make these with or without the icing .
