Carrot Bread Muffins

These low-fat muffins were surprisingly sweet and moist. They also kept really well stored in a ziploc bag. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com and it said it made 10 servings. However, I was able to make a dozen muffins from the recipe.

I had originally purchased some applesauce to use in some chocolate chip cookies. The cookies turned out okay, but not very cookie like. They were more spongy. So I decided to make something else with the rest of the applesauce. So instead of butter or oil, these muffins were made with 3/4 cup of applesauce. You can't even tell! They are a great treat. Plus, since there are real carrots in them, you are getting some veggies in too! Win win!

Ingredients:
1 C sugar
1 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C shredded carrot
1/4 C chopped walnuts (optional, I did not use)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat together applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened. Fold in carrots and walnuts (if desired). Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 min or until done.

If you desire a carrot bread loaf, put batter in an 8 x 4 x 2 inch loaf pan and bake for 50-55 min.

French Bread

This is a recipe I got from my friend. She does weight watchers and loves this bread recipe because it doesn't have any fat it in. I made it yesterday and it was yummy! I had some for breakfast too.

Ingredients:
1 C warm water
1 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 TBS sugar
1/2 Tbs salt
3 1/2 C flour

Directions:

Mix the water, yeast and sugar. Let yeast develop for 5-10 min. Sift together salt and flour. Slowly add to yeast mixture. Once combined, knead dough for a minute or two. Place in greased bowl, cover with wet towel, and let rise 1 1/2 hours.

Once risen, roll out the loaf to roughly a 16x12 inch rectangle. Roll loaf and shape ends. Place on greased baking sheet. Brush with butter then cover and let rise 45 min.

Place a dish of water in lowest rack of oven. Preheat to 450. (The water creates steam, which helps make the crust nice and crusty, use this technique whenever you bake bread!) Bake loaf for five minutes at 450 then 20-25 min at 350.

Don't forget to remove the dish of water once your oven has cooled!