Grain-free, Carrot Muffins with Sweet Potato Frosting!

I love experimenting with alternative baking recipes, particularly those that are gluten-free and dairy-free. Recently I have been eager to attempt grain-free baking, so I thought I would start with some scrumptious muffins!

My muffin craving coincided with a contest hosted by Fertile Underground Grocery- A "Locavore" Superbowl Contest; thus, I tried extra hard to use locally sourced ingredients for this recipe.

Ingredients:

Muffins
2 1/2 cups fresh almond flour (house made at Fertile Underground Grocery)
1 tsp baking soda
1 T cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup honey (pesticide-free, from Aquidneck Honey)
1/2 cup Dr. Bronner's Organic Coconut Oil
2 tsp organic almond extract
3 eggs, beaten (free range, from Pat's Pastured)
2 T minced, fresh ginger
2 cups shredded carrots (local, organic)
3/4 cups organic raisins

Frosting
2 medium sized sweet potatoes (local)
1/2 tsp organic lemon zest
1 tsp sea salt
4 T Dr. Bronner's Organic Coconut Oil
1/2 cup honey (pesticide-free, from Aquidneck Honey)
1/2 tsp organic coconut extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients- honey, coconut oil, almond extract, and beaten eggs. Mix wet ingredients into dry mixture, then fold in ginger, carrots, and raisins. Line muffin tray with papers or grease with coconut oil. Fill with batter and bake for approximately 40 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean). Let cool.

To make the frosting, chop the sweet potatoes into cubes (about 1/2" pieces) and place in a pan with 1 cup of water. Steam sweet potatoes for 10-15 minutes, until tender, then let cool. Combine sweet potatoes with the remainder of the frosting ingredients and process in a food processor or blender until smooth. Top muffins with sweet potato frosting and, if you like, garnish with some raisins.

I was very pleased with my first attempt at grain-free baking! The muffins were extremely moist and delicious and I can't wait to bake other varieties. The frosting was wonderful too- it had great flavor and a nice whipped texture, though in the future I may add a small amount of thickening agent to make the frosting slightly stiffer. Overall, a grand success!