Scan Bran Carrot Muffins

Delicious carrot muffin with creamy lemon topping.

Whilst I am loving the whole array of gorgeous food you can make on slimming world there's one thing I really miss and that's baking. I love baking. Cakes, biscuits, bread, oh my God bread, I just adore it all! The wonderful alchemy of taking your mixing your ingredients and transforming them into the divine through the power of the oven.

I also love baking with my children. I love watching the joy on their faces as they get covered in flour and how the eat their way to their 5 a day before their wares even make it to the oven. As I have 2 very active pre schoolers I am quite conscious about giving the boys too much 'diet' food and like to keep food as natural as possible. Many slimming world recipes are quite artificial so i wanted to come up with something we could both enjoy. Fibre however is all good, especially for my eldest, so I thought Id try and modify some of the scan bran recipes. Im very pleased with the result, i almost cant believe how good they are!

One thing I would say though is do make the topping if you can. I've found it really makes the difference with these scan bran bakes as they can be quite dense and a bit dry (mine at least). Sinking your teeth through a luscious layer of soft sweet frosting really makes the whole thing feel so much more decadent. I did use sweetener but did use stevia which is supposed to be more natural.

Scan Bran Muffins.
Makes 6 - 2 Syns Each

• 5 Scan Bran/Oat Bran (6 syns)
• 1 tsp Mixed Spice
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 2 large Carrots, grated
• 28g Raisins (4 syns)
• 2 tsp Honey (2 syns)
• 1/2 lemon, zested
• 2 Eggs, separated

Frosting

• 1 tub Quark
• Zest of 1/2 a Lemon
• Sweetener to taste
1. Pre heat the oven to Gas Mark 5
2. Blitz the scan bran on pulse in a food processor as finely as you can. 
3. In a large mixing bowl mix the scan bran, spices, grated carrot, egg yolks, raisins, honey and lemon zest.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and gently fold them into mix with a metal spoon.
5. Spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tray and bake for 25 or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
6. Beat together the quark, lemon and sweetener and top each muffin generously!



NB. If you don't have a food processor many people soften their scan bran with boiling water. The most successful method of this I've found is to just cover the whole sheets with boiling water for 1 minute and then drain as much water off as possible and break up with a fork.

For a speedier version you can just put the beat the eggs straight in together instead of separating them. Then cook them in the microwave in a non metallic container for around 6 mins then take them out turn them upside down downsize for another couple of minutes. They're a little but denser this way but still tasty.