This morning I peeled and chopped (using the little chopper gizmo) 10 pounds of carrots. Once they were in the freeze dryer, I decided to make Spiced Carrot Muffins. They were delicious!
There were 12 but then my favorite delivery guy came and I gave him two. Actually, the recipe makes 18 but . . the short version of this story is that I only have one rack in my wall oven so I baked two muffin tins, then baked the third muffin tin.
The reason I only have one rack in my oven: The wall oven came with these amazing gliding racks but they’re big and if I have them both in the oven, one is in the middle and one is too close to the bottom to cook anything without burning it. I ordered regular racks but it appears they take as long to get here as does a full oven. So, I only keep one rack in the oven. It’s ok. I still have my full size gas oven and the full size gas oven downstairs so it isn’t like I’m short on oven space but I prefer to use the electric oven for things that bake the same in an electric oven as they would in a gas oven because . . electricity is basically free and propane is not free and not even inexpensive these days.
Oh, my goodness . . why can’t I just say “I made muffins” and leave out all that other stuff? 🙂
Anyway, when I’m freeze drying carrots, I cut them into small chunks instead of grating them. I’ve found the small chunks rehydrate more like fresh carrots and the grated carrots get limp and watery.
Even though these were fresh and not freeze dried carrots, I went ahead and used the little chunks. They get completely done and soft but I like biting into them better than just shredded carrots. These seem more substantial. More carrot flavor.
So, we had spiced carrot muffins and sausage for breakfast.
I kept out five muffins for us to have for snacks tomorrow and the next day, unless we eat them all tomorrow, and the rest are in the freezer. Once they are frozen solid, I will vacuum seal them and put them in the big freezer. I have little bins in one of the big freezers. There are bins for muffins, cookie dough, cheese, egg bites, etc. If I want muffins out for breakfast tomorrow, I’ll go to the muffin bin and grab a package of muffins to take out to defrost overnight. If I want egg bites for breakfast tomorrow, I’ll go to the egg bite bin and take out a bag of frozen and vacuum sealed egg bites. Pretty simple!
patti says
do you thaw your frozen muffins in the plastic airtight bag, or do you release the vacuum before letting them thaw?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I take them out of the freezer a couple of hours before I’m going to bed, then cut the bag, take them out of the bag, place them on a cooling type rack, put a slightly damp paper towel over them and let them sit like that for a couple of hours. Then I put them on a piece of parchment paper, stick them in the microwave, cover them with a tea towel and leave them overnight in there with the microwave door closed. That keeps any bugs that might show up off them (I haven’t seen any bugs!), then we microwave them for a few seconds the next morning.