In my quest to control food waste, I’ve been vexed by the sheer volume of pulp created by juicing. I juice several times a week for breakfast, and am always astonished at the relatively small amount of juice I get from a huge amount of veggies. And although I’ve been religiously using the pulp to feed my compost pile, I’ve wondered whether there was a better cure for my dilemma.
Earlier this week, I decided to try making muffins with the pulp from juicing carrots – and was thrilled with the results. We’ve been eating carrot muffins all week, and I am amazed that they are still moist and delicious.
I began by juicing 10 large organic carrots, which yielded about 1/2 cup of bright orange juice and almost 3 cups of pulp. I removed the carrot pulp from my juicer, and then finished juicing my celery, spinach, fennel, cucumber, and granny smith apple in order to make a full glass of juice. While I wasn’t interested in using the green components of my juice (sorry, green muffins don’t sound appetizing to me!) and so relegated that pulp to the compost pile, I saved about 2 cups of the carrot pulp and decided that was about the right amount to make some muffins.
I used toasted wheat bran for added fiber, and because I like nuts, added some chopped pecans for crunch. I kept the sugar down to just 1/2 cup (which is not very much for two dozen large muffins), and mixed in organic raisins for additional sweetness. Spices seemed in order, so I added cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. While my son Nick said that I should beef up the cinnamon and lose the ginger on the next batch, I think you can be flexible with the spices based on your own taste preferences.
I know that this isn’t one of my “meaty main dishes – minus the meat,” but I liked the idea of sharing a way to efficiently (and deliciously) use a byproduct of juicing that deserved a better fate than being relegated to the compost pile. I hope you try it the next time you juice. For a little bit of extra effort, you’ll have a healthy and delicious breakfast or snack from something you would normally compost or (perish the thought!) throw away.
Now, that’s what I call a cure for the Juicer’s Dilemma!
- 1 cup refined organic extra virgin coconut oil
- ½ organic raw sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups unbleached white flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup toasted wheat bran
- ½ - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ginger
- 2 cups pulp from juicing 10 organic carrots
- 1 cup organic raisins
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a stand mixer, beat the coconut oil and sugar together.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and wheat bran.
- Stir half of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, and add half the carrot pulp. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and carrot pulp. You want all the ingredients well incorporated into the batter, but try not to over mix.
- Fold in the pecans and raisins and spoon into muffin tins lined with foil muffin cups. (I actually had more than enough for 2 dozen muffins, so I used the remaining batter to make another 9 bite-sized mini muffins.)
- Bake for 25 minutes. Make sure a toothpick comes out clean when you insert it into the center of the muffin. If it doesn't, bake for another 5-8 minutes.
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