Healthy Fruit and Veggie Muffins

I'm pregnant again with our third, and eating processed free couldn't be more important than right now!  So, as I was flipping through my copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting again, I found a gingerbread carrot muffin recipe that looked pretty good.  For the most part it was already pretty clean - I only had to make a few swaps to completely make these processed free.  The original recipe called for dried apricots, which I did use, but I think these would taste great to substitute blueberries, unsweetened dried cranberries, dates or some other fruit.  This recipe makes 12 muffins.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal) or wheat germ
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup white grape juice concentrate
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. minced peeled fresh ginger
1 cup grated carrots

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.  In a bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, flaxseed, oats, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and baking powder.  Then add the apricots and nuts.

In a separate bowl, whisk the juice, eggs, oil, vanilla, and fresh ginger.  Add this mixture to the previous one and stir until it is well blended, but not over mixed.  Fold in the carrots and evenly spoon the batter into the muffins liners.  Bake them for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.  Transfer them to a wire rack to cool and either store them in an air-tight container for 3 days or freeze them for about a month. 

I love that these have whole grains, fruits, veggies, and no refined oils or sugars - a home run for the kids!