Morning Glory Muffins (Low Calorie/Vegan) | Muffins and Quick Bread Recipes

My LO has taken a liking to muffins and quick-breads and I am making many varieties of muffin batches like this Very Berry Muffins and this recipe here. This muffin here uses less oil than the typical morning glory muffins and substitutes apple sauce instead. I have also used Agave syrup instead of regular sugar making it a teeny bit naturally sweetened. I store the batch in a freezer safe ziptop bag and pullout one whenever needed and microwave for half a minute. 

Ingredients:
Adapted from here
Makes 12 muffins
Whole Wheat flour - 2 cups (can use a mix of both whole wheat and all-purpose flour)
Cinnamon powder - 2 tsp
Ginger powder - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Grated carrots - 2 cups (about 4 medium sized carrots)
Dried fruits - 1/2 cup (I used a mix of cranberries, raisins and figs)
Unsweetened Applesauce - 1 cup (recipe follows)
Oil -1/2 cup (Canola/vegetable)
Agave nectar - 1/2 cup (can substitute honey/maple syrup)
Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners or grease with oil. Sieve the dry ingredients (first 6) together. Mix the grated carrots, dried fruits, applesauce, oil, agave and vanilla in a separate bowl with a fork. Pour over the flour mixture and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Set aside for 10-15 minutes (You could also preheat the oven at this time). Fill in muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes. When done, transfer to a cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container for a few days or freeze in a ziptop bag for several weeks.
Note: Fan of nuts? Add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts in the batter before baking.