Carrot cake and cream cheese muffins

• light brown soft sugar↗175g g

  plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling

• self-raising flour↗200g g
• baking soda↗1 tsp tsp
• ground cinnamon↗2 tsp tsp
• ground ginger↗1½ tsp tsp
• eggs↗2
• sunflower oil↗150ml ml
• orange↗1

  zested

• vanilla extract↗2 tsp tsp
• carrot↗175g g

  peeled and grated

• raisins↗50g g
• walnuts↗50g g

  roughly chopped

• full-fat soft cheese↗100g g

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and line a 12‑hole muffin tin with paper cases. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger with a pinch of salt.

2. 2

   In a jug, whisk together the eggs, oil, orange zest and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients, add the carrot, raisins and walnuts and stir with a spatula until fully combined.

3. 3

   Spoon 2 tbsp of the mixture into each paper case. Top with ½ tbsp of soft cheese, then finish with the remaining carrot batter. Sprinkle each muffin with a pinch of brown sugar and bake for 25 minutes until they rise and turn golden. Let cool completely on a rack. Store in an airtight container for up to three days.