"I Can't Believe It's Not Leavened!" (Best Passover Muffin Recipe Ever!)

Is it weird that every holiday for me centers around the making and eating of food?

Weeks ago we made plans with friends and invited them over for a weekend brunch.  I didn't realize then that it would be Passover and I wouldn't be able to rely on crusty baguettes or my favorite zucchini bread to supplement the menu.

In our family we give up bread and other associated products on Passover to commemorate the Jews' hasty exodus from enslavement in Egypt and eat matzah-- unleavened, cracker-like, disgusting, aptly named "bread of affliction"-- for 8 days.

So I Googled like crazy, as I often do.  And lo and behold, I am not the only one who obsesses about holiday foods!  A search for "passover muffins" yielded pages of recipes, and after sifting through them I was able to make up a recipe of my own to suit this weekend's brunch.  It seems that I am not the only one who spends two weeks out of every year in a frenzied search for recipes to soften the blow of eight days of no bread

If I do say so myself, these Kosher for Passover muffins will knock your socks off.  They're fluffy, tender, moist, and to be honest, make me feel a little guilty for enjoying myself so much!

Oh, and P.S., I made them in a mini muffin tin, and my toddler gobbled them right up.

Carrot Raisin Kosher For Passover Muffins
I discovered a little baking trick.  Since it's kind of hard to find Kosher for Passover baking powder (needs to be without cornstarch) I had to rely on baking soda to do all my KFP leavening.  The trick is to activate the soda at the last moment with the acid from the yogurt and vinegar.  So once the dry and wet are mixed, you need to move swiftly to fill the muffin tins and pop them in a hot oven so that your muffins will puff up.  Don't ask me why this kind of "leavening" is allowed on Passover while things that puff with yeast are not.  All I know is that it is :)

Time to make: < 30 min
Makes: about 24 regular sized muffins OR 48 mini muffins.

Wet ingredients:
3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups greek yogurt (I like Chobani's Non-Fat Plain, as I've mentioned before!)
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Mix-ins:
1 1/4 cups grated carrot
2/3 cup raisins

Dry ingredients:
3/4 cup matzo meal (sifted to get rid of those really big pieces)
1/2 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease muffin tins with olive oil.

Beat together sugar with wet ingredients.  Stir in carrots and raisins.

Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl.

Now move swiftly.  Mix dry ingredients into the wet and stir until well combined.  Using teaspoons, fill muffin tins and pop in the hot oven.  Bake mini muffins for 15-20 minutes, regular muffins for 20-25 or until puffed and browned.

Try not to eat them all in one sitting.