Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins

Well I woke up today with a minor hang over, I'm not much of a drinker so anything more than one drink I usually end up with a headache.  Weak sauce right?  Anyways I prefer to be the DD in most situations.  But I couldn't let St Patties day and my husbands birthday pass without going to the only Irish bar in Misawa Japan and having a pint of Guinness. I love this bar (wishing I had a picture of it) it's called Paddy's and its literally like stepping into a irish drinking pub, they have celtic music playing in the background, authentic poured Guinness on tap and all sorts of neat knickknack and pictures on the walls. The Japanese man that owns the bar actually went to Ireland for sometime to learn how to pour a Guinness and run a pub. Pretty cool and he has pictures around the bar of his year spent in Ireland. Anyways I've been craving muffins for sometime and waking up this morning with a headache I thought muffins might be a good remedy and a healthy snack to take to work during the week. These muffins aren't only Oishii but they are healthy.  Made with part whole wheat flour, a little sugar and lots of pineapples and carrots I don't feel so guilty sinking my teeth into one of these plump muffins. By the way funny story I almost added Roasted Cumin to the batter instead of Cinnamon, I bought both spices recently and grabbed what appeared to be cinnamon and I started to measure out the spice and was just about to toss it into the batter when I got a whiff of "cinnamon" only to take a second glance at the jar I was holding and notice that it was Roasted Cumin oops..that could I have had some interesting consequences. Thank goodness for my sense of smell.

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffins
Adapted from Eating well

Yields 12 Muffins

Bake time 20-25 Minutes


Ingredients 

Topping

• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped Almonds (or your choice of nut)
• 1 10-ounce can pineapple slices

MUFFINS

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons pineapple juice, or orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, (not drained)
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup chopped Almonds 

Note: The original recipe calles for rasins, I didn't have any but I'm sure if you add them it will bring some more natural sweetness to the muffins.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. To prepare topping: Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar into each muffin cup. Sprinkle nuts, if using, over the sugar. Stack pineapple slices and cut into 6 wedges. Place 2 wedges in each muffin cup.

3.Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in oil, juice and vanilla. Stir in crushed pineapple. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Stir in carrot, oats, and nuts, if using. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be quite full).

4.  Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Immediately loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a baking sheet. Restore any stray pineapple pieces and nuts. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve upside-down, either warm or at room temperature.