Buttery Carrot Souffle

My go-to potluck dishes are: this buttery carrot souffle, chicken soup, or colorful salad with homemade dressing. 

And this carrot souffle is always a hit. Plus I love to eat the leftovers for breakfast (if there are any!). My 3-year-old just had a big piece of carrot souffle as her bedtime snack.

Warning: if I'm late to a potluck, I often blame the souffle—it needs sufficient time to steam the carrots and be mixed thoroughly as well as time in the oven to rise. And it will deflate somewhat by the time the potluck begins—but it still tastes the same!

Worried about all the butter? No need!

Of course carrots are good for us, but many of the nutrients in carrots are fat soluble so without fat, our bodies are unable to absorb them. So embrace all that butter—the fat may even quiet the sweetest of tooths. 

Plus there’s no added sugar needed when the carrots are already so sweet. 

Also, before you ask, I don't have any eggs for sale now, but will in the spring, when the girls are laying well again! Consider this recipe for the holidays—it’ll be on our tables.

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes + 40 minutes Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

• 7 medium carrots (3 overflowing cups of cooked carrots)

• 7 medium eggs (chicken not duck)

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• 1 Tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• optional : 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

DIRECTIONS:

1. Loosely chop carrots and steam until soft, about 15 minutes. Let cool.

2. Put two sticks of unsalted butter into 9 x 12 casserole dish and place in oven. Preheat oven to 350.

3. Add cooled carrots, melted butter, and eggs to a large deep bowl. Mix with hand blender. If you don't have a hand blender, get one for easy cleanup! But for now, mix all in a traditional blender or food processor.

4. Add sea salt, baking powder, vanilla, and cinnamon and blend well until smooth.

5. Spoon into casserole dish and bake until mixture is set, about 40 minutes.

Option 1: I prefer to use a 9 x 12 casserole dish. But you could use 2 (1 1/2-quart) baking dishes instead and they'll cook a little faster.

Option 2: For sweet potato souffle casserole minus all the marshmallows, swap out 3 cups cooked sweet potato for carrot in the above recipe.

Option 3: For a traditional very sweet and super fluffy carrot souffle, follow Paula Dean's carrot souffle recipe, on which this one is loosely based.