I almost always have carrots around. They are tasty and inexpensive and super versatile. In high school, I used to eat them at swim meets for a boost of natural sugar. Now I’ll have them raw with smoked salt or roasted with tahini, quick-pickled, in my dad’s carrot slaw, or as a stew or soup base in a mirepoix. And then, of course, there’s carrot cake. Here, I present maple candied carrot confit.
I love making carrot confit because it’s so straightforward and very low-maintenance. Just throw your pan in the oven, let the carrots cook slowly, and be amazed at their candy metamorphosis into maple candied carrot confit. Don’t forget to mix them every now and then!
Serves 2-4
ingredients
- 2 pounds of carrots, grated and diagonally sliced
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
steps
Preheat the oven to 275°F. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the maple syrup and stir until combined.
Place the carrots in pan and sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and orange zest over the top. Evenly pour the maple butter over the top of the carrots and mix using a rubber spatula. Shake the pan so that the carrots evenly cover the bottom of it.
Bake for 3 hours until the carrots are soft.
