Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil eighteen 1/2-cup muffin cups.
Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, cardamom, and salt and whisk in sugar.
Coarsely shred enough carrots to measure 2 cups and chop pecans. Add shredded carrots and pecans to flour mixture with raisins and coconut and toss well.
In a bowl whisk together eggs, brown sugar, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Core apple and coarsely shred. Stir shredded apple into egg mixture. Add to flour mixture, stirring until batter is just combined well.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them three-fourths full, and bake in middle of oven until puffed and a tester comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Instead of spelt flour, use 1 cup whole-wheat flour and 1 cup white flour.
I like using spelt flour because it is more nutritious than white (wheat) flour, but is also light whereas whole-wheat flour makes the muffins dense.