Carrots... carrots... carrots soup

So I no longer have a single carrot in my house. But we sure enjoyed our carrot soup from our Samantha, an American Girl cookbook.:-)

Samantha's Cream of Carrot Soup

• 2 pounds of carrots
• 4 cups chicken broth
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups milk

• Peel the carrots and cut into ½ inch slices. Place carrots in a small saucepan with chicken broth over medium heat. When the broth begins to boil, turn heat down to medium-low.
• Cook carrots for 20 minutes or until they are very soft.
• Pour the broth from the carrots into a bowl and set aside.
• Put the drained carrots back into the saucepan and mash with potato masher until smooth,
• Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add butter. When it melts and sizzles, add flour and stir often for 3-4 minutes.
• Add mashed carrots, salt, and cayenne pepper. Stir.
• Slowly pour in broth and stir until soup is smooth and bubbly,
• Add half and half. Stir again and heat soup slowly. Do not let boil.
• Pour into bowls and top each serving with croutons.
  Serves 10-12