I was feeling a little bleh again today. But then I made muffins, and now I am better! Amazing what a little kitchen therapy will do for you on days where nothing feels inspiring. Plus the smells that waft in the house from these little babies are enough to put anyone in a happy place.
Morning glory muffins are above and beyond my favorite muffin in the entire world. Blueberry is a distant second…a distant second, not a close second. There is something about the combination of apply-carroty-nutty-raisiny-cinnamony flavors that are just perfect. Plus, morning glory muffins tend to be a bit more moist then a lot of other kinds of muffins, due to the moisture from the carrot and apple, which I like.
I’ve used a bunch of different recipes in my life for morning glory muffins, because I’m addicted to trying new recipes, even if there is nothing wrong with the old one. But I think this one might be “the one” for morning glories. It made it into my “good food” recipe binder, which is my collection of tried-and-true recipes I don’t want to lose.
Morning Glory Muffins
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup spelt flour (or flour of choice)
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups carrots, grated
1 large apple, grated
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 eggs
2/3 cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. molasses
1/4 cup orange juice
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare your muffin tin by greasing the tin or lining with paper liners (i’m uber-paranoid and use liners and grease them).
In a small bowl, cover raisins with hot water; set aside to soak.
Whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apples, coconut, pecans, and sunflower seeds. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, applesauce, vanilla, molasses, and orange juice. Add to the flour mixture and stir until evenly combined. Drain raisins and stir them into the mixture. Divide the batter among the muffins tins. Sprinkle with some oats or raw sugar.
Bake for 23-25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool in pan for five minutes.
Notes:
– I always put extra cinnamon in these, because I love cinnamon so much. Feel free to use only two teaspoons if you don’t want these too cinnamony.
– I also add molasses to the batter, which is optional. I just think it adds a good depth of flavor, but these are totally delish without as well!
– This recipe makes around a dozen muffins, depending on your muffin tin size. I actually had batter left that wouldn’t fit into my tins, so I just put the extra in a small souffle dish I have and it baked up fine. It’s like having a little morning glory cake!
Enjoy these with a cup of something hot and a pat of butter or a smear of honey.
Cheers to you!
What about you: do you like to try new recipes for something you already know how to make? Or do you prefer to stick to the tried-and-true?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Ha. I just got done sticking a apple/carrot/banana cake in the oven. 🙂 It's actually a paleo bread recipe, but I have better luck baking a double batch in a cake pan. I always go overboard with grease too. For a reason! 😉
I am way too comfortable with the tried and true that I've perfected and can whip up in no time. I pull myself out of a repetitious cooking funk sometimes when I'm inspired or by force. 🙂 It takes me a long time to get over a flop in the kitchen, so trying something new isn't always fun. It's usually not completely ruined, but like bread that can't be coaxed out of a pan clean…just has a way of squashing the fun. :p When it's perfect the first time, it is a happy day.
You may have just inspired me to head too the kitchen, these look yummy, and rather healthy. I always think I should make muffins and then I feel guilty feeding by kids cake for breakfast.
I like to try knew recipes but I have to be quite certain that they will an improvement on my old favorites first and I usually can't quite follow the recipe anyway.
It's always better to err on the side of too much grease, in my perspective. 😉
The nice thing about these muffins is the healthy dose of carrot…it's a perfect balance. 😉
Have you tried using Honey in place of the B Sugar?
I haven't tried that…I'm sure it could work, as long as you adjust liquid measurements a bit. Maybe cut back on the applesauce??
I'll have to give it a shot sometime. Probably the morning before I need to leave for a trip is not the time to test that out. Just try to do healthier where I can. 🙂
Have you ever tried coconut sugar? It's a granulated sugar like white sugar, but with a whole lot of actual health properties. But you can use it just like regular sugar, which is cool.