Morning Glory Muffins

It's been a while since I've posted a muffin recipe...I'm sure you all are wondering where my restraint has been. But, I broke down yesterday--my love of the morning glory muffins sold at Whole Foods won me over. Fortunately, they have been kind enough to share that recipe with the public on their website. The great thing about this muffin is that you don't feel guilty eating it--it's choc full of good-for-you ingredients: carrots, apples, walnuts, whole grains....and then there's the wonderful addition of raisins and coconut. It's like a healthier carrot cake recipe. My 2 year old and I are in love with this recipe. It was wonderful and I highly recommend it.

What did I do different? Well, instead of 2/3 cup oil, I used 1/3 cup canola oil and 1/3 cup applesauce. Worth the change. Also, I added all the coconut in the batter and not on top. I used less sugar than called for, but then sprinkled the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar because I like the crunch and the sparkle. Also, instead of a whole apple, I used 1/2 an apple and 1/2 a pear. But you don't have to do any of these things--I was impressed that it held up to my changes. It's a sign of a really good recipe.

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS
Adapted from Whole Foods

Yield: 16 according to Whole Foods, 12 according to me


1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed natural brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Fuji apple, cored, peeled and diced
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dried flaked unsweetened coconut, divided

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; break up any brown sugar lumps with your fingers or a wooden spoon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil and vanilla, then add to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Add apples, raisins, carrots, walnuts and 1/4 cup of the coconut and stir gently until well combined. Look at how pretty healthy can be:

Spoon batter into 16 paper-lined muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full. Top evenly with remaining 4 teaspoons coconut and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through.

YUM!!!!!

By the way, these muffins make wonderful afternoon snacks with tea.