Morning Glory Muffins

These morning glory muffins are packed with carrots, coconut, apple, and raisins. They make a great start to any morning.

We’re leaving for vacation next week which means I’m spending this week dreaming about the beach, fresh sea food, and finding ways to procrastinate packing. I’m planning for a road trip, which means I’m also dreaming about giant bags of beef jerky, peanut M & Ms, and Take 5 bars errr, healthy snacks.

These morning glory muffins are the only thing that stands between me and a 10 hour long tummy ache. They’re sweet, but not overly so, and they’re packed with good for you ingredients. I don’t know where the term “morning glory” came from–it would probably be more accurate to call these “kitchen sink” muffins. A combination of carrot, coconut, apple chunks, and raisins fills these moist, dense muffins.

I know a lot of people prefer their muffins big and puffy, stuffed with blueberries or bananas, studded with chocolate chips, and dusted with powdered sugar. Me? I prefer the humbler, gnarly-er morning glory muffin. I’m not going to pretend these are the prettiest or most impressive muffins out there. Let’s face it, they’re knobby brownish lumps.

But what these babies may lack in visual appeal, they more than make up for in flavor. This is like eating a really, really good carrot cake…for breakfast. Every bite is a burst of textures and flavors- sweet, tart, juicy, nutty. It’s got it all. No spread, no butter necessary.

This is a recipe you can easily adjust to suit your preferences. I like to use white whole wheat flour, which keeps these nice and light but ups the nutritional value. You could also replace half the flour with regular whole wheat flour. Sometimes I add walnuts or almonds or ground flax seed to boost the protein. Sometimes I use unsweetened coconut, sometimes sweetened coconut. Here’s one thing I wouldn’t change: the raisins.

I know, I know. Raisins aren’t exactly a crowd favorite, but they don’t have to be dry, stick to your molars, disappointing replacements for chocolate chips. I learned a useful tip from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion. Whenever you bake with raisins, always give them a good soak in water first. They’ll plump right up and become juicy, perfectly sweet nuggets you’ll be happy to bite into. And if you’re feeling extra adventurous, you can even soak them in bourbon or wine or orange juice or whatever tickles your fancy.

I plan to have a big bag of these riding shot gun all the way to Charleston.

Recipe adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion