Morning Glory Muffins

My mom has made these muffins for as long as I can remember. For someone who doesn’t have much of an appetite for breakfast, these are perfect to eat in the morning, as they are not only easy to grab and go, but also ensure a feeling of fullness for hours to come. Let’s just say that these babies got me through high school – instead of getting hunger pangs in third period and falling asleep at my desk, I was good to go until lunch.

Long story short: not much has changed since high school. I wake up super early for work with zero appetite and need something to last me until lunch rolls around. Realizing that granola bars weren’t doing the trick, I was brainstorming other options when I remembered these muffins.

My mom was kind enough to lend me her recipe so that I could recreate them. The only changes that I made to her recipe were minor: I incorporated whole wheat flour, halved the amount of salt, used walnuts instead of pecans, and used grape seed oil instead of vegetable oil. They’re super easy to make and have been so nice to have around! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. :)

Note: This recipe makes 36 muffins (which freeze wonderfully).

What you’ll need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2.5 cups pure cane sugar
• 4 tbsp. baking soda
• 4 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp. salt
• 4 cups carrots, grated
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup coconut, shredded
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 apples, peeled and grated
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups grape seed oil
• 4 tbsp. vanilla extract

What you’ll do:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt
• In a separate, large mixing bowl, combine the carrots, raisins, coconut, walnuts, and apples; stir into the flour mixture
• In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract together; stir into the other ingredients until just combined
• Spoon the batter into cupcake liners; bake each batch in the oven for 20 minutes