Glorious muffins have carrots, apples, walnut—every bite delicious

They did help usher in a glorious morning—several of them, in fact. I made these Morning Glory Muffins for Easter weekend. Hubby and I enjoyed them both Saturday and Sunday.

They are packed with goodness—shredded carrots, chopped walnuts, grated apple, and chopped dried apricots. The recipe, which hailed from a recent Kroger grocery flyer, called for dried chopped cherries, but I had a small package of apricots that I needed to use. The substitute worked great. We loved the addition of a little coconut to this nutty muffin that is jammed with healthy things.

Having these delicious gems awaiting us over the weekend was a great addition to our holiday. The muffins also freeze well, so I stored away several for a future Saturday when I want a breakfast muffin but don’t have time to stir up one.

Morning Glory Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 teaspoons baking oda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 cups shredded carrots

1/2 cup dried cherries roughly chopped (I used dried apricots)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

1 apple, cored and shredded with a cheese grater

3 eggs (I used 3/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups or line muffins pan with paper muffin liners. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in carrots, dried cherries, nuts, coconut, and apple. In a separate bowl beat together eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into the flour/carrot mixture just until the latter is moistened. Pour batter into each prepared muffin cup; fill about two-thirds full. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin emerges clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Little bites of carrot-cake heaven in this "lighten-up" recipe

I adore carrot cake but know the gooey cream-cheese frosting that’s part-and-parcel of it somewhat defeats the purpose of all the carrots’ nutritional value. I loved the fact that in its “Lighten Up” feature recently Southern Living produced a lighter version of a traditional carrot cake recipe; this included a frosting utilizing the 1/3-less-fat (such as Neufchatel) cream cheese. But it still seemed too much. Besides, who needs a whole cake sitting around as a temptation? 

This same magazine feature also offered this option: carrot cake muffins—identical recipe but in a muffin format that included the addition of pecans (and golden raisins, too, which I opted out of). Muffins could be enjoyed and then frozen and reheated for later dining. The recipe called for three cups of grated carrots and an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained.

I wondered whether the muffins without the frosting would be stand-alone good or a little bland. I shouldn’t have been concerned. The muffins were majorly moist and sweet and were like dining on mini-carrot cakes. By themselves they made a great Sunday-morning breakfast or as an add-on to my usual breakfast cereal. 

Southern Living tub-thumped its recipe with the headline, “You can thank us later, when your mouth isn’t full.” Via the Internet I can tippy-type my thanks even with my mouth full, which it indeed was this weekend as I enjoyed these bites of carrot heaven.

Carrot Cake Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 (8-ounce can) crushed pineapple in juice, drained

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs (or egg substitute)

2 egg whites (or egg-white substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place about 15 paper baking cups in muffin pans; coat baking cups with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine first 5 ingredients; in the center of mixture make a well. Whisk together pineapple and next 4 ingredients; add pineapple mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in carrots and pecans. Spoon batter into baking cups. Fill cups about 2/3 full. Bake as directed. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes about 15 muffins.

Late-season farm stand yields zucchini for delightful mini-muffins

Oh boy, oh boy, we found a roadside farm stand still open and still offering fall veggies! Sometimes this late in the year we end up disappointed when we go on a hunt for outdoor produce stands, but the one to which we were directed in rural Oklahoma (where we traveled for Hubby's physical exam that I mentioned last week) was well-stocked and ready for business.

I jumped for joy when I saw zucchini on the produce table. Now I could make my Carrot-Zucchini Mini-Muffins that always smell so autumn-y when they're in the oven. The recipe was from a Family Circle magazine of several years back. I love the fact that these muffins are bite-sized and taste wonderful by themselves or with some of my homemade peach preserves that I put up during the summer.

I've mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating about a simple solution to recipes calling for buttermilk: any recipe calling for buttermilk has an easy substitution. In this case put 3 teaspoons vinegar in a one-cup measuring cup; then fill the remainder of the cup with skim milk. Let this stand for five minutes. You can forget about having to purchase buttermilk which has a high fat content and then be stuck with the remainder sitting around in the refrigerator unused.

We enjoyed these as a little "extra" with our breakfast cereal in the mornings, but they also would be great as an "extra" (healthy) side dish with a Thanksgiving meal. Thank you, little Oklahoma roadside stand, for being available to us with this fresh produce just before closing-down time for winter. Makes us eager for spring when the whole cycle starts up again.

Carrot-Zucchini Mini-Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 large egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup buttermilk (or 3 teaspoons white vinegar mixed with the rest of the cup filled with

skim milk)

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar (or 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1 small zucchini, shredded (1 cup)

2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded (1 cup)

1/2 cup pecans

2 tablespoons chopped pecans for topping

Heat oven to 375 degrees. With nonstick cooking spray, coat just the bottoms of three mini-muffin pans. In a large bowl whisk together both flours, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In medium-sized bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk, oil, and sugar until blended. Stir in zucchini, carrots, and nuts. Make a well in flour mixture; pour in egg mixture. Stir until dry ingredients are just moistened. Into each cup spoon a rounded tablespoon of batter. Sprinkle tops with chopped pecans. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes until toothpick emerges clean. Cool pans on rack for 5 minutes. Remove muffins; cool on rack. Makes 36 mini muffins.