Recipe Corner - Morning Glory Muffins

My sister and I went on an unexpected out of town trip this past weekend. My sister is all kinds of "Martha Stewart" when it comes to baking and whatnot and made the most wonderfully delicious muffins before we left in the morning. Did I mention that we left at about 7:30am? Yeah, hello super-mom!!

Anyway, I finagled the recipe out of her and thought I would share. It is from the The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook.

Morning Glory Muffins

1/2 cup (3 ounces) raisins
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (7 ounces) peeled and grated carrots
1 large tart apple (6-7 ounces), grated
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (2 ounces) sliced almonds or chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sunflower seeds or wheat germ (optional)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease 12 muffin cups. Put the raisins in a small bowel and cover them with hot water; set aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ. In a separate bowel, beat eggs, oil, and vanilla together. Add to the flour mixture and stir until evenly combined. Drain the raisins and stir into the batter.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. **My sister likes to sprinkle some sugar on the tops before baking** Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, then turn out of the pans to finish cooling.

Nutritional Information per serving:
334 calories
17g fat
5g protein
25g complex carbohydrates
17g sugar
2g dietary fiber
53mg cholesterol
339mg sodium
202mg potassium
542RE vitamin A
3mg vitamin C
2mg iron
75mg phosphorus

Not only are these muffins delicious but they are jam-packed with fruits and vegetables. They are filling and make the house smell absolutely delicious when they are baking. If you are unfamiliar with King Arthur Flour, you should look into using it for baking. We discovered it when we noticed that our cookies were not fluffing up like they used to when we lived in the northeast. Turns out that they make regular four different for different regions of the country and in the south it's made so it's better for things like cornbread rather than things like rolls. But the King Arthur Flour is the same no matter where you buy it and it bakes the same no matter where you are. It's available in the baking aisle. It is more expensive than regular flour but you can tell in how the baked goods turn out that it is worth the price.