 | | | Morning Glory Muffins Photos Susie Iventosch | | | | | | I just adore morning glory muffins. They are my favorites - full of spices, nuts, fruit, and even carrots. Many bakeries make great morning glory muffins, but the best I've ever had were those from Stacey Cakes bakery in McCall, Idaho because they have the warm spice of cloves and cinnamon and they're made with oats and all sorts of goodies. And, they are huge, made in the jumbo muffins tins. Actually, they might be a little too big, since I'm inclined to eat the entire thing in one sitting!
A few recipes have made their way into our kitchen, but they always seem to have come up short . until now. With the goal of creating the perfect morning glory muffin, I assembled all of the ingredients I thought should be in a muffin and went about my work. After a few attempts, I think this is it. At least my family thinks so and I hope you will too. This one calls for crushed pineapple, which makes the muffins really moist, but it doesn't stop there. We also added grated apple and carrots, unsweetened coconut, pecans, plumped raisins and oats. And, then, we topped it all with a crumb topping.
Top `o the morning (glory) to ya!
Spicy Morning Glory Muffins
Makes 18 regular 2-inch muffins
INGREDIENTS
Dries:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
Liquids and Goodies:
1 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup carrots, (peeled and grated)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1 cup crushed pineapple (drained of juices)
1 cup raisins (reconstituted in boiling water for 15 minutes and squeezed dry)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
Crumb Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
2 tablespoons canola oil
Mix all dries together in a bowl, including oats. Stir in oil until the mixture is crumbly, resembling a crumb topping.
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two muffin tin pans with paper liners. Spray liners lightly with cooking spray.
Mix all dries in a bowl and whisk together to blend well.
In a separate large bowl, mix together oil, eggs, vanilla, carrots, apples, raisins, pecans, pineapple, and coconut to incorporate all ingredients.
Add dries to the egg mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon to incorporate everything together.
Spoon into muffin liners, filling to 1/4-inch from the top. Sprinkle crumb topping over each muffin.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean or the tops of the muffins spring back when indented with your finger.
Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve.
To serve, wrap in foil and heat through or serve cold or room temperature. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA