Morning Glory Muffins

This time of year is one of my favorites: the temperatures have finally dropped, making for chilly mornings where I allow myself to cuddle up with a cup of coffee while I read my Bible. Since we typically have muffins or some kind of baked treat in the house, I also grab one of those for a little mid-morning pick-me-up while Madeleine takes her nap. Last week I tried this recipe for Morning Glory muffins, and Caleb and I both loved how packed full they were of different flavors. This recipe was perfect because I had an extra Granny Smith apple on hand and also a bunch of carrots that I needed to use up. This makes a lot of muffins if you're hosting a crowd for Thanksgiving this week, but I also halved the recipe and they turned out great.

Morning Glory Muffins
4 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 tsp baking soda
4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
12 carrots, peeled, coarsely grated in food processor (4 cups)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans (4 ounces)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely grated with box grater
6 eggs
2 cups vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter 30 muffin cups.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, raisins, pecans, coconut, and apples. Whisk together eggs, oil, and vanilla in another bowl, then add to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them to the top. Bake muffins, in batches if necessary, until springy to the touch, about 30 minutes per batch. Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm or room temperature. Makes about 30 muffins.

source: recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook