Morning Glory Muffins

First of all, can I tell you I tried these for the first time at a great cafe in McKenna, Washington? Liquid Soul uses absolutely no sugar in almost all of their pastries and pies. It is truly incredible. So, I needed to try to make these myself and found them on the web.  Believe it or not; only had one tweaking. Only because I forgot the coconut. But they came out great and a super way to use some of my fabulous juicer pulp.  (I won’t tell if you won’t tell!) These are usually much larger in shops and topped with beautiful sugar…..but we know I cut as much of that out as possible. But if you’re having guests, do add a touch on top!

Morning Glory Muffins
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/3 cup walnut halves
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I only used 1/4 cup)
2 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 medium carrot, grated
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
3/4 cup chopped pineapple
3 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil-(I used butter)
6 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut (Didn’t have so I used more pineapple juice and carrot pulp from my juicer!!)

Preheat oven to 350F. Oil or butter your 12 cup muffin tin.
Place raisins in a small bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let sit for 10 minute while raisins plump, then strain and squeeze out excess liquid with your hands. Set aside.
Place walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool, then chop coarsely and set aside.
Sift four, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Mix gently with a wooden spoon and set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, combine raisins, walnuts, carrot, apple, pineapple, eggs, canola oil, melted butter, lemon juice, vanilla extract and coconut; mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
Add the dry ingredients and continue stirring just until all the dry ingredients are moistened. It’s important not to over mix. Scoop batter into oiled muffin tin, filling the cups to the top.
Bake on the center rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes, then slide a fork down the sides of each muffin and gently lift it from the pan.
Makes One Dozen.
As you can see I used cups instead of oil for my muffins.

I wore my Napa apron of course. And would someone rave about not having to use a mixer! Not a single cupboard got slimed. This is truly love at first batch. Not a drop on my apron. I have passed them out to my friends and we will see how they rate!! Next time, I think the coconut will be a great addition.

Bon Appetit!