Morning Glory Muffins

I love the idea of a good hearty muffin for breakfast in the morning. A muffin that will bring you well past lunch, especially if you are someone like me who often looks at the clock to find it is 3:00 p.m. and you still haven't eaten. I always hate that feeling, should I just skip lunch and wait for dinner?
The thing is that a GOOD, hearty muffin is hard to come by. I can't tell you how many terribly dry Morning Glory muffins I have eaten from bakeries across the country. Very rare do you find a place that does them well, or a recipe for that matter. Then there is the whole raisin issue, I'm a bit weird about raisins, for the most part I don't mind them, but some days I really want nothing to do with them. There is nothing worse than biting into a cookie that you thought contained chocolate chips, only to discover it is a raisin cookie.
When I found this recipe for Morning Glory muffins that contained no raisins, but instead apples, I knew I needed to give them a try. They are really great, nice and moist due to the apples. The great thing is that you can trade out ingredients to make them how you like them. You could easily add raisins instead of the nuts, or leave out the coconut. I know there are a lot of coconut haters out there. The apples really are the key, so I wouldn't recommend leaving them out unless you replaced them with something like pears and maybe hazelnuts. Well, that's about enough to send me back to the kitchen. However you make them, I hope they come with a glorious morning.

Amazon.com

Morning Glory Muffins
adapted from The Apple Lover's Cookbook

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 small 8 oz. can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 large apple, grated (you can leave the peel on)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease sixteen muffin cups (yes, this drives me crazy too. Why not 12 or at least 18). Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, pineapple, coconut, apple, and walnuts. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla and stir until just combined.
Divide batter equally amongst muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until muffins are golden colored and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let muffins cool for a few minutes before removing from pan, then place on a cooling rack. Serve warm.