Weekday-Worthy Muffins: Carrots, Raisins, Apple, Coconut, and Orange Juice

Confession: I don't eat breakfast. I do scrounge the cafeteria at my work for bagels and pastries, which show up every couple of weeks. They are leftovers donated by Starbucks, frozen and then reheated when there are meetings people find deserving of coffee and pastries... but I digress.

The point is, my mom made these unbelievably delicious muffins from the King Arthur flour website when I was visiting my family last month. I'm not a morning muffin kind of person. Frankly, I avoid chewing before 11AM if I can help it. But these - ooh! They have enough natural sweetness to them that I've found I can cut the amount of sugar in half - which really helps my blood sugar not to lose it before lunch. The first time I made them, I basically followed the instructions below except that I didn't use walnuts or sunflower seeds. When I made them again at the beginning of this week, I used about 2.5-3 cups of grated carrot (the recipe calls for 2 cups) and probably 3/4 cup of raisins (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup). I also cut the coconut down from 1/2 to 1/4 cup, just because that was all I had left. Here's the recipe:

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
• 1 cup brown sugar (I upped the raisins and carrots, and halved the amount of sugar, and they still turned out plenty sweet)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups carrots, peeled and grated
• 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I used the kind from the bulk bin. I wasn't sure if it was the same thing because it certainly doesn't start out as moist as the kind you buy in a bag in the baking aisle - but it worked out just fine)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (meh. Didn't use these, since like I said, I don't chew more than I have to in the morning, and don't really like walnuts)
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional (didn't do this, but it sounds good)
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil for the nice scent and because I wanted to try it out)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup orange juice (I don't regularly have orange juice on hand, so I just bought a can of orange juice concentrate, and each time I make these I scoop out a couple of tablespoons and mix them with warm water)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.

To make the muffins: In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ, if using. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they'll be full almost to the top; that's OK).

To bake the muffins: Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling.

(Carrina's note: 20 minutes seems to be plenty of time, especially if you're using a dark pan like I did. I think my mom found this to be the case, too.)

I tried out some freebie silicone muffin cups.