morning glory muffins on a chilly morning

A chilly, but beautiful late fall walk had me longing for a nice hot muffin loaded with sweet carrots, bouncy coconut flakes, and bursting with juicy apples and plump raisins - which could only mean it was time to make these morning glory muffins.

Not as sweet as a carrot cake, but a little more interesting than a whole wheat raisin, these muffins are great to take along to soccer games or autumn hikes - or just hanging out on the sofa reading the Sunday papers. They freeze well - so , even though this recipe makes 10 Texas size muffins, you can just wrap up the leftovers and stash them in the freezer.

To make:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease two Texas size muffin tins.

In mixer bowl place:

2 cups finely grated carrots

1 1/2 cups unsweetened or sweetened coconut

3/4 cup raisins, dark or golden

1/2 cup fresh applesauce ( I used my rosy applesauce)

zest from one lemon, grated

2 t. vanilla

1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil

4 eggs

1 large fresh apple, grated

2 t. cinnamon

Mix well. Then add:

1 t. baking powder

3 t. baking soda

3 1/2 cups King Arthur flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

Mix well again.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop two scoops per muffin into greased muffin tins. There should be 10 Texas size muffins - 20 if you use the smaller muffin tins.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until tops of muffins are firm to a gentle touch.

Remove to cooling rack for 5 minutes, then unmold onto rack to cool another 5 minutes.

These are especially good with a nice hot cup of tea.