What's The Story, Morning Glory

Last month I posted a recipe for breakfast protein bars.  They turned out pretty well, but just a bit heavier than I like in the morning.  Boo...

Since then, I've been searching for another breakfast option.  Enter Morning Glory Muffins.  I'm a carboholic, so I was pretty sure muffins would be a good option and something I'd actually want to eat in the morning. 

I changed the original recipe slightly -- added in flax seed for fiber (since I couldn't find wheat germ), and used applesauce instead of apple butter, to cut down on the calories.  I also changed some of the flour proportions, based on what reviewers said worked best, and used 1 teaspoon almond butter to thicken the batter.

Disclaimer:  this is an easy recipe, but there are a ton of ingredients.  Don't be intimidated, most of them are affordable and easy to find!

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups grated carrots

1 apple - peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup raisins

1 egg

2 egg whites

1 cup applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons ground flax seed

1 teaspoon almond butter

Reason #4235 I shouldn't be a food blogger... I pretty much forgot to take pictures while making this recipe!

Directions:

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2 - In a medium bow, whist together eggs, egg whites, applesauce, oil and vanilla extract.

Step 3 - In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, ground flax seed, and salt.  Stir in carrots, apples and raisins.  I also added the walnuts directly to the batter, versus using them just on the muffin tops, like the original recipe directed.  Stir in liquid contents from step 2  until moistened. 

It should look something like this:

Step 4 - Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4  of the way full.  I only had a 12 muffin cup pan, so I baked the remaining muffins in a second round. 

Step 5 - Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes (15 minutes was plenty for mine), or until the tops are golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for a couple minutes before removing from muffin pan. 

Taaa-daaa!  The roomie and I both tried one of the muffins, and liked them a lot!  They taste a bit like a cinnamon apple muffin, without much of a hint of the flax and carrot (yay).  I'm planning to take a few to work for breakfast this week, and freeze the rest for a later.  If you like something bready for breaky, I think you'll be satisfied :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend, despite the less than ideal weather here in DC.  I was looking through the Cooper pictures on my computer, and realized I have so many good ones to share... here's another flashback from when he was around 12 weeks old (courtesy of DawgDad):

Aww <3

xoxo,
Olivia