These are healthy muffins with natural sweeteners, whole wheat flour, and loads of carrots, coconut, and raisins. These are hearty breakfast pastries and afternoon snacks and make great little energy bites that are simple, make ahead, and easy to freeze. Learn more about the recipe on thewoodandspoon.com Morning Glory Muffins by Wood and Spoon Blog by Kate Wood. 

• Author: Kate Wood
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 20
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 13
• Category: Breakfast

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (180 gm) milk
• 1/3 cup (80 gm) canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• ½ cup (100 gm) sugar
• ¼ cup (50 gm) brown sugar
• 1 cup (140 gm) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (140 gm) whole wheat flour
• 2–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2–1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• ½ cup raisins
• ¼ cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and put paper muffin lines in a 12-compartment tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, egg, applesauce, and extract until smooth. Stir in the carrots and both sugars. Add the flours, baking powder, salt, and  cinnamon and stir just till barely combined. Fold in the coconut, raisins, and pecans. Divide the batter among the 12-muffin compartment. Mine usually end up about 2/3- 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle the tops of each with sparkling sugar or additional mix-ins (if desired) and bake in the preheated oven for about 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool briefly before consuming!

Notes

• As an option, you can use 1-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour and only ½ cup of all-purpose flour. In this instance, use ½ cup brown sugar and only ¼ cup of white sugar. This will help to keep the muffins moist.
• If you don’t plan to consume the muffins on the day of preparing them, seal them in a Tupperware or large plastic bag and freeze until ready to consume. This will help to keep the muffins moist and fresh!