hearty morning glory muffins

I am not above eating cake for breakfast (with a hot cup of coffee, of course) and certainly not above eating cake masquerading as a muffin. But in all seriousness, these are not cake, yet I find them equally hard to resist. Whole wheat flour, oats, ground flaxseeds, and wheat germ are the delicious and hearty base of these muffins with no added granulated sugar, albeit some honey and applesauce to sweeten them slightly. I love them freshly baked from the oven, especially with a bit of butter or jam. My two year old daughter likes them as well, but she only takes a couple bites before licking all the jam off and asking for more jam (toddlers, right?). Regardless of who is present to eat them, they never last long and I’m always regretting I didn’t make a double batch. Do not let the long ingredient list dissuade you, it’s an easy “mix everything together” type of recipe.

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HEARTY MORNING GLORY MUFFINS
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1.5 cups (195g) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup (35g) ground flaxseeds
1/3 cup (37g) wheat germ
1 cup (89g) old fashioned oats
3 large eggs
1/4 cup (84g) honey
1/4 cup (57g) melted coconut oil
3/4 cup (191g) unsweetened smooth applesauce
zest of one medium orange
1/3 cup (80ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated apple (about 1 large apple, I recommend a medium sweet/medium tart variety)
1/2 cup (75g) dried sour cherries, chopped (or dried cranberries)
1/2 cup (64g) unsalted toasted pecans, chopped

For serving (optional):
salted butter
raspberry jam

Directions:

1. Grease a muffin tin and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together (whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, ground flaxseeds, wheat germ, and oats). In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined and there are no large pockets of flour.

3. Divide the batter equally between the 12 muffin tins. Bake for 16-18 min, until the muffin tops are starting to crisp/brown and a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. Once out of the oven, let the muffins sit in the tin for another 15 min, then run a knife along the edges to remove and place the muffins on a wire rack to finish cooling. The muffins are delicious warm out of the oven but reheat well in a microwave or toaster oven. Store in an airtight container – they keep for several days at room temperature but after that I recommend placing in the refrigerator to prolong their shelf life.