When life gives you early mornings, make Morning Glory Muffins

kiwiandbean.com

I haven’t set an alarm clock in 22 months. True story. As most parents of young children will attest, babies and toddlers are fabulously consistent, and insistent, little wake up calls. There is no sleeping in, no mistakenly hitting snooze one too many times, no drifting back to sleep to the soft sounds of morning radio. Sigh. Is it terrible that I am counting the days until the Bean can pour herself a bowl of Cheerios and flip on morning toons?

In the meantime, when life gives you early mornings, make morning glory muffins! Or cook dinner for later! Or go to one of those 7 am farmers markets! You used to wonder WHO actually goes shopping at 7 am, right? One thing at a time. Starting with the morning glory muffins.

I have long been a fan of the morning glory muffin. And when I learned that the baked good is by far the best vegetable-to-toddler delivery mechanism, I became an even bigger fan. The morning glory muffin is packed with carrots and apples, but you’d never know it, and this version also has plenty of healthy fats and a good dose of fibre-rich flax seed too. It is sweetened with a moderate amount of maple syrup (instead of the pile of white sugar called for in the original recipe), which is about as virtuous as a sweetener can get.

I had a feeling this muffin might be even better with a little cream cheese maple drizzle and–surprise–I was not wrong. Totally optional, however.

No reason to reserve these muffins for morning, despite their name. Whip up a batch anytime of day and throw them in the freezer for snacks or a modestly nutritious sweet end to lunch.

We will sleep in one day. We will sleep in one day. We will sleep in one day…

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (regular whole wheat will do in a pinch)
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups finely grated carrots (about 3-4 carrots)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 apple peeled and coarsely grated
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• FOR THE GLAZE (optional):
• 1/2 cup softened cream cheese
• 1/4-1/2 cup maple syrup (warmed briefly in the microwave)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 12-cup muffin tray with non-stick spray, or line with baking papers.
2. Whisk together flour, flax seed, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large boil. Add carrots, raisins and apples and stir to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, maple syrup, olive oil and vanilla. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over-mix or muffins will be tough and won't rise properly.
3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin and bake in preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until tops begin to brown and a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. Transfer muffins to wire rack to cool.
4. For the glaze: whisk the warm maple syrup into the cream cheese until you get a nice runny consistency (you may not need all of the maple syrup depending on the consistency of your cream cheese). Drizzle over the cooled muffins.

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Prep Time: 20 minutes           Cook Time: 25 minutes           Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 large muffins