~~goOOOood MoRnin' gLorY mUffINs!~~

{UPDATED 10/11}

I should know better than to do this but I have this "thing" about using new recipes on dinner guests and potluck Sundays. The practical side of me is screaming, "Don't do it!!" And although I've had few occurrences that I was unable to salvage that day is bound to arrive!!

That said - I tried this muffin recipe on my special gals at CBS. And it was well enough received that I thought it was worthy of posting. I got the recipe here and it just sounded yummalicious!! I didn't use the ground flaxseed only because I didn't have it but it still turned out wonderfully. {update - I got some of that flaxseed and although there wasn't any taste/texture difference I'm sure the nutritional benefits went up.} I think they would probably even freeze well if you wanted to double it. FYI: I did make some minor changes to the original recipe to suit my preferences.

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups grated carrots

1 apple chopped

1 cup craisins 

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

2 eggs

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Whisk together the eggs, honey, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. These are the "wet items".

In a large bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground flax seed. This is the "dry items".

Combine the carrots, apple, and craisins.

Chop nuts. I just wanted to show what an awesome job this kitchen tool does with nuts (and so many other foods). It's called a Vidalia Chop Wizard and I got it at Target. It is absolutely fabulous! I have replaced my Pampered Chef Food Chopper with this and have *never* been disappointed!!

Whisk the dry items to the wet items together until it is moistened.  Now pour that yummy smelling batter onto the fruits/veggies mix along with the nuts and combine well.

This is such a pretty batter, huh?

I like to use the Pampered Chef Large Stainless Steel Scoop to fill the muffins cups. It keeps the cups tidy (avoids burnt spots where batter was dripped), and they are uniform scoops so they are all evenly baked. And if you are maintaining portion control this scoop holds three tablespoons of batter.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes and let cool (if you can wait that long) on a rack.

This yields about 2 dozen muffins and each muffin is three Weight Watcher points.