Morning Glory Muffins & Cheap Homemade Applesauce

[Aliza Ess]

I'm sure many of you on here already know about buying apple "seconds" (the apples that have some dings and bruises) to make cheap homemade applesauce. Now that it's winter I absolutely love making lots of baked goods and replacing some of the fat with applesauce!

I recently posted on my blog about making low-cost homemade applesauce (and making sure you can it properly!)

I also posted my favorite variations on a healthy breakfast muffin that I can't stop eating.  You can see in the photo above that it's chock-full of delicious pantry treats! You can check out the full blog post here.

Here's a re-post of the recipe:

Morning Glory Muffins

posted from the King Arthur Flour website

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) raisins
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (7 ounces) carrots, peeled and grated
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup (2 ounces) orange juice

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.

To make the muffins: In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ, if using. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they'll be full almost to the top; that's OK).

To bake the muffins: Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling. 

Enjoy! What are some of your favorite healthy baking recipes?

[Jake Mark]

I personally love any chocolate cookie with milk for breakfast. I use some easy cookie recipes that i found there because they are easy and fast to do.

[Cornelia]

YUM!!!

[Caroline Malcolm]

I just had some Morning Glory muffins at my grandmothers! I thought this was an ORIGINAL recipe all these years...Oh well, they still taste fit for a King (Arthur) ;)

[Aliza Ess]

Thanks for the comments Cornelia and Caroline :)