Morning Glory Muffins

When I was a little girl I used to LOVE making muffins with my Mom on Saturday morning. Now I will be honest, this wasn't an every Saturday type of thing, but when she did decide to make muffins, I was right there stirring the buttermilk and helping measure the flour and oil and crack the eggs... well, you get the picture.

But now that I am older and wiser I realize that sometimes an ordinary muffin can really be a... vessel of sorts... to deliver important nutrients to my son and husband to get them through the day. Am I saying my Mom's muffins, loaded with oil and sugar and all purpose flour, were unhealthy? Well, not in so many words... but basically, if breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day, why not pack some important vitamins into it, and heck, let's even hide a serving or two of fruits and veggies in there.

Oh and to go for the Trifecta: let's make them moist, savory, and irresistibly addictive...

How does that sound?

Yeah, I know!

Thus I began my search for the perfect "Morning Glory" muffin recipe. You know, those yummy muffins you can find at coffee shops and bakeries? Well I found a recipe that seemed... well... Okay. Just okay. It was packed with all the things that I didn't want in the first place: oil, white flour, tons of sugar, added fat, and just a fraction of the amount of fruits and veggies I wanted to see in my muffins.

So I fixed it.

It was pretty simple actually. I used one of my favorite recipes of all time, my mom's Carrot Bread/Zucchini Bread recipe, as inspiration. I traded the oil for all natural unsweetened applesauce. I swapped the white flour for whole wheat flour. I sprinkled in some wheat germ and flax seed. I added a ton of shredded carrots and apples. I added a handful of raisins and craisins. Oh and that pesky sugar problem? I swapped the almost 1.5 cups of white sugar for 1/2 cup brown sugar. And even at that I think it could use less (how does 1/3 cup sound compared to 1.5? I know, right?!). I made a few other changes to, and all in all, it was a brilliant success.

So after about 10 requests for this recipe via my Facebook, I decided to comply. Here you go! I hope you enjoy these as much as my husband, my picky 2 year old, and of course, ME!

Virginia's Morning Glory Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 c packed brown sugar (1/3 if you want less sugar)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
pinch or so of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 cups shredded carrots (about 4-5 medium carrots, maybe more)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 large granny smith apple - peeled, cored and shredded
3 eggs
1 c natural, unsweetened applesauce
2 Tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sift together the dry ingredients, then fold in the carrots, apple, raisins, craisins, and nuts. This is when I sprinkle in some wheat germ and flax seed. I don't really measure, I just kind of shake it in until I think it looks like enough. If you really want a measurement, start with just 2 T the first time and then you can decide if you want to increase it or not.

Beat the eggs with the applesauce, molasses and vanilla... Then combine with the dry mixture. Spoon by 1/3 cup fulls into muffin cups (definitely use liners) and bake for about 22 minutes at 350.

There is a lot of shredding and grating involved, but if you have a food processor it makes easy work of it!

Also, it wouldn't be a "Like Mom Made" recipe if it wasn't customizable. And, OF COURSE it is!

You can feel free to swap out any combination of the mix ins.

In place of the applesauce you can use pureed pumpkin, a mashed banana, or if you REALLY have to, you can use the same amount of oil.

Don't like raisins? Toss in some dried cherries and replace the pecans with macadamia nuts.

Use zucchini in place of the carrots for a different texture and taste (more like Zucchini bread... yum!).

Change any kind of nut, dried fruit, or oil replacer that you can think of.

The possibilities are endless!

Enjoy! :)

Oh and to all my Mom readers: remember, this is a GREAT way to sneak extra veggies and fruit in to your child's diet... but they don't HAVE to know that! ;)

Shortbread: Quick and Tasty!!!

So most of you know that I have a full time job on top of my "full time job" as a wife and mother... Which is why new recipes are few and far between...

Well every now and then my poor baby boy is sick and I am forced to stay home with him and spoil him rotten.

Today was one of those days. I will spare you the gruesome details, but long story short, he was hacking and coughing all night and day long! It was nice to be able to give him love and nurse him back to health - one of the most wonderful things about motherhood is that Mama always makes you feel better!!! :)

Well anyway, with all of my extra time at home I became extremely motivated to do, well, everything!! I cleaned out my cabinets, hung up a mountain of clothes that had been mocking me, washed about 38,000 loads of laundry (exaggeration? Guess we will never know...) I also broke out my apron and floured my hands and got down to work in the kitchen. I whipped up something I have been craving a lot lately! Shortbread cookies!!!

My favorite thing about Shortbread in general is that it is SO versatile and can be made to suit anyone's tastes! If you read my blog much, you know that I LOVE any opportunity to alter recipes and make them unique... personalization is key to any good cook!

So how easy is this recipe you ask? Well let me ask you this: does 3 ingredients sound easy enough for you?

Yes?

I thought so...

So the basic recipe is this:

1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 1/4 c sifted all purpose flour

sift together then cut in
1/2 c REAL butter (I use salted because a little extra salt is always welcome here....)

Work into a nice dough and roll into a circle on parchment paper. Cut into 8 wedges but do not separate on the sheet. Place parchment on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until cookie is firm in the middle.

Now for mine I simple sprinkled 1 teaspoon cinnamon into the flour and sprinkled 1 teaspoon pure vanilla onto the dough as I was working in the butter. Then I rolled into the circle, cut my wedges, then I sprinkled finely chopped pecans on top and lightly pressed them into the dough.

After the wedges bake you will want to recut them while still warm with a pizza cutter or knife... You can also sprinkle a little bit of white sugar on top for a nice texture and finish... That is how the shortbread I grew up with always was! But it was cut into bars and not wedges, and they made it a lot thicker than I make mine... but other than that, the basic recipe was the same!

Some suggestions:

Fold nuts into the dough

Fold chocolate or flavored chips into the dough

Cut into different sized rounds and brush with melted butter after baking and sprinkle with colored sugar

Add lemon extract and poppy seeds to the dough

Add chopped dried cranberries to the dough (ooh and some white chocolate chips!!!)


*If you cut the cookies into shapes you will want to bake them for 10-15 minutes instead of 15-20.

Start to finish these cookies take less than 40 minutes!