I love Arizona’s soft sunny May mornings, and often wake up with a cheery song on my mind. While no one who knows me would vouch for my execrable singing, when it’s just the dog, the cat and me, I don’t hesitate to sing while the coffee’s brewing.
Last week, the song was “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” an old favorite of my father’s: “Grab your coat/don’t forget your hat/and leave your worries on the doorstep/life’s sweet/just direct your feet/to the sun-sunny side of the street.”
Sometimes a little bit of excruciatingly bad buck-and-wing is also involved. The dog and the cat gaze at me curiously, which makes me laugh.
Such mornings call for something special to go with the coffee, and that’s why I like to keep some of these muffins in the freezer.
I learned about morning glory muffins — really, halfway between a breakfast treat and a carrot cake — back in my hippie-granola days in college. My walk to an 8 o’clock French language and literature class took me past a bakery that specialized in them, and it became my habit to pop in to grab one on my way to class.
They’re reasonably healthy — thanks to the fruit, carrots, seeds, and nuts — so you can enjoy them with minimal guilt, if you’re prone to that.
There’s a lot of room to vary these muffins’ ingredients. If I don’t have raisins, I use chopped dates, chopped dried apricots or prunes, or whatever else I can rustle up. If I don’t have orange juice, I use lemon juice and go up on the sugar a little to compensate. If you’re feeling daring, soak the fruit in rum or bourbon.
Sometimes, instead of ground ginger, I use finely chopped crystalized ginger. I’m more likely to have pepitas on hand than hulled sunflower seeds or wheat germ, so they’re my standard. And certainly, you can vary the nuts: While the classic version includes walnuts, I more commonly use Arizona-grown pecans or almonds.
The main thing is, when you wake with a cheery heart, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep that cheeriness going all day. And one or two of these sunny muffins will help you do just that.
Morning glory muffins
Makes 1 dozen regular sized muffins or 6 Texas-sized muffins
Sunny and satisfying, these muffins are halfway between the breakfast standard and a fruit-studded carrot cake. Grab one from the freezer on your way to work and it will be thawed when you get there. Give your muffin 30 seconds in the microwave if you want it to be even more pleasing.
Ingredients
½ cup orange or lemon juice
½ cup raisins, chopped dates, or other dried fruit
2 cups white whole wheat, regular whole wheat or all-purpose flour
¾ cup light brown or dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups carrots, peeled and grated
1 large apple, peeled or unpeeled, cored, and grated
½ cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
½ cup pecans, almonds, or walnuts, chopped
¹⁄³ cup pepitas, hulled sunflower seeds or ¹⁄³ cup wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
²⁄³ cup coconut or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin or a 6-cup Texas-sized muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.
In a small bowl, warm the orange juice in the microwave for 1 minute. Remove and add the raisins, dates, or chopped dried fruit and set them aside to soak.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. If you’re using crystallized ginger, add it now.
Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and pepitas, sunflower seeds or wheat germ.
In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil and vanilla.
Add to the flour mixture and stir just until evenly moistened. It’s OK if you still see streaks of white in the batter; don’t overbeat here.
Stir in the orange juice and raisin mixture.
Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they’ll be full almost to the top; that’s OK).
Bake the muffins for 25 to 28 minutes, or until they’re domed, and a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the inner muffins comes out clean. If you’re making Texas-sized muffins, they may need a bit longer — 30 to 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling. Store at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
