Morning Glory Muffins

I made these muffins for dessert following the dates stuffed with parmesan, minty buttery peas, and salmon and leek pot pies. The recipe was chosen with The Gastronomer's fondness for fiber in mind, but in hindsight she would have probably preferred to conclude her feast with something a bit more decadent. Even though we were too full after polishing off the pot pies to properly enjoy the muffins, they were great the next day--hearty and satisfying. These were the type of thing I really used to love when I was running 60-70 miles a week and constantly needed to refuel with dense but healthy sources of calories. Now that my fire isn't burning so hot, they don't have such a well-defined place in my life, but they still make a nice breakfast.

Recipe by The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 carrots, peeled and grated (2 cups)
• 1 (8-oz) can crushed pineapple, drained and pressed dry with paper towels
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Fold the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined, then mix in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, raisins, and nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins
Estimated Start-to-Finish Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Actual Start-to-Finish Time: 1 hour 30 minutes