Morning Glory Muffins

"Here. Smell this," I said as I stuck an enormous metal mixing bowl under my brother's face. "Does this not smell like a Hawaiian sunrise?" He inhales deeply. "Yeah." He's seventeen years old, and he towers over me.
I'm kind of surprised that he is not bowled over by how amazing the muffin batter smells: the pineapple! The coconut! The cinnamon! How is this not the best thing ever?


It was Saturday morning and we were desperately in need of muffins. At least, that was my prognosis. I think my brosky may have been more excited about the bacon he was making, but that's irrelevant to the story at hand. The point is, I baked. And the kitchen smelled of exotic deliciousness.

These muffins were lovely. They take a bit of effort, but they are so nutritious, I think it's worth it. They contain (are you ready for this?) four fruits, one vegetable, and nuts. Two of these ingredients are toasted and ground, which dramatically increases the flavor profile.

Before I give you the recipe, let me make one small admission. I beat my muffin batter; I didn't fold it. Chris Kimball , the man behind the publication behind this recipe, would be appalled. As a result, the texture of my muffins was a bit dense, and sadly, they grew denser with age. Don't be like me! Treat your muffins right and you shan't have this problem.

Helpful Tips:

Don't beat your batter, m'kay? Fold it gently, and err on the side of under-mixing, else you over-develop the gluten in the flour and your muffins turn tough.

You can leave out the dried pineapple. Where do you even buy dried pineapple? Is this something most people have seen in grocery stores? Anyway, I left it out and didn't miss it.

A food-processor will greatly, greatly aid in this recipe.

Toast the walnuts and coconut by setting each in a small skillet over low heat. The coconut will need some supervision; it goes from toasted to burned very quickly. Take it off the heat when most of the flecks are a light brown. The rest will toast from the residual heat.

I only got about 1/2 cup of juice from the apple and the pineapple juice, and I let it cook down to less than 1/4 cup. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of reduced liquid, but if you don't have it, you can substitute with a few tablespoons of oil.

Morning Glory Muffins

Excerpted from The Best of America's Test Kitchen, 2013
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and shredded
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (3 carrots)
1 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup finely chopped dried pineapple

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12 cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray. Process coconut and walnuts together in food processor until finely ground, about 15 seconds. Add flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and pulse until combined, about 3 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl.

Pour crushed pineapple into fine-mesh strainer set over liquid measuring cup, then add shredded apple to strainer. Press fruit dry (juice should measure about 1 cup). Transfer juice to small saucepan and bring to boil over medium high-heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer briskly until juice has reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Transfer juice to medium bowl and whisk in eggs, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth. Gently fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in pineapple and apple mixture, carrots, raisins, and dried pineapple.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 24 to 28 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let muffins cool in tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

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