Hello, Spring and Hello, Morning Glory Muffins!
Although these muffins hit the spot anytime, I especially have a taste for them right now with the azaleas in full bloom and nature is all abuzz. Sure, there is currently thick, sticky yellow pollen blanketing our porches, cars and everything, really, but I refuse to let it get me down.
With this multitude of bright blossoms and fragrant flowers surrounding me, I can almost forget my drippy sinuses and frolic in appreciation of the season. The weather is beautiful and the temperatures are oh-so pleasant. It is the very definition of Spring where I live (at least this week).
Like the bees progressing from bud to bud and the extra zippy birds darting through the trees, I too go busily about with my own spring rituals of freshening things up and airing things out. Thanks to being back on daylight time, I am finishing my daily to-do list long before sunset.
Maybe I have Spring Fever or maybe I am finding inspiration from the extra loud, ever emphatic, impossible to ignore birdsongs I hear from dawn to dusk, but whatever it is, I have plenty in the tank at the end of the day. So I keep going — baking and finishing up some inside project until late in the evening. Morning Glory Muffins have been on the top of my bake list, so I made them last night. They were indeed glorious when I pulled them out of the oven.
Similar in taste to Hummingbird Cake, Morning Glory Muffins are full of fresh fruit flavor. They can be made full-sized, but I like them best as two-bite mini-muffins. They are moist and cake-like on the inside and slightly crusty on the top. I should probably call them cupcakes because they are more “dessert-like treat” than morning muffin.
They were especially sweet before I reduced the sugar called for in the original recipe; I dialed it back significantly without altering the dry ingredients with no problem, but if you choose to take out more, which I do on occasion, adding fresh ground flaxseeds is a great way to make up for loss of volume. (See Cook’s Notes.)
Crushed pineapple, with its juice, as well as mashed bananas and whole blueberries bring in lots of natural sweetness and the addition of eggs and nuts gives these muffins protein and good fat. Speaking of good fat, choose a neutral tasting, “non-seed” oil, like walnut or avocado oil, and you have yourself a teatime snack you can be pretty darn proud of.
Do not be put off by the high yield this recipe delivers. Other than having to slide batch after batch in and out of the oven, you will be happy to have plenty. They freeze exceptionally well, so I try to set some aside just for that purpose. Simply allow time for them to come back to room temperature, and they once again taste fresh baked. I love having them on hand and ready — and you will too . . . the problem is you must actually put some in the freezer. Good luck with that!
Morning Glory Muffins
Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar (see Cook’s Notes)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup oil (like walnut or avocado oil)
2 cups mashed very ripe/overripe bananas
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple (DO NOT DRAIN)
2 teaspoons vanilla
Blueberries
Directions
-
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix dry ingredients and chopped nuts in a bowl.
-
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately.
-
Mix the two together.
-
Pour into muffin tins, oiled or lined
-
Before putting in the oven, poke 1 to 3 blueberries into each, making sure to fully cover with mixture. A toothpick works well for this.
-
Generally, one large blueberry for a mini-muffin, 2 to 3 for a full sized muffin.
-
Bake 25 minutes for minis and 35 minutes for full sized.
-
Remove and place on cooling rack as soon as you can handle them.
-
Once cooled, store in covered container, or package and freeze.
Cook's Notes
Sugar/Sweetness: Unless I am gifting these or want them to be even more of a sweet treat, I reduce the sugar down to 1 cup or even less. I also use coconut sugar, which is a little less sweet than regular sugar.
Pump Up the Nutrition:
-Add Ground Flaxseeds: Flaxseeds have Omega-3 fatty acids, are a great source of fiber and are protein rich.
-Substitute a “flax egg” for one of the eggs: 1 Tbsp fresh ground flaxseeds 2-3 Tbsp water Mix together 15 minutes before using in place of an egg.
Or add in some ground flax to the dry ingredients. If you choose to reduce the sugar, it can make up for some of the lost volume.
Need Gluten-free? Try sorghum flour. It has more fiber and is far more nutritious than typical gluten-free, “ Measure for Measure” baking blends. For this recipe you can use half and half: half sorghum flour and half your favorite GF baking blend without changing a thing.
