Morning Glory Muffins

I found this recipe while looking for Mourning Muffins. I'm mouring the loss of my fish. Not just any fish, but the red sea sailfin tang that I've had since I was an undergrad. Anyway, I found this recipe and was intrigued by the sheer number of ingredients, including but not limited to, carrots, sweet coconut, pineapple, raisins, walnuts, and apple! The recipe says it gets better on the second day, after the flavors have had a chance to combine; making it a perfect recipe for me. Also, it makes a lot of batter. I had enough for 12 standard muffins and 6 huge muffin tops. I've been slacking on the Monday Musings recently, owing mostly to having pretty terrible Mondays but am hoping to update tomorrow. Stay tuned.



Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
• 3/4 cup raisins (steeped in hot water for 10 minutes then drained)
  
• 1 large apple, peeled and grated
• 8 ounces (1 cup) crushed pineapple, drained
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift or whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the coconut, raisins, apple, pineapple, carrots, and nuts, and stir to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil and vanilla. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and blend well.
4. Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake for 35 minutes (17 for muffin tops) or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.