morning glory muffins

I'm not much of a baker, but since my nieces have gotten a bit older, I love an excuse to be in the kitchen with them. I found this recipe on sallysbakingaddiction.com and made a few changes so the recipe had less sugar and was gluten free. They were delicious! And, they made a nice big batch. 

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​Ingredients

• 2 cups gluten free flour (I recommend Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/3 cup ground flax (optional)
• 1/2 cup unsalted pecans, chopped 
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce 
• 1/4 cup  orange juice 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
• 2 cups shredded carrots  (about 4 large)
• 1 grated apple

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Use greased/sprayed cupcake liners. This recipe makes 16 muffins, so prepare a second muffin pan in the same manner.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, flax, and pecans together until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, brown sugar, honey, oil, applesauce, orange juice, and vanilla together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir a few times, then add the raisins, carrots, and apple. Fold everything together gently just until combined and no flour pockets remain.
3. Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 23-24 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool until ready to eat.

** baking them at an initial high temperature makes them nice and fluffy! 

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