Pure Hunger

I must have a not so secret love affair with muffins. This must be my fourth or fifth muffin recipe I’ve posted on this blog since beginning in January. It comes as a shock because I’m not a fan of cake. I do adore a moist, gooey muffin, bread or cupcake and it’s clearly becoming a problem. I became inspired to recreate one of my favorite muffins after receiving a large portion of carrots from our community garden, apples from the farmers market and flax seed from the co-op. I had read you could put ground flax seed in baked goods as a substitute for part of the flour and increase the powerful benefits of your bread.

Ingredients

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp salt

2 cups carrots, peeled and grated

1 large apple, peeled, cored, and grated

1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup ground flax seed
3 large eggs

2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup ginger juice
demerara sugar, for topping

If you are not aware, flax seed in its ground form is a seed superpower. It has a host of incredible health benefits but its three most powerful traits are:

Omega-3 essential fatty acids, “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.

Lignans, which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75- 800 times more lignans than other plant foods

Fiber. Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.
It’s recommended that every person get 1-2 tablespoons per day. I buy the seeds whole and grind them in my coffee grinder and freeze for up to 6-12 months. I usually go through a small batch in about 2 weeks.

So my muffin obsession combined with my obsession for healthy food packed with incredible seed superpowers melded to make this recipe come to life. I’ve always had a soft spot for morning glory muffins. How could you not love these moist little packages stuffed with carrots, raisins, coconut and apples? I found the original recipe here and gave it a few tweaks. It’s a muffin that is sure to make every morning as glorious as the sun shining through the windows.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease muffin tin. 

In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak for about 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, and ground flax. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, applesauce, vanilla, and ginger juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Fill muffin tins with batter. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.



Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling.