Morning Glory Muffins (one of Blake's favorite)

Makes 12
Prep Time 15 min
Total time 1 hour 5 min

These sweet, moist muffins are loaded with fruit (coconut, raisins, and pineapple) as well as nuts. Make sure to remove the excess moisture from the canned pineapple of the muffins will be gummy.

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour ( you can use half wheat flour to make it a little healthier)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cup sugar
3 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 carrots, peeled and grated (2 cups)
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained and pressed dry w/ paper towels
½ cup sweetened coconut
½ cup raisins
½ cup walnuts or pecans

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously coat a 12 cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth. Gently fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold the carrots, pineapple, coconut, raisins, and walnuts into the batter.

3. Use a large ice cream scoop or measuring cup to pour into muffin tin. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of muffin comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25-30 minutes.

4. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.