Makeover Morning Glory Muffins

In my quest to not purchase "sugar coated cocoa bombs" for breakfast, I've been trying to make different muffins, etc. and also incorporate more whole grains and stuff into our diet. I came across these muffins and made them last night, they are delicious! And they have whole wheat flour, flax seed, apples, carrots, lots of good stuff for you. I want to toy around with the recipe to see if I can make it lower calorie, but as it is one muffin was enough to leave me stuffed so it's okay that it was 250 calories (because normally I eat ten bowls of sugar coated cocoa bombs-- which is like a thousand calories. ) So give these a try, the recipe is very forgiving.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup ground flax seed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 egg whites
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 medium tart apple, peeled and grated

1. In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In another bowl, beat the egg whites, egg, applesauce, orange juice, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the carrots, pecans, coconut, raisins and apple.
2. Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or use foil liners; fill three-fourths full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

My notes: I didn't have orange juice, so I used the juice from a can of mandarin oranges (Bentley wolfs down mandarin oranges), I did not use the coconut or raisins, but I put in some craisins (normally not a big fan of craisins but I loved it in these muffins!), I also did not mix in the nuts, but rather sprinkled some on top of half of the muffins (so I could let Bentley eat some of the non nut kind) oh and also, I used three eggs instead of one egg and four whites (since two egg whites is equivalent to one egg). Oh and I think I put in more carrots than what it called for (if I am going to get my food processor dirty I get it dirty for lots of carrots, not just a few).

Definitely worth your while. The best "healthy" muffin we've made yet!