Health Nut Muffins

Do not let the title of this post fool you. These muffins are not really a health nut's dream (more like the baked good aficionado's dream) but I'd like to think that these are a bit better for you than your average muffin. They're also full of incredible flavor and have all sorts of things in it. It's like a farmstand in a muffin form. Seriously. I've never had so many different tastes that all went so well in one little package.



I'd like to think that this is possibly my all-time favorite muffin recipe. I have plenty in my arsenal-corn, blueberry-raspberry, cranberry, pumpkin, and the banana chocolate chip ones I posted earlier) but this one seriously takes the cake (no pun intended). It's fairly simple to prepare (though there are a ton of things to put into it) and it just makes the house smell so good.

I got this recipe out of a cookbook from one of my favorite little breakfast places on one of my favorite islands-Nantucket, just off the coast of Cape Cod. The restaurant in question (Fog Island Cafe) has been around for quite awhile, and every year I order a pound of their coffee grounds (or beans, honestly, some years it depends on what they send to me) for my sister for her birthday and for Christmas. One year when I was on Nantucket for vacation with my sister and my nieces (we have a girls' week and go every single year), we went down to pick up a pound in person, and while we were there I saw the cookbook on display. Of course I had to buy that too. That cookbook has actually been quite the investment-I've made a ton of stuff from it. What's very interesting is that I'll make a bunch of stuff from the cookbook, and I always get their coffee-but I don't eat there too often when I'm down there (we make it a point to go out to one breakfast place each year-The Downyflake, with their awesome donuts, always seems to trump the Fog. We do always make it in to get coffee and perhaps a tasty treat there though. If you're ever down there, I suggest you go to both :) )

Anyway, back to these muffins. They're so very moist and so full of flavor (did I actually just say that? I feel so cliched). There is not one bad thing I can say about these muffins. Except, of course, when they're gone and I have to make them again.

You need to make these muffins. Better yet, go to Nantucket and grab one. Take in the sights, go to the beach, and let me know you're coming and we'll have a beer or a glass of wine ready for you (just make sure you go in the summer!). If you're local to me, come on over and have one too-I have plenty!



Health Nut Muffins (from Nantucket Recipes from The Fog Island Cafe, by Mark and Anne Dawson)

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
1 c. light brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. shredded coconut
1 c. grated carrots
1 c. grated zucchini
3/4 c. applesauce (The Fog has a recipe in this book to make your own. I used store bought, unsweetened applesauce and it was just fine)
1 c. crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine and mix together the following: flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt
3. Add eggs and oil to dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Stir in coconut, carrots, zucchini, applesauce, pineapple, cranberries and walnuts until mixed together. Be careful not to overmix.
4. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease the tins. Fill each muffin tin to the top with the batter.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden. Check muffins with a toothpick inserted in the center to ensure that it was baked all the way through.
6. Cool muffins in pans for about 10-15 minutes, then put onto cooling rack. Try not to eat all of them in one sitting.