Morning Glory Muffins

These muffins really are the glory of the morning. They are packed with so much good stuff which make them the perfect way to start your day! Don't be discouraged by the long list of ingredients because each one adds so much flavor and texture to these delicious muffins and you most probably have all of them in your kitchen right now. 

These muffins actually get their name from the cafe that created them in 1978, The Morning Glory Cafe in Nantucket. The recipe was published in Gourmet magazine in 1981 and in 1991 it was chosen by readers as one of the best recipes from the past 25 years. My version takes inspiration from the original recipe from over 40 years ago but with a few substitutions and yummy additions. 

I recommend making a double batch of these tasty muffins so you can have a stash in the freezer for a quick breakfast or healthy afternoon pick me up to brighten up your day whenever you need it. 

Morning Glory Muffins 

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (all-purpose works too)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/4 tsp nutmeg*

1 tsp cinnamon 

3/4 tsp salt 

1/2 cup oats (rolled or instant) 

2 Tbsp oil (preferably olive oil or melted coconut oil)

1 large egg 

1/2 cup honey/silan/maple syrup

1/3 cup milk of your choice 

1 medium carrot, peeled 

1 medium zucchini 

1 apple - whatever type you have on hand - quartered and core removed 

1 large overripe banana, mashed** 

1/3 cup chopped dried fruit (if you must you can use raisins, but I use a mix of chopped dried cranberries and apricots) 

1/3 cup chopped nuts 

2 Tbsp coconut flakes 

Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F 

Line a standard-size muffin pan with paper liners. 

Grate the carrot, zucchini, and apple on the coarse side of a box grater. 

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and oats.

In a liquid measuring cup mix together the oil, egg, sweetener of your choice, and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with the mashed banana and shredded zucchini, carrot, and apple. Mix until just combined. Make sure not to overmix your batter or else your muffins will be dense and chewy. Fold in the dried fruit and nuts. 

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 18-22 minutes. 

Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin before popping out and cooling on a rack. 

Yield: 12 standard-size muffins 

*if you don't have nutmeg you can leave it out, but it can be substituted with 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

**If you're not a banana fan don't worry because you can't taste the banana in the muffin, it just adds moisture. If you don't have a banana you can also use 1/3 cup of unsweetened apple sauce. 

French Toast Muffins

Every Sunday, after everything from Shabbat has been cleaned up and put away there's usually one thing that is still left on the counter from Shabbat and that is leftover challah. Fresh challah is delicious on Friday night when we sit down for our Shabbat meal. It's fluffy and warm, and it is the centerpiece of every Shabbat table. When Shabbat is over, there is often leftover challah and it is a little stale and dry which makes it perfect for croutons, bread pudding, stuffing, and of course french toast. These are all great ideas for day-old bread because the dried-out bread is the perfect canvas to absorb delicious flavor. This time instead of making any of those tasty options I had the idea to take the classic french toast and muffinize it. 

Traditionally for french toast, you would slice the day-old bread, dip it in a sweetened egg and milk mixture, and then pan-fry it in some butter. The resulting dish is delicious, but it's a bit tedious standing over the stove dipping piece after piece until saturated and then frying until golden brown. By turning french toast into muffins all of the bread gets soaked in the egg and milk mixture at the same time and then gets baked in a muffin tin which allows the muffins to get golden brown and a bit crispy all around, but still soft and slightly creamy in the middle.

Feel free to mix in berries or chocolate chunks to make these french toast muffins to the next level. 

French Toast Muffins

Large challah, sliced into about 10-12 slices then cut into 1/2-inch cubes - READ NOTE BELOW*

2 cups milk 

6 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/3 cup sugar 

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp salt 

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F 

Liberally grease a standard-size muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. 

Place the bread cubes into a large bowl. 

In a medium-size bowl mix together the milk, eggs, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and salt until well combined. Pour the egg mixture over the cubed bread and using a large spoon or your hand gently toss the bread with the egg mixture until all the bread is well saturated. 

Scoop the french toast mixture into the prepared muffin tin and top with any extra batter left in the bottom of the bowl. Feel free to add some chocolate chunks or berries to the mixture. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins puff up and are golden brown. 

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan and then run a knife around each muffin to release them from the pan. 

Serve these warm topped with confectioners' sugar or maple syrup or you can make a big batch and freeze them. Allow the muffins to cool completely then either store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze in a ziptop bag or airtight container defrost by warming in the microwave for about 45 seconds. 

NOTE: Really any day-old bread would work for this recipe, but the best bread for french toast muffins is challah or brioche so try to get either of those if you can. You want to have about 10-12 cups of bread cubes. Don't worry about being super exact you just need to make sure that you have enough bread to soak up the egg mixture you can always add a bit more milk if you have too much bread. 

To really take these over the top - in addition to adding berries or chocolate chunks - place a small pat of butter in the bottom of each cavity of the muffin pan before adding the batter french toast batter and top each muffin with some turbinado sugar before baking.