The weather forecasters predicted up to 79 inches of snow in St. Louis this weekend, so Friday, I did what any normal person would do: I went to the grocery store five times, and I got the ingredients to make these morning glory muffins.

A fun fact about me is I love snow, but I hate winter. I guess I’m a fan of snow from an aesthetic standpoint. I love feeling like I’m inside a snow globe. Stepping out into it is another story. I’m secretly counting down the days until I can move to Southern California and leave all this behind.

Until then, I’m making lots of morning glory muffins. These muffins are the equivalent of a hug in muffin form. They are warming, comforting, and everything a good muffin should be if you’re stuck in your apartment for 24+ hours and don’t have any plans of going out.

They also stake a claim at being “healthy,” although with the generous amount of turbinado sugar I sprinkled on top, I don’t think they’re in that category anymore. They do have lots of healthy things in them though like chopped walnuts, grated carrots, grated apple, flaxseeds, and sunflower seeds. Honestly, they’re a little like carrot cake without tons of sugar and cream cheese frosting. Who would want that? you might be asking. You do- trust me.

These muffins avoid tasting too healthy because of two star ingredients: Brown sugar and cinnamon. If brown sugar and cinnamon were a composite character, it would be a sweet grandmother who wraps you up in a blanket and tells you everything will be okay. The brown sugar in these muffins balances all the earthy ingredients and provides some much needed sweetness. The cinnamon adds depth and gives these muffins a fragrant, comforting smell, kind of lighting one of those bakery-scented candles. Except in this case, luckily, you can eat what you’re smelling.

As I mentioned earlier, I dumped a ton of turbinado sugar on top because I have a huge sweet tooth, and I knew I would want that extra touch of sweetness. I also like the crunch of turbinado sugar on baked goods. It adds texture without overpowering the muffins. However, if you really want to scale back on sugar, you could leave this step out.

I already ate two of these with my first cup of coffee this morning. I can’t wait to eat more, possibly with some Irish butter spread on top. It’s now snowing so hard I can’t see across the field in the park next to my apartment, so it’s the perfect excuse to hunker down with bottomless cups of coffee and muffins.

Here’s a song to get you started on your morning glory muffins. There are some songs you listen to and they always make you happy for no reason. For me, this is one of them.

Morning Glory Muffins

Ingredients
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 apple, peeled and grated
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped fine
1/2 cup golden raisins, soaked in warm water and drained
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/4 cup flaxseeds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp baking soda
3 large eggs
2/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 whole wheat flour, sifted (I used Janie’s Mill Artisan Blend)
turbindao sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

Put the grated carrots and apple in a large bowl and use a rubber spatula to toss it with the brown sugar. Mix in the walnuts, raisins, sunflower kernels, flaxseeds, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and baking soda, and toss everything until it’s well combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk in the carrot apple mixture until everything is well combined. Then, use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour until there are no traces of it left in the batter. Do not overmix.

Use an ice cream scoop to divide the batter between the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops generously with turbinado sugar.

Bake the muffins for about 22 minutes, or until the tops spring back to the touch. Remove the tin from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the tin for five minutes. Enjoy!