What's The Story, Morning Glory?

The story is this:  As I made my way to the kitchen yesterday morning, I was craving something sweet and homemade.  Cheerios and bagels just weren't going to cut it. Fortunately, I discovered the last of two homemade blueberry muffins (thank you, M.!) and those mixed well with the morning cup o' joe.  But I could not risk a bland breakfast for the rest of the week.  And so I did this (something that I was first introduced to and enjoyed by friend K., mama of A.):

At 4PM, while A. was sleeping and sure to wake up soon, and just a mere hour before beginning dinner (was I crazy?), I found an "easy morning glory" muffin recipe. Easy?  Hmm . . . honestly, it actually was until I realized it called for two cups of grated carrots and I only had a bag of baby carrots.  Seriously, grading those guys would take three hours. Then, lightbulb!  My grandma gave me one of these:

 

YES!  A Kitchen-Aid Mixer grater.  Stored away, all but forgotten, maybe never-used, but oh-so-loved at approximately 4:30PM, oven pre-heated, all of the other ingredients mixed.  Game on.  We were in business. And the first 12 of 23 muffins went in for baking at the exact moment I heard A. call "Mama!" No lie. 

So, here's the recipe (there are some deviations from the original based on user reviews).  And I suspect it was called "easy" because it doesn't involve softening butter. And it's healthy, too.  Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the following:  2 cups whole-wheat flour; 1 cup of white sugar; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup sweetened coconut; 1/2 cup raisins; 1 shredded zucchini; and 2 cups shredded carrot.  Set aside.  Mix together 1/4 cup oil; 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce; 2 teaspoons of vanilla; and 3 eggs.  Add wet mixture to dry mixture.  Stir.  Fill well-greased or (Winnie-The-Pooh) baking cups.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Deviations:  The original recipe called for all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat); 1 cup of oil and no applesauce; unsweetened coconut (I used sweetened); 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (I didn't have any of these); and 1 shredded apple in lieu of shredded zucchini (again, no apple in my pantry).  Next time, I'll try the apple and walnuts, provided they're on hand.  But for now, this batch turned out pretty tasty.  Enjoy!