Morning Glory Loaf

My senior year of high school our school started a major remodel project and our entire school had to relocate into a building in the heart of downtown Spokane. The ground floor had a little coffee shop called The Rocket Bakery which felt very cool and urban at the time. The line would be out the door to order a mocha or pick up a cookie on our breaks.

I spent way too much money there every week but nothing made me feel more grown up than walking into class with a little paper cup of steaming sugary coffee. The memory makes me chuckle now because I’m almost positive I barely drank those mochas and it would be years before I actually started drinking coffee for real.

But…this story does have a point. The Rocket Bakery DID have the most amazing morning glory muffin which is essentially a cross between a bran muffin and carrot cake. It usually has shredded apple and carrot, maybe some raisins and tends to be on the heartier side for a muffin. I skipped the bran in this version but as I was remembering those deliciously crumbly cinnamon-scented muffins, I figured it was worth a shot to make my own version.

I prefer a loaf cake over a muffin just because I don’t have to stick so close to the oven rotating muffin trays through every 15 minutes. The loaf is tender and moist and lasts a few days wrapped in plastic wrap and left on the counter. Every morning, I slice a thick piece for the kids and smother it in Kerry Gold butter. It’s the perfect breakfast on the go and makes your house smell amazing while it bakes.

My kids vetoed the raisins going forward, so we’ll skip them next time although I love them and left them in the recipe. I’ll let you decide if you add them or not. Craisins or chopped pecans would be a lovely addition as well.

Morning Glory Loaf

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup whole-wheat white flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoons cinnamon

• 1 honey crisp apple shredded

• 1 small zucchini shredded

• 3 medium carrots shredded

• 3/4 cup raisins

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 1 cup melted coconut oil

• 3 eggs

• 1 tablespoons vanilla

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat sugar and eggs until smooth and the combination is light yellow, about 2 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and pour in coconut oil and vanilla extract. Turn mixer off and add shredded apple, zucchini and carrots. Stir gently to combine.

To the wet ingredients, add the flours, salt, baking soda and baking powder, cinnamon and raisins. Stir briefly until just combined. Pour batter into a large loaf pan, lined with parchment paper and sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. If the top begins to get too dark but the bread needs to keep baking, lightly place a piece of foil over the top of the bread and continue baking.

*This makes a LARGE loaf. To minimize cooking time, split the batter between two smaller loaf pans or make muffins. A smaller loaf will typically bake in 50 minutes to an hour and muffins are bake in the 15-18 minute range.