Makes one 9-inch loaf

This recipe uses a standing electric mixer; see related recipes for a food processor variation. You can hand-knead the dough, but we found it’s easy to add too much flour during this stage, resulting in a somewhat tougher loaf. If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour.

YIELDS 1 LOAF

Fresh out of the oven, this bread is a great accompaniment to soups or stews, and leftovers make fine toast. The variations following this recipe, with their flavorful grains and additions, can stand alone.

Makes 12 muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Don’t throw away the juice from the can of pineapple; you’ll need it. To toast the coconut and walnuts, place them in a dry skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re golden, about 5 minutes. Cool before grinding them. We prefer golden raisins here, but ordinary raisins will work, too.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
All of the versions of Morning Glory Muffins we tasted were greasy and full of fat. We cut the amount of fat in the original recipe by half, which fixed the problem. We also switched from oil to butter, which vastly improved the flavor. The apple and pineapple added tons of moisture to the muffins, which made them gummy and wet. We strained the fruits and pressed out the juice to take care of the problem.

Without the fruit juice, our muffins lacked their trademark fruity flavor. We reduced some of the extruded juice on the stovetop and added the syrupy liquid back into the batter to insert flavor without introducing too much moisture.