I don’t know about you, but rainy weather and cold temperatures always put me in the mood for baking. That can get out of hand pretty quickly in a wet climate like Portland, though, so I’m making an effort to incorporate more nutrients into my sweet treats this season.

Case in point: I adapted the following recipe from Wassner Twins’ delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, making some substitutions based on ingredients we happened to have on hand. The result is a perfect little pick-me-up for enjoying with your morning coffee — and it won’t leave you feeling sluggish for hours after.

Banana Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 bananas
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Agave syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 medium carrots, grated with a box grater (about 1 cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small mixing bowl, use a fork to mash bananas with cinnamon.
3. Add Agave, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium (or rigorously by hand) until combined.
4. Stir in carrots until they’re evenly dispersed throughout the batter.
5. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mixing by hand until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
6. Divide mixture into lined muffin pans, filling each one about three-quarters to full (batter won’t rise much).
7. Bake 20-30 minutes or until edges are golden and a tooth pick inserted into the middle of each muffin comes out clean.

The Wassners recommend using bananas that aren’t over-ripe so the recipe doesn’t get too sweet, but you may want to adjust accordingly if you find that this recipe isn’t sweet enough to your taste.

You can also play around with the amount of Agave to get the batter to your desired level of sweetness.

And who would have thought to add carrot into banana bread?

But it’s a great way to get some good vitamin A, as well as a host of other powerful health benefits, including beautiful skin, cancer prevention and anti-aging properties.

Another area in which you can experiment is the flours: If you’re gluten-free, feel free to swap out the all-purpose flour for your favorite alternative.

But I like to retain some of the white stuff to keep the muffins from getting too dense.

One word of warning: The batter will be dry and thick, but don’t worry! Simply scoop it into your muffin cups instead of pouring it in.

Because it is so thick, you’ll also want to smush it down in the cups to make sure they’re filled evenly.

As you can see, they won’t rise much — if at all — so the best way to tell whether or not they’re done is to make sure to do the toothpick test.

Not only do oven temperatures vary, but these tend to take a bit longer to cook than traditional muffins, so don’t be surprised if their cooking time is on the higher end.

I promise, though, they’re worth the wait. Your house will smell lovely, and you can eat as many as you’d like, guilt-free…well, within reason.

What’s your go-to activity when the weather is crummy?