Morning Glory Muffins

These morning glory muffins are fluffy, flavorful, and seriously satisfying. Serve them alongside your morning coffee or tea for a hearty and delicious breakfast!

What makes these morning glory muffins unique and delicious is less sugar and oil than the typical recipe.

Every time I got one of these muffins outside of my home, I’d eat it and think, “These are too sweet and greasy.”

Have you noticed that? I’m here to tell you that you do NOT have to use a lot of oil or sugar to have a perfectly satisfying muffin. It doesn’t affect the flavor and in fact, not having it be too sweet helps enhance the taste of the ingredients.

Of all the muffins I make, these are the heartiest and most filling ones and a great breakfast option that will stay with you until your next meal.

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Why are they called morning glory muffins?

One of the things I love about living in New England (especially Massachusetts) is all the delicious foods that come from this area. These muffins were created by the chef Pam McKinstry at her Morning Glory Café on Nantucket Island.

Helpful tips

• The original recipe adds pineapple chunks to these muffins, but I’ve omitted the fruit as I prefer them without them. If you want to add pineapple, add 3/4 cup and increase the flour measurement to 2 1/4 cups.
• If you don’t want to add almond flour to these muffins, no worries, just use the flour of your choice.
• Spouted spelt is my go-to flour but white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour are great substitutions.
• If you don’t have a food processor to shred the vegetables, you can also use a box grater or regular cheese grater.
• I’m using walnuts in these muffins but you can either omit them or use a different nut like pecans or slivered almonds.
• My go-to baking oil is a light olive oil, but you can use 1/2 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil if you prefer.
• Want to make these muffins vegan? Substitute 1/2 cup of applesauce for the eggs. (1/4 cup per egg.)
• Wash the apple and vegetables with a vegetable cloth to remove any pesticides.
• You want around 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots and 3/4 cups of apples. But if it is a little bit more, it’s okay, but don’t have less than those measurements.
• Some people add shredded zucchini in their morning glory muffins, but I find zucchini throws off the liquid in the recipe because of how watery it is.
• We regularly freeze muffins because we are a family of 2 and don’t eat them fast enough. So to keep them fresh, just store them in an airtight container like a gallon zip-lock bag and place them in the freezer for up to 3 months or the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

How to make these hearty muffins

Pre-step

Get your muffin pan, muffin cups or paper liners, large bowl, spatula, and food processor. Attach the shredding attachment in the food processor.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with 12 baking cups.

Step one

Gather the ingredients – almond flour, spelt flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, egg, milk, shredded carrots, shredded apple, walnuts, raisins, coconut flakes, olive oil vanilla, and salt.

Step two

Add the almond flour, spelt flour, brown sugar, and white sugar (A) along with the cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to the mixing bowl (B)

Step three

With a rubber spatula, mix the dry ingredients together. I use a pastry blender to break up any clumps. You could also use a whisk if you prefer. (C)

Step four

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture – egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.

Step five

Take a spatula and mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until they are almost incorporated. As you can see, it isn’t totally mixed. Don’t worry, you’ll stir it again. (E)

Step six

Wash the carrots and apple.

Add the carrots to the processor, pulse until they are shredded. You want around 1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots. Add the apple and pulse until it is in smallish pieces. You want around 3/4 cup of shredded apples. Don’t worry if it is watery or changes color. That is normal.

Step seven

Add shredded carrots, shredded apple, raisins, shredded coconut, and chopped walnuts (F) and mix with a rubber spatula until just incorporated.

Step eight

Spoon the batter into the paper liners.

Step nine

Bake for 20 minutes.

Either use a cake tester or a toothpick to make sure the muffins are done. The tester should come out clean after sticking it in the middle of a muffin.

Mmmmm.

Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Time to plate a muffin.

Now to break one in half and slather some butter on it so I can eat it.

Yes!

I take a bite.

So delicious. I hope you enjoyed this morning glory muffins recipe!

Other scrumptious muffins

• Butter rum
• Oat bran
• Date nut

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below.  I love hearing from you!  You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST  to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!