Morning Glory Muffins
Question: how do you get a full serving of fruits AND vegetables into one soft, delicious, wholesome breakfast treat?
Answer: morning glory muffins.
I first made these back in early 2020, right after I had my first baby. I was a hangry breastfeeding mama needing a quick nourishing bite while getting myself and baby up and ready before I could make “real breakfast”, ya know?
And still today I make a huge batch of these to keep in the freezer. My toddler enjoys them as a snack or we pair with eggs or Greek yogurt for a balanced breakfast. Pro tip: always make a double batch!
These beauties are made with lots of grated apples and carrots, studded with pecans and coconut and boosted with ground flaxseed, cinnamon and ginger. They are soft, slightly sweet and amazing as is or with just a touch of butter. Muah! So good.
Morning Glory Muffins
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 18 muffins 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Studded with apples, carrots, pecans and coconut and spiced with cinnamon and ginger these soft muffins are sure to be your next favorite morning treat!
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour (can sub AP flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup ground flaxseed, optional
- 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
- 1 large apple or 2 small apples, grated
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
- 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped, divided
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup oil (avocado, coconut, grapeseed, whatever you have on hand)
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup or brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup orange juice (can sub water if desired)
- turbinado sugar, for the tops if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin plus 6-cup muffin tin, or line with papers and spray the insides of the papers.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/3 cup ground flaxseed.
- Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut and pecans, reserving a few tablespoons pecans for topping.
- In a separate bowl, beat together 3 eggs, oil, 3/4 cup brown sugar or pure maple syrup, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1/4 cup orange juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Do not overstir.
- Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan, almost all the way to the top. Sprinkle each muffin with a chopped pecans and a generous pinch of turbinado sugar.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce oven temp to 375°F and bake an additional 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into one of the center muffins comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of the pans to finish cooling. Wrap any leftovers airtight and store at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze up to 4 months.
Notes
Ground flaxseed is optional but boosts the fiber and healthy fats in this recipe!
I use my food processor with the grating attachment to very quickly and easily grate the apples and carrots. If you don’t have a food processor you could just use a box grater.
The initial high heat for 5 minutes provides a nice rise and height to the muffins.
Changes made to the recipe June 2025: reduced sugar to 3/4 cup, increased salt to 3/4 teaspoon
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 226
- Sugar: 11 g
- Sodium: 263.9 mg
- Fat: 13.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 24.1 g
- Fiber: 3.5 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
Could we use ground chia seed instead of flax seed?
Update. I gave it a try with 2 tbp of chia seeds. It’s delicious, especially warm with a bit of butter! These are not “sweet” muffins, like the one we can usually buy at the store and feel more like cake than anything else, and I really like it. And for those who prefer sweet muffins, I think a touch of honey or jam when you eat them would be perfect.
Omg. So good. Made a double batch to freeze in preparation for baby. Turned out perfect! And the smell when they are baking is to die for. Thanks for the recipe!
you just reminded me of this recipe and now I NEED a batch!!
These are great. I just did maple syrup instead of brown sugar and they are fantastic!!
Can almond or coconut flour be substituted in this muffin recipe?
You can try, but the muffins will not rise as much without gluten.
Can I omit coconut? Or sub something for it?
I love muffins and make them often, but they always turn out flat. I was very happy that yours came out beautifully domed! I’ve never heard of starting them at a high temperature and then turning the oven down for the rest of the bake. I’ll definitely be using this technique from now on. The muffins are lovely, fluffy and very healthy too. Thanks so much!
Exactly as promised. So delicious and nutritional. Thank you for providing recipes that I will use over and over.
Delicious! Love all the touches that maximize the nutrition, and the turbinado sugar is a nice finish.
Thank you! Glad you love them, I love using Turbinado sugar as a streusel shortcut haha!
These are delicious and so filling!