Morning Glory Muffins

4.66 from 113 votes

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This Morning Glory Muffin recipe makes the perfect healthy and easy breakfast. Filled with zucchini, carrots, coconut, nuts, and spices, you can feel good feeding these to your family every morning. Great for making ahead and freezing for busy days or snacks. You’ll love having these on hand! While you’re mixing up your breakfast routine you have to try my Cinnamon Muffins and Banana Bread Muffins.

Morning Glory Muffins on cooling rack

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This is a healthy and nutritious recipe worth making and not just because this is a perfect way to get your kids to eat veggies willingly! Mwahaha! These healthy morning glory muffins are based on my mom’s carrot cake muffin recipe, but I added in a bunch of fun goodies like grated zucchini, chopped walnuts, shredded unsweetened coconut, unsweetened applesauce and replaced a lot of the processed sugar with real maple syrup. Lots of goodies shoved into a soft and sweet breakfast muffin. YUM.

Morning Glory Muffinsingredients

Ingredients For Morning Glory Muffins

I know this is a long list of ingredients, but they are healthy ingredients that are so good for you!

  • unsweetened coconut– adds a bit of chewiness and texture to the muffins.
  • unsweetened applesauce– adds moisture to the muffins making them soft.
  • granulated sugar– adds just a bit of sweetness.
  • all purpose flour– fills out the muffin. See my note below about making these gluten free.
  • zucchini + carrot– use a box grater to shred. Be sure to remove as much moisture as possible from the shredded zucchini. I use a tea towel to do this.
  • maple syrup– use a pure maple syrup for best flavor.
  • walnuts– chopped, and optional.
  • pantry staples– eggs, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, oil (coconut oil, avocado oil or vegetable oil).

Pro Tip: Yes, you can make these muffins gluten free! Simply substitute the all purpose flour for Pamela’s Gluten Free Flour Blend at a 1:1 ratio. It’s the only flour blend I consistently get great results with. Bob’s Red Mill also has a decent flour blend, but I much prefer Pamela’s.

How To Make Morning Glory Muffins

Believe it or not, the hardest part of this recipe is grating all the veggies, which is not hard at all, just mostly time consuming. Besides that, it’s a very straight forward recipe. For full recipe details, including ingredient measurements, see the printable recipe card down below. Here is step-by-step directions for how to make these muffins:

Preheat + Prep

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a standard 12 cup-muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

Make Muffin Batter

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, coconut and walnuts together until combined. Add in the grated zucchini and carrot. Pour in the wet ingredients (applesauce, maple syrup, eggs, oil and vanilla). Stir until just combined.

Fill Muffin Cups + Bake

Scoop into prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool on a wire rack and serve warm or wait until cooled completely.

Morning Glory Muffins on cooling rack

Recipe Variations

There are several different versions of Morning Glory Muffins, all with different variations of the following ingredients. If you’d like to experiment and make this recipe your own, feel free to switch up the ingredients I used with any of these:

  • finely chopped pineapple (drain thoroughly)
  • grated apple (Granny Smith apple would be great here)
  • raisins, golden raisins or Craisins
  • other chopped nuts like almonds, pecans, or pistachios
  • pepitas or sunflower seeds
  • additional spices like nutmeg, allspice or pumpkin pie spice
  • ground flax seed or hemp seed

Not only do you get a lovely spiced muffin, but you get extra boost of vitamins from the grated veggies, nuts and seeds!

Morning Glory Muffins with bite taken out

Storing Muffins

Muffins can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Make Ahead + Freeze

These also freeze really well! Allow to cool completely before placing in a freezer safe container or ziploc bag. Remove as much air as possible. Muffins will stay fresh for up to 2-3 months.

Love Muffins? Try These Other Delicious Muffin Recipes:

I hope you rotate these delicious breakfast muffins into your mornings! Enjoy with a glass of orange juice and have the best start to your morning! So tasty. The printable recipe card is below. Have a great day, friends. 🙂

If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.

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4.66 from 113 votes

Morning Glory Muffins

Morning Glory Muffins are a healthy, easy breakfast! Packed with veggies, you’ll love having these on hand.
servings 21 muffins
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Line muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, coconut and walnuts until combined. Add in zucchini and carrot and stir.
  • Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredients. Whisk the wet ingredients together and then start to incorporate the dry into the wet using a rubber spatula until just combined.
  • Scoop into prepared tins and bake 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
  • Cool 7 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.
  • Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 2080IU | Vitamin C: 1.8mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.9mg
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Morning Glory Muffins

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Recipe Rating




201 Responses
  1. judy

    As a bariatric surgery patient, I have had to curb the use of sugar and substitute Splenda with great results in many recipes and would not be afraid of trying it in this recipe. They now have Splenda/sugar mix, and Stevia is supposed to be a better substitute. I would also use coconut oil to replace oil. Since I can’t have honey I would omit or add little more Splenda or Agave. This would change the taste somewhat to Laurens recipe, but we do what we have to do for our health. Hope this helps to answer some questions for Lauren.

  2. Anna Fernandez

    Can I to to make these low carb and I know I’ll be able to substitute the flour for almond flour but not sure about the maple syrup can you help me.

  3. Anna Fernandez

    Can I substitute the flour with almond flour and instead of maple syrup what can I use to make them low carb muffins.

    1. Bobbi Kennedy

      Remember almond flour is not a 1:1 substitution, and you have to modify your moisture in the recipe as well. Molasses is a little more low carb than maple syrup and also less sweet…which I prefer.

    1. Lauren

      Try using Pamela’s Gluten-Free flour blend. It’s the only one I like that seems to perform just like all purpose flour in my recipes. Substitute it out 1:1.

  4. Chris

    These look awesome…
    Have you by chance figured out calories/fat on each muffin??
    Tracking food in My Fitness Pal is a pain sometimes….
    But I’ve got to start keeping track

  5. Roy

    Makes me laugh………a “version” of a morning glory muffin. Like saying wholemeal bread is a version of white bread but with bran flakes in it ???????????? or a banana muffin is just a version of a blueberry muffin.

  6. Bonny

    Is there a way to determine the calorie count and nutrient values? I am thinking of these for people in my family who have limits on calorie intact, sodium and sugar restrictions.

    1. Lianne

      this recipe will copy into myfitnesspal.com recipe calculator and give you the nutritional breakdown. If this infact makes 21 muffins the breakdown per muffin is: (recipe as is with no medications)
      calories:194
      carbs:26grams
      fat:9grams
      protein:3grams
      fiber:1grams
      sugar:14grams

    1. Cora

      Hi Patricia, I use Monk fruit as sweetener. Healthier than Splenda or Stevia. It has 0 sugar. The good thing is it’s 1:1. Good for diabetic and anyone watching their sugar intake like me. It has no after taste and taste like sugar. It has a small amount of alcohol sugar like erythrol. For some people it causes GI upset but so far I am okay taking it.

  7. Luiza

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious. I replaced maple syrup with agave, will try with honey next time. Made with zucchini and carrots. Even my picky 10 year old liked it and ate for breakfast today. Definitely will make again.

  8. Weekly meals Mar. 27- Mar. 31 | Three Plates Full

    […] While away I have been looking at some new recipes that I would like to try.  These cookies are perfect for your Easter spread, and who doesn’t love mini eggs?!  I love all things lemon, plus this recipe is a way to use my doughnut pan.  I enjoy a good morning glory muffin and have found a bakery at the Farmer’s Market that does them very well, but I think that I need to try making them myself. […]

    1. Lauren

      As long as you drain the pineapple really well, it should substitute 1:1. So, use 1/2 cup pineapple in place of the coconut.

      1. Amber Mazzaferro

        4 stars
        I just made these with a few adjustments. I didnt use zucchini and I added rasins ad crushed pineapple. I also cut the sugar down to 1/4 cup. I like things sweet and these are still plenty sweet.

  9. WM SWACKHAMER

    Please include in the future, the breakdown of cal/carbs as many in our population have dietary restrictions and need these details to determine if this baked good can be consumed. Thank you

    1. Lauren

      I’ve only tested this recipe with the ingredients listed. You are welcome to try with the variations you’re wanting 🙂

        1. Lauren

          Real maple syrup will say on the bottle 100% real maple syrup…or something similar. Real maple syrup is typically double or triple the price of plain ‘pancake syrup’ and isn’t made with high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar. When in doubt, check the ingredients label. You want to use real maple syrup for this recipe. Honey will also work too.

  10. Linda Goodman

    These look so good. I have given up meat and am always looking for recipes that incorporates veggies in them. Can’t wait to try these delicious looking muffins. Cream Cheese Icing would really be good on them for a dessert.

  11. Carrie Thomas

    5 stars
    Amaaaaazing! Just made mini muffin version for my finicky 2yr old, without coconut or nuts. He LOVES them! Great recipe to get him to eat more veggies!

  12. Judy

    5 stars
    I made these this weekend and they were fabulous! I added raisins to the mix. Took the extras to work and they were a big hit. Everyone LOVED them. I will definitely be making these again.

  13. Patricia Zepeda

    Hello,

    I just wanted to ask you if there is something that I could use instead of the maple syrup. No one in my house likes it and I really want to make these muffins they look so good.

    Thank you,
    Patricia

  14. Sara

    I just made these muffins. I used carrots, apples, and dried cranberries. It was a bit of work but so delicious! We love them! I love a lot of your recipes. Thanks!

  15. Kim

    These look incredible! I’ve already added the ingredients to my shopping list.

    I don’t know if this was intentional, but the email I got for this post included just the title of the post, not pictures and contents like normal.

“logos”