Morning Glory Muffins
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Morning glory muffins are good to eat and good for you. True to their name, they’re a glorious way to start your day.
Morning glory muffins are brimming with wholesome goodness. Packed with nourishing ingredients, like whole wheat flour, carrots, apples, raisins, walnuts, orange juice, coconut and wheat germ, these muffins were created decades ago by Chef Pam McKinstry for her Morning Glory Café on Nantucket Island. They’re a throwback to the 1970’s “back-to-the-land” movement, when wholesome hippie foods were all the rage. True to their name, these muffins are a glorious way to kick-start your day—a true testament to feel-good, homemade baking.
Table of Contents
“I’ve been making this recipe for a few years now and it never disappoints! The muffins are moist and delicious. I usually double the recipe and keep some in freezer so we always have them on hand!”
What You’ll Need To Make Morning Glory Muffins
- Raisins: Add natural sweetness and bursts of flavor to the muffins.
- White Whole Wheat Flour: Provides a nutritious base for the muffins, offering fiber and whole-grain goodness. I recommend King Arthur brand. Measure by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off to ensure accuracy.
- Brown Sugar: Sweetens the muffins while adding a hint of molasses flavor.
- Baking Soda: Act as leavening agents helping the muffins rise.
- Cinnamon and Ginger: Infuse the muffins with warm, aromatic spices.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together and provide structure to the muffins.
- Vegetable Oil: Adds moisture to the muffins, ensuring they are tender and moist.
- Orange Juice: Adds a hint of citrus brightness.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds depth of flavor and enhances the overall taste of the muffins.
- Shredded Carrots: Provide moisture, natural sweetness, and a pop of color to the muffins.
- Apple: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a fruity flavor to the muffins. Tart varieties, like Granny Smith, work best.
- Shredded Coconut: Adds texture and a tropical flavor to the muffins. Either sweetened or unsweetened coconut will work.
- Chopped Walnuts: Contribute crunch, texture, and nutty flavor to the muffins.
- Wheat Germ: Adds nuttiness, texture, and nutritional value to the muffins, enriching them with vitamins and minerals.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by soaking the raisins in hot water. This softens and plumps them up.
Meanwhile, grate the carrots and apple. I use a food processor but you can also use a box grater.
If you’re making your own orange juice, juice the orange.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
Combine, using your fingers to break up any lumps of brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla extract.
Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, along with the grated apple, grated carrots, wheat germ, walnuts, coconut, and drained raisins.
Mix until evenly moistened and combined. The batter will be very thick.
Divide the batter into the wells of a greased 12-cup muffin pan. They will be very full.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until muffins are nicely domed. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn the muffins out onto a rack to cool completely.
The muffins are best enjoyed fresh, but they will keep nicely for a few days and they also freeze well. Serve with butter and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Like it’s darker cousin, it is 100% whole wheat flour; the difference between the two is the color of the wheat it’s harvested from. White whole wheat is lighter and milder tasting than regular whole wheat flour yet just as nutritious. If you can’t find it, go ahead and use regular whole wheat flour — or, for lighter-tasting muffins, use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. (And if you’re wondering what else to do with that bag of whole wheat flour, try my apple muffins, Irish soda bread muffins, or Ovenly’s famous whole wheat banana bread.)
Absolutely! Feel free to customize the recipe to suit your preferences or dietary restrictions. No wheat germ? You can replace it with wheat bran, ground flaxseed, or ground oats. Also, you can omit the raisins, coconut, or walnuts if you don’t like them or substitute them with other ingredients like dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, chopped pecans, or additional shredded carrots or apples. Just be mindful of maintaining the overall moisture and texture of the batter when making substitutions.
Sure, they will keep nicely, covered, at room temperature, for several days.
Definitely! The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 to 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm.
My starting point for this recipe was the Morning Glory Muffins on the King Arthur Flour website — a fantastic baking resource. I found their version to be a bit bland, so I increased the spices, raisins, walnuts, and sugar.
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Morning Glory Muffins
Morning glory muffins are good to eat and good for you. True to their name, they’re a glorious way to start your day.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup raisins
- 2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour (or Whole Wheat Flour), spooned and leveled
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup orange juice (if making your own, you'll need one orange)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups peeled and shredded carrots (you'll need 4-5 large carrots)
- 1 large tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and shredded
- ½ cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
- ⅔ cup chopped walnuts
- ⅓ cup wheat germ
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water. Set them aside to soak.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
- Drain the raisins, squeezing out any excess water with your hands.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture, along with the drained raisins, carrots, apple, coconut, walnuts, and wheat germ. Mix until the batter is evenly moistened and combined.
- Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan. They will be very full.
- Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, until they're nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the inner muffins comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the pan on a rack for about 5 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto the rack to cool completely. Cover and store at room temperature for several days.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 to 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 367
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 50g
- Sugar: 29g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 6g
- Sodium: 346mg
- Cholesterol: 47mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Jenn these muffins are SO yummy! I made them for my husband who wanted a bran or carrot flavor, and not only did he like them, but my 10yr old boy took one in his lunch every day too. My parents loved them so much they offered to pay me to make them a batch! What?!
Best Morning Glory muffin recipe I’ve found..Great job!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is an excellent tasting muffin.
Hello!
Is it possible to leave out the raisins without modifying the muffins otherwise?
Sure – enjoy!
All I can say is….WOW!
Hi Jenn:
First of all, thank you for your advice and input regarding all of your recipes. I’m very thankful to have the ability to ask a question(s). Here is my dilemma, I’ve perused though the recipes comments and notes on adding ground flax seed to this recipe.
However, I’ve only noted the one comment about replacing wheat germ with ground flax seed. I have three questions for you – I want to add it in addition to the wheat germ. That said, how much would be best to use? And, do I need to add more liquid? And if so, what type?
Thank you in advance,
Susan
Hi Susan, always happy to help! I wouldn’t recommend adding ground flaxseed in addition to the wheat germ. If you really want to incorporate flaxseed, I’d use half wheat germ and half ground flaxseed. Hope that helps and that you enjoy the muffins!
If it’s helpful for others to know, I just did this (1/2 each wheat germ and flax meal) and they turned out great!! These muffins are amazing. Such a nice texture, not heavy or dense. My son and I loved making them together too! 😊
🙂 thx
I love these muffins, 5 stars! I was looking for a healthier alternative grab-and-go breakfast to replace sugary cliff bars and these were perfect. They keep me full til my lunch break and taste amazing! Out of personal preference I leave out the walnuts and raisins but I’m sure they’d be even more filling with them. Delicious!
This is our family’s favorite! It does take a little time to put together, so I usually make two batches of dry ingredients ahead of time and store in a labeled zip-lock bag until I have time to bake. This recipe is also very flexible – I’ve replaced 1/2 cup flour with almond meal, replaced orange juice for pomegranate or pineapple juice, increased volume of carrots and nuts – all these variations bake up great. I usually split the batter between a 12-cup and a mini muffin tins – mini muffins work great for kids’ lunch boxes and take about 18 minutes to bake.
Thank you, Jenn, for the great collection of recipes and simple yet thorough instructions!
My toddler and I love to make these (never had a bad Once Upon a Chef recipe). Saw your comment, so today we made a mix of 8 regular sized muffins and 24 mini muffins. Perfect! Thank you for the time suggestion. Our oven runs hot, so I baked the minis for 16. 👌🏼
These dense muffins are definitely breakfast worthy. The carrots, apple, walnuts and coconut really add punch to the texture and taste. I use unsweetened coconut to keep the sugar down. Excellent!
I’ve made this multiple times, and am finally getting around to reviewing it. My family and I love these muffins. They have enough healthy things (coconut, carrots, apple) that I love and they taste great, so they go down well with the kids.
I love these muffins, they have become my ‘go to’ muffin recipe. I don’t like walnuts, so I add in whatever else I might have – cranberries or dates, whatever. They are still delicious, so moist! Thanks for a great muffin recipe!
Good morning Jenn & everyone:
I’ll begin by saying “You have to make these muffins!!!!” They taste great and freeze really well. Also, this is a recipe anyone can make it “their own.” In fact I meant to review this recipe a couple months ago and completely forgot. Jenn, I sent you a question a while back asking if I could change out wheat germ for flax instead. You said no problem, and if course you’re correct!😊 And from there I changed a couple of other “things” to…
So the following are the small changes I’ve made: I use ground flax seed for the wheat germ. I use MANGO purée instead of OJ, and I do not use chopped walnuts, I use walnut pieces (we prefer the texture). This is a truly wonderful recipe to begin any day!
Thank you so much Jenn for the inspiration that come from your recipes!
I’m having a great time baking & cooking after a long absence from the kitchen, professionally & at home☺️