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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Looked at many recipes, before deciding on this one, love the use of oj and brown sugar.
Have most of the ingredients, all ready to start, but do not see the raisins listed? Also if I do not have White Whole Wheat flour? can I use white flour – will that make a dramatic difference? Thanks for so many great recipes.
Hi Jean, Glad you like the recipes! The raisins are the first ingredient on the ingredient list (you’ll need 2/3 cup). And, yes you can use regular flour here instead of white whole wheat. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn!
Can I sub out a cup of carrots for a cup of grated zucchini? Or is there too much moisture in the zucchini?
😊 Thanks
Lisa
Hi Lisa, Sure, you can swap out a cup of the carrots for grated zucchini. Just squeeze it first to remove excess water. Enjoy! 😊
I made a batch and froze the muffins for quick, healthy breakfasts. This has a lot of ingredients but so worth the effort. I did exchange 1/3 cup oil for applesauce and cut back on the sugar to 3/4 cup. The fruit, nuts and carrots make the muffins plenty sweet. Soaking the raisins was a useful step – they are still plump after freezing. I will remember that for other recipes! I only have a few left so I will be making them again soon.
I’ve read the recipe three times and cannot find the measurement for the raisins…..
Hi Tina, You’ll need 2/3 cup. Enjoy the muffins!
These are the best muffins ever. I am celiac and made them with my gluten free cup for cup replacement flour, gluten free oats instead of coconut as was suggested, and of course no wheat germ. They are just perfect…no hockey pucks as so often is the case with gluten free muffins. I could not be happier that they turned out so well. Passed on your site and the recipe to 2 friends. Thank you so much Jenn…this was the flavour I was missing.
These muffins are both delicious and beautiful! I followed the recipe but subbed dried cranberries for raisins and apple juice for orange juice since my oranges were a bit dry. I did use the zest of one large orange. The batter was very thick at first but loosened as it sat for a few minutes, and my muffin cups were indeed very full. I cooked them exactly 25 minutes, and they were perfectly cooked, had a nice dome, and were moist and tasty. I plan to freeze half the muffins to enjoy later. While the muffins take a little more prep work than usual, I appreciated being able to stir them up without having to use my mixer. I’ve saved the recipe to my recipe box and will make them again.
I make these all the time, great for a grab and go breakfast with lots of healthy ingredients.
This time I didn’t have enough carrots to make the two cups and made up the shortfall with grated sweet potato (figured both root vegetables, both orange) and the muffins came out with no taste difference.
I make mini muffins, bake at 425 for five minutes and then at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes. They dome nicely considering they are a very dense muffin and I love the crunch of turbinado sugar sprinkled on the muffin tops before baking.
Great muffins to make when you have all the ingredients on hand.
My grandson loves these mini muffins.
Help please! I made these but they didn’t seem to rise enough, overflowed tins and tops ran into each other making them VERY hard to store. Tasted great. Sprayed non-stick muffin tin with Bakers Joy as I do with any muffin. Any ideas why? Soda too old?
I’m sorry you had a problem with these! Take a look at your baking soda; if it’s very old or expired, that may have caused the problem. Additionally, did you make any changes or substitutions in the recipe?
Thank you so much for timely reply! I made no changes to the recipe and as said above they were delicious! I will replace baking soda and I do think I may have over filled the tins. Making again tomorrow.
Hope they come out better today!
Wonderful recipe Jenn!! Now a bit of a story – I have the November 1981 issue of Gourmet Magazine. In their “You Asked For It” section, a reader had asked for the recipe for the Morning Glory Muffins from the Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket and the magazine provided it. The recipe was for 30 muffins so I reduced the amounts to make 12 but that is the recipe I have been using for decades. No offense meant to the Morning Glory Cafe, but I will now be making your interpretation of the recipe!! If you would like to have a copy of the page from Gourmet, I would be pleased to email it to you.
beautiful muffins delicious and nutritious. thank you