Morning Glory Muffins
These morning glory muffins are full of good-for-you ingredients like Greek yogurt, carrot, and apple. Just sweet enough, with a hint of warm cinnamon.
Muffins are always on a steady rotation at my house. My kids love them and it’s great because I can make a batch at the beginning of the week and we have ready-made breakfasts for days.
Some of our favorites include chocolate chip muffins, blueberry muffins, and double chocolate zucchini muffins. And right now we are really digging these morning glory muffins.
Have you ever had morning glory muffins?
They are so good. Seriously like the best muffin flavor ever. They’re moist and just sweet enough, with tons of chunky add-ins like apple, carrot, dried fruit, and crunchy nuts.
WHAT ARE MORNING GLORY MUFFINS?
Morning glory muffins are a classic quick bread recipe, made with brown sugar, cinnamon, and lots of fruit, veggies, nuts, and seeds.
This recipe makes morning glory muffins that are moist, tall, and fluffy. They’re just sweet enough, cinnamon-y, and chock-full of wholesome ingredients.
They’re a great make-ahead treat, perfect for breakfast or brunch.
ARE MORNING GLORY MUFFINS HEALTHY?
Everybody has their own definition of “healthy,” but I think you can feel really good about feeding these morning glory muffins to your family.
They’re made with good-for-you ingredients like Greek yogurt, and they’re not overly sugar-y. And they’re loaded with apple, carrot, raisins, and nuts.
Every bite has tons of flavor and texture!
INGREDIENT SUBSTITUTIONS
If you’d like to make these morning glory muffins even healthier, try using a 50/50 mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. Just keep in mind that you may need a little more orange juice to moisten your muffin batter.
You could also make gluten-free morning glory muffins. Just substitute the flour for a gluten-free flour blend. Look for one that that subs 1:1 for regular flour. Here are a few good options:
- King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
- Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
- Cup4Cup Multi-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
If you don’t have or don’t want to use Greek yogurt, you can substitute with sour cream (in equal measure).
If you don’t like raisins, you can either leave them out entirely, or substitute with dried cranberries. Or honestly any kind of dried fruit would work! Try morning glory muffins with dried apricots, dried cherries… anything your heart desires!
You can also substitute any kind of nut you prefer. Pecans are my favorite, but I think walnuts or pistachios would be great too.
I like to sprinkle the tops of my morning glory muffins with sunflower seeds, but pepitas (pumkin seeds) would also work really well.
HOW TO MAKE MORNING GLORY MUFFINS
Morning glory muffins are a quick bread, which means they come together really quickly and easily.
Start by combining the dry ingredients. Flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt all go into a big mixing bowl.
Give the dry ingredients a quick whisk, just to combine everything.
Then, in a separate, smaller bowl, mix the Greek yogurt, melted butter, orange juice, and eggs together. Fold in the grated apple, carrot, raisins, and pecans, and pour the whole mixture over the dry ingredients in the larger bowl.
Gently fold everything together until just barely combined. Be careful not to overmix- it could cause your muffins to come out tough.
The batter will be VERY stiff and thick. This will ensure that your muffins will bake up super tall!
Transfer the batter to a muffin pan lined with papers, sprinkle with sunflower seeds, and bake!
You’ll know your morning glory muffins are done when a toothpick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
HOW TO STORE MORNING GLORY MUFFINS
Wrap your morning glory muffins loosely with plastic wrap, and they’ll keep for 2 to 3 days at room temperature.
They can also be kept in the refrigerator. They’ll last about 1 week to a week and a half.
You can even freeze your morning glory muffins! Wrap them tightly and they should be good for a couple months. Just thaw them in the microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds, and enjoy!
Bake up a big batch of these hearty, wholesome morning glory muffins! You’ll love the combination of tastes and textures, and they’re a terrific way to start the day!
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Morning Glory Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (220 g) dark brown sugar,, loosely packed
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 cup (200 g) Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter,, melted
- 1/4 cup (62 g) orange juice
- 2 large eggs
- 1 medium-sized apple,, peeled and grated
- 1/2 (0.5) large carrot, , peeled and grated
- 1/2 cup (72.5 g) raisins
- 1/2 cup (49.5 g) roughly chopped pecans
- about 1/4 cup sunflower seed kernels, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a muffin pan with papers.
- Place the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Place the Greek yogurt, melted butter, orange juice, and eggs in a smaller bowl and whisk to combine.
- Fold the apple, carrot, raisins, and pecans into the yogurt mixture, and then pour it into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Fold the liquid ingredients into the dry until just barely combined, then transfer the batter to the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle the tops of the unbaked muffins with sunflower seed kernels, for garnish
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees F, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for 18 to 22 minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of a muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
It’s best to store muffins and other quick breads wrapped loosely in a lint-free towel. If you store them in plastic where they can’t breathe, they get sticky and gross. Muffins rarely make it to day 3 in my house.
This is a great tip. I have the same issue with muffins and quick breads, when kept at room temp. I think it’s better if they can breathe a little bit. That’s why I recommend covering them loosely. Airtight does seem to make them soggy and reduces their shelf life. Thank you!
If I don’t freeze them, I always use a paper lunch bag to store on the counter. Works Great!
That is a great tip! TYSM for sharing!
I have everything for these muffins but the orange juice – can I sub. something for it? Thank you!
I love Morning Glory muffins. I now have a family member allergic to eggs.
could you please tell me what the best egg substitute would be for these muffins ?
Thank you,
Hey Lucile! So sorry to hear about your family member’s new sensitivity! You can find info on ingredient substitution in this article: How to Stock your Baking Pantry. The directions for how to make an egg substitute are listed under the heading “Refrigerated.” I hope that’s helpful!
So sorry- forgot to include the link. Here it is: How to Stock your Baking Pantry.
Have you tried duck eggs? It’s a lot more common to be allergic to chicken eggs than eggs from other kinds of birds, so it might be worth trying out and seeing if it works for your family.
Love the flavors going on in these muffins! They are perfect for breakfast meal prep!
These muffins look and sounds so delicious and perfect for brunch!
I love morning glory cakes- muffins or bread. All so delicious and good for you!
Perfect morning glory muffins! One of my favorites!
Do you have the nutritional info for the morning glory muffins ?
Hey Terry! You can find that info just after the notes section of the recipe card.