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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.

Halved morning glory muffin with butter.

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.

“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!”

Christina

What You’ll Need To Make Morning Glory Muffins

Morning glory muffins ingredients
  • 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.

Bowl of soaking raisins.

Meanwhile, grate the carrots and apple. I use a food processor but you can also use a box grater.

Grated carrots and apples in a food processor.

If you’re making your own orange juice, juice the orange.

juicing the orange

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt.

flour, brown sugar, spices, and salt in large mixing bowl

Combine, using your fingers to break up any lumps of brown sugar.

combined dry ingredients in mixing bowl

In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla extract.

whisking the eggs, oil, orange juice and vanilla

Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, along with the grated apple, grated carrots, wheat germ, walnuts, coconut, and drained raisins.

adding the carrots, apples, nuts, raisins, wheat germ and wet ingredients to the flour mixture

Mix until evenly moistened and combined. The batter will be very thick.

mixed morning glory muffin batter

Divide the batter into the wells of a greased 12-cup muffin pan. They will be very full.

morning glory muffin batter in pan, ready to bake

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.

baked morning glory muffins cooling on rack

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

What is white whole wheat flour?

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.)

Can I omit or substitute any of the ingredients like raisins, coconut, walnuts or wheat germ in morning gory muffins?

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.

Can morning glory muffins be made ahead?

Sure, they will keep nicely, covered, at room temperature, for several days.

Can I freeze morning glory muffins?

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.

Halved morning glory muffin with butter.

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.

Servings: 12 large muffins
Total Time: 45 Minutes

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

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water. Set them aside to soak.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
  4. Drain the raisins, squeezing out any excess water with your hands.
  5. 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.
  6. Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan. They will be very full.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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

Powered by Edamam

  • 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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Comments

  • Wow! These muffins are fabulous, I am so happy I discovered your recipe site.
    My teenage daughter, who would rather sleep than eat breakfast before school, grabs 2 muffins on her way out the door. I’m happy she has something healthy in her stomach to start the day.
    I’m now making these in double batches, they freeze well. I sometimes use 1 cup shredded carrots, one cup shredded beets. The resulting mixture is a shocking red colour but the end product is a normal brown and they taste delicious!
    Love it, Love it, Love it. I will definately be trying more of your recipes.

  • Excellent recipe. Based on other reviewers’ comments, I made the following changes:
    – Reduced brown sugar to 2/3 cup
    – Used 1/2 of an orange in place of OJ
    – Used 1/2 cup coconut oil + 3 Tbs of butter for the 2/3 cup oil
    – Baked at 375F for 20-22 minutes
    This made 18 small muffins that were excellent. When I make them again, I’d keep all of the above substitutions. I’ll also try substituting ground flax seed for wheat germ.

  • One of the better MG recipes I’ve seen. I use half the sugar and use regular whole wheat flour. The muffins are substantial enough for a complete breakfast with yogurt-AY

  • I substituted coconut oil and added orange zest. Good muffins but I found them a bit too sweet. Will make again and adjust the amount of sugar.

  • How can I buy the muffin mix?

    • Hi Judy, there is not a mix available for this. They are worth the effort, though, if you want to prepare them from scratch.

  • Is the coconut an essential ingredient? I can’t stand it and am just worried about tasting it.

    • Hi Mel, I think you could definitely omit the coconut – I’d just replace it with more carrots. Hope you enjoy the muffins!

  • Excellent Fall muffin recipe. Delicious, light, flavourful. Stayed fresh for 1 week without drying out. A keeper for sure!

  • These muffins were amazing. They were full of flavor, super moist, and filling. My whole family loved them. I liked having the carrots and apples shredded, rather than diced, it made a nice even texture. The only change I made was leaving out the coconut, as my family doesn’t like it, but we didn’t miss it. Will definitely make this recipe again.

  • Mine were very good but too dry. what would you suggest to have the perfect moist? Thank you!

    • Hi Anissa, Sorry to hear they were dry! Did you use the spoon and level method for measuring the flour? (If not, the batter may have had too much flour.) Also, it could be that they were a bit overbaked.

      • I had the same problem the first 2 times I made these. I was using store-bought grated carrots rather than grating them myself, just to save time. The third time I made them, I switched to grating the carrots myself, and that made all the difference. Perfect moist muffins.

      • I love your recipes and would not want to change anything but can I substitute to all purpose flour .

        • — Jennifer Frank
        • Reply
        • Glad you like the recipes! Yes, all-purpose flour would work here. 🙂

  • Could you use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil? Also could you use less sugar with the same result? How about using maple syrup instead?

    • Hi Joy, I haven’t tried coconut oil for baking so I’m not positive, but I suspect it should work. And I would stick with the sugar here, but you could reduce it by about 1/4 cup. I’d love to hear how they turn out!

    • Melted coconut oil worked perfect for me. Just make sure the other ingredients aren’t too cold so that the coconut oil resolidifies. 😊

  • Hi Jenn, could you please advise how to make the Morning Glory Muffins without eggs, in order to have a vegan version?

    • Hi Beth, I really don’t have any experience with egg substitutes but I’ve heard of people replacing eggs with “flax eggs” or applesauce when baking. Hope that helps to point you in the right direction!

    • I tried using 3/4 cup of applesauce in place of the eggs and they were amazing…..I also made a batch with eggs to taste the difference and you really couldn’t tell them apart.

  • I had to make some substitutions b/c I didn’t have everything for recipe. Used 1 cup rye flour and 1 cup ap flour; a bit less than 1 cup brown sugar (trying to cut back); ground oat meal instead of the wheat germ;freshly ground nutmeg b/c had no ginger;no raisins b/c I’m not a fan. Used sweetened coconut btw. Next time I want to add some other dried fruit as a substitute for raisins. Awesome result! So easy to make & everyone really liked them even with reduced sugar.

    • I baked these again & in addition to the mods I mentioned above I added dates to the mix. This made the muffins over the top delicious. I chopped the dried dates in a food processor which made them into a thick and sticky paste-so much so that I didn’t want to incorporate that into the mix-so I cut up the paste into small little pieces. To ensure the small pieces wouldn’t stick together & sink to the bottom of the muffins I mixed in about 1/4 cup of the dry ingredients and tossed in a bowl. I put those in last. The bits of naturally super sweet date puree just melt in your mouth. Admittedly it adds to the labor of this recipe but it was so very tasty.

  • just made these last night for my young daughter. they are so, so tasty! love the ginger spice. i like to use natural sweeteners when baking for her, so i replaced the 1 cup of brown sugar with 2/3 cup of maple syrup. i nixed the OJ altogether to avoid making the mix too wet and still used the additional 2 T of brown sugar. texture and taste were great! thanks for a great recipe!

  • Can I bake this as a “bread” in a single baking pan?

    • Yes, I think that would work!

  • Delicious healthy breakfast or snack muffin. Full of carrots,apples,raisins and other tasty tidbits. Just fill the cups to the brim and the batter will bake pup to a beautiful big domed delicious treat

    • — Selma Tannenbaum
    • Reply
  • Delicious, easy and healthy. A quick breakfast or afternoon snack. Just remember to fill the cupcake spaces to the very top (I use paper cups in the pan) They freeze well and defrost quickly. Enjoy

    • — Selma Tannenbaum
    • Reply
  • These were absolutely delicious! My husband loved them, they freeze well and were really moist. Our new favourite muffin

  • These are best homemade muffins I’ve ever had. I’m new to your site, and can’t wait to try more of your recipes!

  • Do you think I can substitute Whole Wheat Pastry flour for the White Whole Wheat flour. Should I use the same amount?

    • Hi Daniel, If you don’t have the white whole wheat flour, regular whole wheat flour or a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flour will work fine. I’ve never tried these with pastry flour, so I can’t say for sure if the texture would be right. If you do try them that way, I’d love to know how they turn out!

      • Well I finally tried the morning glory muffins with Whole wheat pastry flour. I use it so seldom that I need to use it up before it goes bad. The muffins were good (I’ve made them three times and they don’t last long so that means that they are good). I haven’t tried to make the muffins with whole wheat or white whole wheat flour to compare but that’s on my list. I will keep you posted once I do.

  • Made these muffins for a quick grab on-the-go breakfast. They are the best!! When I lived in the Yukon I used to go to a bakery every morning for coffee and their morning glory muffins, such a fond memory. I’ve been trying to match their muffins and your recipe brings back those memories. Shared with some friends and sent along the recipe as they loved them as well! Thanks for this! I used coconut oil and wheat bran instead of wheat germ. Yum! 🙂

  • Two questions: Can I use 1/3 cup apple sauce and 1/3 cup oil instead of just all oil? Second, if I’m making them smaller how long would you bake for? Thinking of using a standard cupcake/muffin liner size. Also, would you keep it at 375’F? I’ve always baked muffins and cupcakes at 350′ so I’m just a bit worried about overcooking or burning them. I’m thinking of using a standard ice cream scoop (1/4 cup I think) to portion them evenly into the liners… Thanks!

    • Hi Tania, I’ve never tried them with applesauce, so I can’t say for sure. If you make them with that modification, please let me know how they turn out. If you’re thinking of using a mini muffin tin, a 1/4 cup of batter would work well, but I wouldn’t suggest using such a small amount of batter in a standard muffin tin. You can keep the temperature at 375 with the smaller muffins, but start checking them for doneness at about 12 minutes.

  • I have made many of your recipes but have never posted before. Am posting now because my husband said these are the best muffins he has ever tasted. Have to say I agree! I think it was worth the search to use unsweetened coconut — the level of sweetness was perfect, sweetened coconut would have been over the top for me. Thanks Jenn!

  • These are great! I used ground flax seeds instead of wheat germ, subbed splenda brown sugar and added a liiiittle bit of maple syrup – they turned out marvelous. Sweet enough for dessert but healthy enough for breakfast! Very pleased.

  • These are great for breakfast! I like to have a batch in the freezer and grab one on my way out the door.

  • I followed this recipient to the t but my muffins came out really hard. Could it be that I over mixed the batter?

    • Hi Jessica, Sorry your muffins came out hard. Did you use the spoon and level method to measure the flour?

  • I’ve done these muffins following the exact recipe except for nuts that I exchanged for pecans (question of taste!). These muffins are just the best! really delicious! ! I had some family over from France and the ladies all left with the recipe (translated the best I could because my English translation is not perfect! ) Thanks again from the entire family! One question though, my family asked me, why do North American people always calculate/need to know the % of fat in everything? I couldn’t answer them since I don’t pay attention to it. . I pay attention to the taste! ! 🙂

  • Can I replace the oil with applesauce?

    • Hi Kathleen, Unfortunately, I’m not sure how that would turn out; I’ve never tried it. Sorry!

    • Probably way too but I usually find you can sub out half of oil in lots of baking for apple sauce, but not all. I did that when I made these and they turned out great. Hope that helps!

      • I tried subbing half the oil with applesauce – these muffins are so moist they really don’t need all this oil. They were great!

        • What is your suggestion for time and temperature when baking frozen muffins?

          • Hi Jenny, here are some reheating tips that will help. Enjoy!

            • — Jenn
  • Hi! These are amazing, but I’m just wondering – is 18 grams of fat per muffin a typo? that seems like an awful lot for one muffin! Thanks for the recipe!!

    • Hi Maiya, Unfortunately, it’s not a typo 🙂

  • which level of oven is better for backing muffins?
    thanks Jen!

    • Hi Nazanin, The middle is always best.

  • Do you have any idea how many grams of fat, sugar, and calories these delicious muffins have? Thanks

    • Hi Elizabeth, I just recently started adding nutritional data to my recipes, and am still going back through my archives to update older recipes. Just added it to this one for you; you’ll find it underneath the recipe.

  • Had never made morning glories before (though they are my favorite muffin), and this recipe gave me just what I was hoping for! Thank you.

  • Amazing! Followed recipe as directed except couldn’t find the bag of Bob’s wheat germ I had just bought, so subbed Bob’s ground flaxseed same amount. I ended up with 12 regular sized muffins and a small batch of mini muffins (I’ve never been good at measuring!). Made them for kids’ school breakfast but half of them were gone yesterday! They not only had them for breakfast but took one for lunch too. Guess I better make another batch 🙂 I may have had one for lunch too…
    Great recipe! Super moist with the apple too! Thank you!

  • I have a coworker who eats only natural, organic vegetarian food, so she hardly ever eats what my colleagues bring in. However, these muffins received her stamp of approval!

    I like that these muffins aren’t too sweet. The only difficult part of this recipe for me was grating the carrots and apple…I have a food processor on my birthday list so that will make this super easy!

    Thanks for another great recipe Jenn!

  • I just made these today. They came out very good! I didnt use wheat germ I just used a whole cup of walnuts and processed some smaller. I also added a little nutmeg.

  • Thank you for this recipe. My family really enjoyed these. I only made minor modifications to the recipe, reducing the sugar and oil slightly. delicious!

  • I made these yesterday and they were delicious! But, while eating one this morning I noticed that there was green in the muffins. It looked like the carrots molded. Did anyone else have this problem? I did store them covered at room temp, but it had been only one day!

  • I made this yesterday exactly like the recipe. Once they cooled I put in fridge, later that evening I grabbed one to eat and notice green stuff on it! Like mold, for a minute I thought it looked like zucchini muffin. It tasted fine but I want to know why the carrots turned green!

  • These muffins are great. The absolutely delicious smell when they are baking made me say, “Hurry up, hurry up get finish.”

  • Thanks for the delicious recipe!

    I made a few changes based on the ingredients I had in my pantry.
    I used AP Flour instead of Whole Wheat only because I”m all out of WW Flour
    I used chopped pecans instead of walnuts because that’s what I had 🙂
    I ground some oatmeal in the food processor instead of wheat germ. (apparently I could have replaced with equal volume of crushed nuts, flax seed, all bran, extra flour, etc)
    I used freshly squeezed orange juice because I only had whole oranges
    I used unsweetened coconut
    I used macintosh apple.
    I used canola oil instead of vegetable (might try olive oil or a blend next time)
    To portion I used a #12 Green handle (3 oz) scoop and it portioned 12 muffins.
    I sprayed the pan with nonstick spray
    24 minutes cooked these perfectly with a clean tooth pick and beautiful colour.

  • These had a good flavor, but we’re dry and crumbly. Cannot recommend.

    • Hi Keith, I’m so sorry your muffins turned out dry and crumbly. I’ve made these muffins many times and they are moist as can be. I’m wondering if you cut back on the sugar or made any substitutions?

  • These are my favorite muffins of all time. Wonderful. I had to watch my baking time pretty closely so check on these little guys often towards the end of baking.

  • if you’re interested in the nutritional content of any recipe, there is a website that allows you to input all ingredients, number of servings and then it calculates all the nutritional info. http://nutritiondata.self.com/

    • Thank you, Sally!

  • These are terrific! I omitted the raisins, used one ripe banana in place of the grated apples and carrots, and reduced the brown sugar to only one cup, and they still turned out great. Thanks for the inspiration!

  • I have made these for years. I now use the re ipe on the back of Bobs Red Mill oat bran. IT HAD NO OIL so I added 1/4 cup. Walnuts are the best nuts.

  • I substituted the following:

    egg beaters for eggs
    grapeseed oil for vegetable oil
    ground flax seed for wheat germ
    splenda/brown sugar blend for brown sugar
    deleted salt

    The muffins were spectacular!!!

  • I just made these this morning – they are delicious. I think next time I will make them in the little mini muffin pans. I’m a Weight Watcher and one muffin is 8 points. Will cut that in haft with the mini muffins.

  • Hi,
    I was just wondering if you ever provide the nutritional information for recipes. These sound great, but I’m wondering about calories, fiber, fat, etc.
    Thanks!

    • Hi Betsy, See above comment. Hope that helps!

  • I should make these for my husband to take to work every morning! I’m glad they freeze well 🙂

  • Do you know the number of calories and other nutritional content?

    • This info is from the King Arthur Flour website. It’s not exactly accurate as I altered the ingredients a bit, but it’s pretty close. Serving Size: 1 muffin/Amount Per Serving: Calories: 342; Total Fat: 18g; Cholesterol: 53mg Sodium: 347mg; Total Carbohydrate: 26g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Sugars: 19g; Protein: 6g.

  • This looks like a terrific recipe. I am going to make them this weekend. Will let you know how they tirn out.

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