Morning Glory Muffins
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Morning glory muffins are wholesome, delicious, and true to their name—a glorious way to start the day!
Morning glory muffins are brimming with wholesome goodness. Made with whole wheat flour, carrots, apples, raisins, walnuts, orange juice, coconut, and wheat germ, they were created decades ago by Chef Pam McKinstry for her Morning Glory Café on Nantucket Island. These muffins are a throwback to the 1970s “back-to-the-land” era, when wholesome hippie foods were all the rage. True to their name, they’re a glorious way to kick-start your day—a feel-good, homemade treat.
If you love the cozy flavors of carrots, raisins, and warm spices, you might also enjoy my classic carrot cake—it shares many of the same ingredients but in a more decadent dessert form. For more muffin inspiration, try my blueberry muffins or banana muffins—both are simple favorites that bake up beautifully.
“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, carrots, apple, walnuts & coconut: This mix gives the muffins their signature balance of sweetness, moisture, and a subtle tropical note, with just the right amount of crunch from the nuts.
- White Whole Wheat Flour, brown sugar, wheat germ, and baking soda: This combination forms the dry base. The flour provides structure (I like King Arthur), the sugar adds depth with its hint of molasses, the wheat germ lends a subtle nuttiness and extra nutrition, and baking soda leavens the muffins.
- Eggs, oil, orange juice & vanilla extract: These wet ingredients bind the batter, add sweetness, and keep the muffins tender. The orange juice adds brightness, and the vanilla rounds out the flavor.
- Cinnamon & ginger: These spices add cozy warmth and just enough zing to balance the fruit and nuts.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1. Soak the raisins. Place them in hot water to soften and plump.
Pro Tip: If you’d like to experiment, try soaking the raisins in hot tea (like Earl Grey or chamomile) instead of plain water for a subtle flavor twist.
Step 2. Prep the produce. Grate the carrots and apple (a food processor makes quick work of this, but a box grater works just as well). If making your own orange juice, juice the orange now.
Pro Tip: If you’re using a box grater, grate the carrots first—it’ll keep the apple from sitting too long and getting watery.
Step 3. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Use your fingers to break up any brown sugar lumps.
Pro Tip: Like regular whole wheat, white whole wheat flour is 100% whole grain—the difference comes from the lighter-colored wheat it’s milled from. It has the same nutrition but a milder flavor and color. If you can’t find it, use regular whole wheat flour, or go half whole wheat and half all-purpose for lighter muffins.
Step 4. Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla extract.
Step 5. Combine everything. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, then stir in the apple, carrots, wheat germ, walnuts, coconut, and drained raisins. Mix until evenly moistened; the batter will be very thick.
Step 6. Bake. Divide the batter into the wells of a greased 12-cup muffin pan. The wells will be very full. Bake in a 375°F oven for about 25 minutes, until nicely domed.
Pro Tip: If you have an ice cream scoop, that works well to fill the muffin pan.
Step 7. Cool and serve. Let muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. The muffins keep nicely for several days; freeze for longer storage.
Morning Glory Muffins Mix-and-Match Swaps
These muffins are super flexible—here are a few easy substitutions to make them your own. Just be mindful of maintaining the overall moisture and texture of the batter when making substitutions:
- Wheat germ: Swap with wheat bran, ground flaxseed, or even finely ground oats.
- Raisins: Use dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, or just leave them out.
- Coconut: Skip it, or replace with extra shredded carrots or apples for moisture.
- Walnuts: Try chopped pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts—or omit altogether.
My starting point for this recipe was the Morning Glory Muffins on the King Arthur Flour. I found their version to be a bit bland, so I increased the spices, raisins, walnuts, and sugar.
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes to Try
Morning Glory Muffins
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup raisins
- 2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, or Whole Wheat Flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
- 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, from 4 to 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 (190°C). 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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, I love your recipes. So far only have been working through the Breakfast items. Pancakes, Waffles, Spiced Apple Muffins, Baked Apple French toast, etc. I also love the details you give for each recipe. Can I make the Morning Glory Muffin without the coconut? Tks
So glad you like the recipes, Shamini! Yes, I think you can omit the coconut – I’d just replace it with more carrots. Hope you enjoy!
I added double the carrots, used flaxseed meal instead of wheat germ. They turned out amazing. I made 20 large, moist and tasty muffins. Thanks for the great recipe.
These muffins are fantastic. I have made them so many times…exactly as written they turn out fantastic, but this recipe also allows for easy modifications and substitutions as well. I added a grated zucchini and doubled the coconut today (and I never seem to have wheat germ on hand) still fabulous. I like to use a muffin scoop and make more than a dozen, baking for 18 minutes…I added anough bulk that today it was 2 dozen. Thank you for another fabulous recipe!
Made these last week. Terrific recipe, muffins are moist and very tasty. Would recommend the recipe to anyone.
Make these!
They are so nice for breakfast!
I carefully halved the recipe since it’s just me and my husband (used 2 “normal-sized eggs) and it made 8 muffins from my standard 12-muffin pan. I’ll be freezing 4 -fingers crossed that works.
I used light OJ and they were fine! Can’t imagine how good fresh squeezed would make them. Bright, moist and lightly sweet yet also hearty. So good with coffee!
Can I use almond flour instead of King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour (or Whole Wheat Flour)?
Last time I made I used whole wheat flour.
Hi Zeina, I wouldn’t recommend almond flour here, but it’s fine to use regular whole wheat. 🙂
These are really good muffins. They were so delicious. They’re denser than other muffins, but they taste great with butter.
Hi Jen, I’m wondering if I follow the same method you use for the carrot cake and use a food processor for the carrots in this recipe. Would that make a difference in the moisture?
Thanks!
Hi Carolyn, It’s perfectly fine to use a food processor to grate the carrots. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
I don’t have an apple but I’d still love to make these. Should I increase the carrots for moisture or what would recommend?
Thanks!
Nichole
Sure, Nichole, increasing the carrots should work as they too will add moisture. Please LMK how they turn out this way!
I had my doubts about all the 5-stars on this recipe. Often “healthy” muffins are healthy, but not very tasty, and regular muffins are just mini-cakes with lots of sugar and butter. This recipe proved me wrong. These were truly were the best muffins I have ever eaten. Light, great texture, just the right amount of sweetness, and I didn’t feel guilty eating them. The only changes I made was to use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and flax seed meal instead of wheat germ and I did go half whole wheat flour and half white and they were amazing. Jen, I shouldn’t have doubted you. Your recipes never disappoint!
Made these this morning. They were fantastic! Once again, another great recipe.