These fluffy morning glory muffins with tart apples, crunchy coconut, and sweet carrots will fill your kitchen with warmly spiced goodness. They’re a Texas-sized breakfast for lazy mornings!
Morning glory muffins are a delightful treat that bridges the gap between a wholesome breakfast muffin and spiced coffee cake. Their main ingredients are always carrots, apples, coconut, and raisins. Spices like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves add warmth. Baked until golden brown and fluffy, the muffins are perfect when served with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk for breakfast.
Why I Love This Morning Glory Muffins Recipe
- Fruity. You get apples, coconut, dried prunes, and chewy raisins in every bite.
- Dessert for breakfast. You’ll be more than happy to dig into a sweet muffin that also counts as breakfast.
- Versatile. Turn them into chocolate muffins, add oats, or make them a whole-wheat recipe.
- Wholesome. All the carrots, crunchy walnuts, and fruits in the batter make them an obvious breakfast option.
Recipe Ingredients
Spicy ground ginger and freshly-squeezed orange juice help balance the muffins’ sweetness. Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact amounts.
- All-purpose flour – Avoid cake flour because the muffins will crumble easily.
- Light brown sugar – Dark brown sugar works too, but the muffins will be darker in color.
- Baking soda – Sieve it if there are any lumps.
- Ground cinnamon – Feel free to use nutmeg.
- Ground ginger – It helps lighten things up, but you can skip it.
- Salt – Kosher salt is best.
- Carrots – This is a great opportunity to use up leftover baby carrots.
- Apples – Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, and Gala apples are perfect for this.
- Sweetened coconut – It can also be unsweetened.
- Walnuts – You can use pecans, almonds, or macadamias instead.
- Raisins – Feel free to swap them for dried cranberries or golden raisins.
- Dried prunes – Chopped dried apples and peaches are great as well.
- Eggs – Liquid eggs are fine for this.
- Canola oil – Vegetable and corn oil are good swaps.
- Oranges – You’ll need the juice and zest.
- Vanilla extract – It adds aroma, but you can skip it.
How To Make Morning Glory Muffins
The muffins are just like any muffin recipe but with spices, fruits, and nuts in the batter.
- Prep the oven. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a muffin tin with 6 jumbo or “Texas-sized” liners. Set it aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, walnuts, raisins, prunes, and zest. Mix well.
- Make the wet mixture. Whisk the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla in a separate bowl until well combined.
- Combine them. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix the batter until just combined.
- Fill the liners. Pour batter into each liner until completely full. Sprinkle light brown sugar on top.
- Bake them. Pop the muffin tin into the oven for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove them from the heat. Let them cool and enjoy!
Tips & Variations
- More add-ins. Stir 1/4 cup chopped (and pitted) dates, dried figs, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, or chia seeds into the batter for more flavor and texture. Don’t add more fresh fruit because the muffins will turn out raw due to excess moisture.
- Baking rack. Never bake on the bottom or top racks in the oven. The bottom rack will burn the muffins, while the top will leave them under-cooked. Always use the middle rack for baking because there’s better heat distribution there.
- Make them chocolatey. Stir 1 tablespoon cocoa powder and 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips into the dry ingredients for a dessert-like breakfast.
- More spices. Add 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom and cloves into the dry ingredients for more spice in every bite.
- Skip the liners. Grease the muffin cavities in the tin with non-stick spray. I recommend it over butter for this recipe. Bake as usual but wait 15 minutes before removing them from the tin after baking.
- Make them with oats. Mix 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats or plain granola into the batter to make these muffins extra filling.
- Use the food processor. Add the carrots to the food processor and pulse until they’re completely shredded. Don’t purée them.
- Go whole-wheat. Swap half of the all-purpose flour for whole-wheat flour for an easy variation of this recipe.
Proper Storage
- Counter: Place the cooled muffins in an airtight container or paper bag for up to 2 days in a dry area.
- Fridge: Store them in an airtight container or bag for up to 7 days. Keep them away from strong-smelling foods to prevent the transfer of odors.
- Freezer: Wrap each muffin in plastic wrap twice. Transfer them to a freezer-friendly bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter for 20-25 minutes.
More Muffin Recipes To Try
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Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
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Line a muffin tin with 6 “Texas-sized” muffin paper liners or use a cupcake tin and line all 12 cavities with cupcake paper liners.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Add in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, raisins, prunes, and zest; mix to combine.
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Whisk the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla in a separate bowl.
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Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
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Fill the muffin liners to the top. Sprinkle light brown sugar over the top of the muffins.
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Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
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Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn them out on a baking rack to cool completely.
Serving: 1 muffin | Calories: 343 kcal | Carbohydrates: 43 g | Protein: 5 g | Fat: 18 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9 g | Trans Fat: 0.1 g | Cholesterol: 47 mg | Sodium: 323 mg | Potassium: 252 mg | Fiber: 3 g | Sugar: 20 g | Vitamin A: 3688 IU | Vitamin C: 5 mg | Calcium: 42 mg | Iron: 2 mg
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
