Nom nom nom… (I’m eating one of these as I type this blog post)
So, I’m usually not that into muffins because they really just seem like cupcakes in disguise. Morning glory muffins, on the other hand, are chock full of all sorts of delicious, good for you things. My morning glory muffins have oat bran, shredded carrots, applesauce, raisins, walnuts and coconut, but there are tons of other options. In the future, I plan on experimenting with shredded zucchini, pumpkin puree and pineapple. If you’re planning to experiment with other ingredients, just try to keep the ratio of wet to dry ingredients the same to keep the consistency of the batter the same.
That being said, they are still muffins and still have a decent amount of sugar so I’m reserving these for those long, lazy weekend mornings when I want something special with my cup of coffee. The recipe makes 14 and since I’m only planning to eat them as a treat, the majority will be frozen. Baked goods freeze beautifully, just make sure to wrap them up tightly to prevent freezer burn.
Morning Glory Muffins
Morning Glory Muffins
Servings 14Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.10)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour ($0.16)
- 1/2 cup oat bran ($0.52)
- 1 cup sugar ($0.18)
- 2 tsp baking soda ($0.08)
- 2 tsp cinnamon ($0.12)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil ($0.24)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce ($0.38)
- 3 lg eggs ($0.53)
- 1 tsp vanilla ($0.28)
- 2 cups 4 med carrots, shredded ($0.49)
- 1/2 cup raisins ($0.28)
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped ($0.84)
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut ($0.25)
Instructions
- Wash and peel the carrots. Using a cheese shredder, shred the carrots into a bowl and then set them aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oat bran, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
- In another fairly large bowl, combine the wet ingredients: vegetable oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until evenly combined. Stir in the carrots, raisins, walnuts and coconut.
- Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until everything is moistened and combined. Over stirring can give the muffins an undesirable texture.
- Line a muffin tin with paper cups or spray with non-stick spray. Fill the cups to the top with the muffin batter. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Put all of the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt). Yes, there is a bowl there, it’s just glass so you can’t see it.
Stir it all up so it’s evenly mixed.
Put all of the wet ingredients in a second bowl (oil, applesauce, eggs, vanilla).
Whisk until evenly combined.
Add the rest of the ingredients (shredded carrots, walnuts, raisins, coconut) to the wet ingredients and stir it up.
Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients…
And stir it up. Stir only until everything has moistened and mixed evenly. Over stirring can give the muffins a poor texture.
Fill the muffin tin up to the top of the wells. Bake at 375 degrees (preheated oven) for about 30 minutes.
Let the muffins cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee while sitting on your porch watching the world go by…
I made a lot of changes to these muffins based on what I had and what I was looking for, and the recipe is so versatile that they still turned out great! Here are the subs I made if you are considering them as well:
– 2 c. whole wheat flour instead of half ww half regular (left out the oat bran)
– 2 mashed bananas instead of applesauce
– 1 c. shredded carrots, 1 c shredded apples
– reduced the sugar drastically, to 2 T (and used brown sugar to up the moisture)
– added 1/4 c coconut milk to make up for loss of moisture from missing sugar
I like to have frozen muffins on hand for weekdays that won’t give me a sugar crash, and these will be perfect. Obviously the full sugar content would be even better, but these work great as reduced-sugar also.
I made these but replaced the applesauce with crushed pineapple. So delicious! I used the same amount – 3/4c – but I think I could have added in a bit more and it would have had a stronger presence in the taste. Will definitely make them again.
Well…I did what you told us not to do….use oatmeal (ground a bit finer in the food processor) and it did exactly what you said it would😆 the Mix was much too dry. However, after adding some more apple sauce and oil and yogurt and a splash of milk, it was wet enough to put into two loaf pans (not enough cupcake things). After 45 minutes it was done. It tastes amazing and moist despite being a bit crumbly. Will make again…following the recipe exactly.
These are SO GOOD. I’ve made them several times, both as mini-muffins and full sized muffins. My favorite thing is to replace the vegetable oil with coconut oil. Makes them moist and delicious!
Is it possible to replace the oat bran with regular rolled oats? Is it a 1:1 ratio?
No, unfortunately they have a very different texture and absorb moisture in a different way, so that would drastically change the texture of this muffin.
These turned out absolutely perfect! I followed the recipe to a T and I am very impressed how tasty they are, moist, flavourful and very delicious with a morning cup of coffee or tea! I’m now hooked to your recipes Beth after trying these and the Black Bean slow cooker soup!
Wait till u try the “all you can eat cabbage soup”!! THE BEST soup out there! Even my two kids (8 & 4) love it! Also worth throwing some fresh dill and mushrooms in for variation. I can’t wait to try these muffins tomorrow morning :)
How do you warm the muffins after freezing them? Do you let them thaw on the counter, or maybe warm slowly in the oven? I am trying to think of how to best warm the muffins after freezing so that they do not become dry, nor are soggy from condensation. Thank you!
You can let them thaw at room temperature (which surprisingly doesn’t take that long since they’re not very dense) or I like to just microwave them for 20-30 seconds.
I like to do like Beth says and microwave them for 20-30 seconds and then put in the toaster oven for just a little bit to get the edges a little crisp…be careful not to burn them though!
I made these with 1 cup oats to replace the bran and walnut and they turned out great. I’m excited to take them hiking tomorrow
I made these. I lowered the white sugar a bit and put some honey in. Worked well.
I have been looking for a morning glory recipe for a long time! I had them at a farmer’s market when this bakery had a booth there. I loved it, but I could never find a recipe to make them… but now I have finally found one, and I can finally put this homemade applesauce to good use :)
I subbed oats for oat bran and shredded apple for the coconut. Came out great. Thank you so much!
I’m going to try making these in my heart shaped muffin silicone sheet for Valentine’s day!
O.
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I just made these and they are absolutely delish! I used old-fashioned oats in place of oat bran since I generally don’t keep that on hand. I thought I was going to end up with too much batter (the cups were FULL) but they came out to be a perfect size after they baked. I also had to add 5 minutes to the baking time, but I’m sure that’s different for everyone, depending on their ovens. The hardest part of this recipe is limiting myself to only eating one!
I just did it, and muffins tasted delicious!
You missed the oat bran in the recipe.
I’ve never enjoyed grocery shopping or cooking, but now that I’ve quit my job at a full time active duty Air Force lab tech to be a full time student, I had to find a way to save money. Thankfully I found this blog! I’m getting better at meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking (I’m actually enjoying it all).Thank you, Beth! This recipe is great! I had to substitute oat bran for old fashioned oats and 2 mashed up bananas in place of the applesauce. I also didn’t add raisins.
I linked to this recipe in my March Real Food Monthly Meal Plan. I am a carb addict and am always looking for ways to sneak veggies and fruits in with my carbs.
We also made these with a toddler last night. They were so tasty. We used 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar because that’s all we had in the cupboard. They are so tasty. My daughter had a grand time mixing all the dry ingredients and eating the raisins and coconut. we used the peeler to shred the carrots and it left big pieces or carrot running through the muffins. It didn’t really affect the texture. We are big fans.
Making these this morning with a toddler as a helper. We subbed diced apples because we only had one carrot (but it’s in there!), blueberries for raisins (because they are so stale!), and cracked wheat for oat bran. The batter tastes delicious so I hope they turn out well! Great recipe to get kiddos eating their veggies in cake form!
Hi there! My dad has been eating basically the same kind of muffins–oatmeal apple cinnamon–for breakfast for I’m not even sure how many years. I’ve been eating basically the same toast and toppings for about the same period.
We’re looking for a new morning meal option that’s easy to gobble on the way to work, and keeps well in the freezer so we don’t have to bake every few days.
These seem like a great option, since it looks like we can put all sorts of healthy things in them, but we’re a bit concerned about the sugar content. Our family is very down-to-earth, so, would honey or cane sugar or something, and maybe a decreased quantity, end up messing up the recipe? My dad’s health isn’t %100, so he doesn’t want to start off with something that’ll make him crave sweets all day…
Hmm, well I think honey would definitely change the texture a bit because it has a higher moisture content than sugar, but cane sugar should be an easier swap. I can’t say for sure what the outcome would be for swapping sweeteners or decreasing the sugar without experimenting with it some, though. Mostly likely you’ll just experience some texture changes.
I’ve made these a few times. Love them! Last batch though, I was a little short on applesauce. I shredded a small apple along with the carrots and increased the oil by a few tablespoons. Couldn’t tell the difference! Very forgiving recipe!
Also, I always throw in the whole 1Lb package of carrots. The rest of the carrots would just spoil in the back of my fridge, but the extra muffins it makes will not!
Do let me know how it turns out! I’m quite curious myself! :)
Beth– thanks for the quick response. I’m not super opposed to the sugar content, just more curious as to what would happen. I might try to make these super tasty looking muffins, but split the batter and leave the sugar out of one batch, just for the sake of experimenting. I’m guessing something strange will happen, seeing as I’ve never seen a muffin recipe that doesn’t call for sugar, but am just curious as to what would happen, especially if you used some really sweet fruit (like pineapple) to compensate. I will let you know!
Sarah Jane – Well, the sugar also plays a roll in creating the right texture. I can’t say for sure what the end product would be like without any sugar added, but I’m pretty sure that it would be quite different in taste and texture.
What would happen if you left out the sugar entirely? Would this just taste like fruity bread?
I’ve made these SO many times! Sometimes I substitute pumpkin for applesauce and diced apples for the carrots. One time I left out the raisins, coconut, and nuts and used pumpkin with coffee and mini chocolate chips!
I was inspired by all your pumpkin recipe roundup, so I replaced the applesauce in this recipe with canned pumpkin and the cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice. The muffins are absolutely delicious!
Oh and replaced sugar with splenda
Made these today with coconut oil instead of veg. Yum!!!
Ooooh okay! Thank you so much… For your promt reply, your recipes and your blog! You’re AH-MAZING :D .. Lots of love to you all the way from Denmark
The applesauce is responsible for a lot of the moisture so you’ll need to replace it. Maybe try some mashed up bananas (same volume) or 1/2 cup oil (which is what the applesauce was replacing to begin with). Good luck!
I’m just wondering if I might be able to make these minus the apple sauce? I couldn’t find any in my local grocery store :(
I will be happy to see pictures of the event!
Made these for church today, someone who didn’t know that I brought them was raving about them. My husband was concerned that we might not have all of the ingredients to make our own batch :))
i just made these and they only took about 22 minutes!
Just pulled these out of the oven. Enjoyed one over a magazine – beautiful and moist with chunky surprises. Nothing beats a hearty muffin for post-workout or a filling morning tea. Thanks for the recipe :)
I wish I had a porch!
I think the reason you aren’t into muffins is the reason I LOVE them…cupcakes for breakfast! ;)
These do look delish!
these look delicious! can’t wait to try them!
I love the name of these muffins. Morning glories would be the first flower I would love to see blooming in the backyard this spring…and the next muffin baking in the oven, too!
Yummy! I get morning glory muffins from the local bakery, but I’ve always wanted to make my own. Thanks for the recipe!
I love morning glory muffins. These sound so healthy
might give these a go today, minus the raisins :)