Morning Glory Muffins are as if an apple cake and carrot cake got married, filled with so many goodies, they certainly are a fantastic way to start the day!
Like any old fashioned recipe, these Morning Glory Muffins never go out of style, and are perfect for a Sunday brunch, a holiday get together, or breakfast on the go!
What Is A Morning Glory Muffin?
This muffin is a classic, created years ago by Chef Pam McKinstry, the owner of Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket Island. The muffin paid homage to the wholesome “back to the land” 70’s hippie movement and was published in Gourmet magazine in 1981, then eventually chosen as one of the magazine’s 25-favorite recipes of the past 50 years.
They certainly live up to their delicious reputation, too, having been replicated so many times in restaurants and by home cooks.
What is in Morning Glory Muffins?
Morning Glory Muffins sure have a lot going on in such a tiny package. There’s your typical muffin ingredients like flour, sugar, and eggs, but then add to that carrots, apple, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, raisins, and spices, you’ve got one amazing baked treat!
Don’t let the long list of ingredients turn you off – these muffins are so easy to make, plus all those amazing flavors and textures together make every bite incredible. They don’t even need the help of butter or cream cheese (although nobody would judge you, if you chose to slather a bit on!)
How to Make Morning Glory Muffins
This morning glory muffin recipe might have more ingredients than a typical muffin, but making them isn’t really any different. Here’s the brief rundown (scroll down for the detailed printable.)
- Whisk together oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add in the carrots, apple, pineapple, coconut flakes, walnuts, and raisins and mix until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (mixture will be thick – don’t over mix.)
- Divide batter evenly among the 18 muffin cups, about 3/4 full.
- Bake until tops are golden and springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Morning Glory Recipe Variations
Morning Glory Muffins are moist and filled with flavor, but not overly sweet. For optimal results, follow the recipe as written (below), but you can change the flavor profile and make them a little healthier, if you wish.
- Swap out half of the carrot with zucchini
- Instead of walnuts, try pecans
- Use a 50/50 ratio of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour (however, this will make them more dense)
- Replace 1/4 cup of the oil with apple butter
- Unsweetened coconut can replace the sweetened coconut flakes
- Add in a tablespoon of wheat germ or flax seed
How To Store These Muffins
As with most muffins, these are best enjoyed fresh, but will remain soft at room temperature for a couple days. And they freeze well up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and heat up (if you prefer) before serving.
Other Muffins We Love!
Watch them Being Made
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Morning Glory Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 3 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 1 medium apple , grated
- 8 ounce can crushed pineapple , drained
- 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the middle position. Line 2 muffin tins with paper cups for 18 muffins.
- Whisk together oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add in the carrots, apple, pineapple, coconut flakes, walnuts, and raisins and mix until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (mixture will be thick – don’t over mix.)
- Divide batter evenly among the 18 muffin cups, about 3/4 full.
- Bake for about 25-27 minutes until tops are golden and springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- For recipe variations, please refer to the full article.
- Like most muffins, these are best enjoyed fresh, but will remain soft at room temperature for a couple days. And they freeze well up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and heat up (if you prefer) before serving.
Nutrition
Other Notes
We loved these muffins!
Can I use monk fruit instead of sugar?
Hi Wendy – this recipe has not been tested with sugar substitutes, so I can’t vouch for the results.
I’m thinking of making these M.G. muffins using half the amount sugar. Any other baker do this? How did it turn out? I’d appreciate comments on your successes!
Followed directions to the T … absolutely delish will make again !
All your recipes are amazing !!!!
A bit labour intensive, but well worth it. They were chock full of flavor a d a hearty muffin, not fluff and air.
My new favorite muffin! Perfect as is, no changes and so very delicious!
I loved this with my modifications to make it healthier!
Yummy!
Love these!
Easy to make. Delicious & freezes very well.
This recipe is spot on nice moist muffins.
Wow! I hardly ever write recipe reviews but these are seriously the best muffins I have ever had in my life! I subbed coconut oil for the vegetable oil, pecans instead of walnuts, and added pumpkin seeds! Sooo soooo soooo good! My batch made 28 muffins! Thank you for the great recipe!
What can I substitute in place of apple as we have an apple allergy.
Pears would be delicious, too.
These were delicious! Made 28 regular size muffins. Bake for 24 minutes.
These just came out of the oven. Tried one while it was still warm. They are delicious!!
Made these first thing this morning and they’re already all gone – we LOVED them!!
could this be made in loaf pan with good results ?????
Hm. Probably! But without further recipe testing, I can’t give exact directions or vouch for the results. This article has some good tips on converting. Try it! https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/9170-converting-muffins-into-loaves-of-quick-bread
Hello ,
For the oil can I use one cup of unsweetened apple sauce instead?
I love this recipe. I use applesauce in place of oil. I also used splenda in place of sugar. They turned out wonderful.
Do you use same amount of applesauce as oil when substituting.
Great muffins! Tasted yummy even with my tweaks- 1/2 oil, 1/2 applesauce. no coconut. I may try it with less sugar because of the applesauce. They were pretty sweet.
Delicious! I made it just as the recipe said and it was perfect
I love this recipe. The muffins are moist and full of textures and flavors. The only substitution I made was pecans for walnuts and they use gluten-free flour. They came out perfect. It’s a keeper!
The best muffins I’ve ever had! Moist and delicious. Thanks!
I make muffins every week for my kids lunch boxes and this recipe was an absolute hit. Absolutely delicious!!
They came out delicious! Not a fan of coconut so added 1/2 cup of dried chopped apricots. I doubled the cinnamon and added a 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice. Yum!!!
Incredible. Genuinely. Moist, textured, fluffy, delicious flavours.
These were delicious, I added pecans instead of walnuts and I also added one ripe banana and some psyllium husk powder for some extra fiber and they were delicious.
My kids gobbled these up in two days. Soo yummy.
I have been searching for just the right Morning Glory recipe for a while. I like my muffins with lots of stuff in them. This recipe is PERFECT!!!! Thanks so much for posting it. Made my day! They were fabulous!
I’ve had Morning Glory muffins many times over the years but never made them myself. Found your recipe when trying to find one that sounded like what my grandmother’s tasted like. I had a excess of carrots and apples that needed to be used up AND some extra crushed pineapple from another recipe I was doing. Since we are in the shelter in place order, I’m using what I have on hand. No walnuts/pecans so substituted pistachios. No coconut so added in chocolate chips (chocolate chips makes everything better right?). The apples did not want to shred well so I diced them up finely. I could eat these all in one serving!
Can these be made in mini muffin tins? How long should they bake?
Is there a good substitute for pineapple, which I don’t like but otherwise this sounds delicious
Hi Melanie – a 1/4 cup of applesauce would be an ok sub.
Hi Melanie,
My husband does not like pineapple either. I puree the pineapple so there are no chunks and he cannot tell there is pineapple in the muffins
I have used frozen strawberries and tinned peaches as alternative to pineapple. Both worked – strawberries perhaps a bit better. Overall great taste and texture. Mine stay soft for days in a tub. I have halved the sugar – I found even 1cup to be very sweet.