
Last week I posted about our trip to West Side Market in Cleveland. As a result of my love for fresh produce, I ended up purchasing far more fruits and veggies than we needed.
I have a bit of a shopping problem, whether it’s clothes or carrots, I buy on impulse with no clear plan in mind. I tried to get as creative as possible in the baking and cooking departments in order to use as much of it as I could before everything was past its prime.
The first recipe I am going to share is for these amazingly delicious Morning Glory Muffins. They are full of carrots, apples, zucchini, coconut, pineapple and pecans which ends up giving them a lot of character and texture. Not only is the flavor incredible, but they are also pretty easy to make. Sure you have to grate some veggies, but if you have a food processor, you can easily knock out this step in a matter of minutes. Plus, if your kiddies aren’t too fond of veggies, these are the perfect way to sneak some in.
These muffins are homey and the autumnal scents and flavors are truly intoxicating. With early mornings just around the corner, these muffins will make the perfect on the go breakfast or a delicious snack to tuck into your lunch bag.
Looking for more muffin recipes? Check these out:
Glazed Doughnut Muffins from My Baking Addiction
Blackberry Lime Muffins from Two Peas and Their Pod
Doughnut Muffins from How to Simplify
Strawberry Crunch Muffins from Fuss Free Cooking
Morning Glory Muffins
Yield: 18 Muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated zucchini
1 medium tart apple, peeled and grated
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/3 pecans; coarsely choppedDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and kosher salt. Whisk the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.
3. In another bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, vegetable oil and vanilla. Stir in carrots, zucchini, apple, pineapple, coconut and pecans.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined, but do not overmix.
5. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Notes:
- No whole wheat flour? No problem, simply sub in all-purpose
- I always use kosher salt when baking; however, feel free to substitute table salt.
- Feel free to substitute unsweetened applesauce and/or coconut in this recipe.
- These muffins are best served the same day; however, they will keep overnight in an airtight container.
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{ 63 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh yay! One we love muffins. And two, we are the same way about buying food…we shop shop shop and then figure out what to do with all the stuff we have. These muffins look awesome – the carrots, apple, zucchini, coconut!? Delish!
Mmmm, I LOVE morning glory muffins!
And the little liners are so darn cute!
Thanks, Lizzy! They are from Wilton, I picked them up at Michael’s.
-Jamie
The muffins are rocken and those cupcake liners are a must have. Will be stalking my local Michael’s.
These sound delicious! Tons of my favorite ingredients in one.
I love all of the healthful ingredients in these. They look like a great Sunday brunch. Thanks!
Great! I was just wondering what to bake with the 1 cup of shredded zucchini I defrosted last night! Thanks.
These look very yummy indeed. Do you have any suggestions on how to cut down the sugar and oil?
Hinna-
Thanks for stopping by, I would recommend playing around with some Agave Nectar in place of the sugar and maybe adding a bit more applesauce in place of some of the oil. I have not tried these substitutions in this particular recipe, so I cannot guarantee the results…Have a great day!
-Jamie
I’m a nutrition major and we have been told that agave nectar is still sugar and that is not that much better compared to real sugar, however is better than things like High Fructose Corn syrup, in other words, it isn’t going to reduce sugar or cut down on the sugar spike. I would recommend plain yogurt or pureed prunes or pureed black beans
Laura-
I understand that, but you can substitute less agave for the sugar since it is about 40% sweeter than granulated white sugar. Plus, agave nectar is lower on the glycemic index, which is what some people are interested in.
-Jamie
I substituted all the oil and sugar unsweet applesauce. They came out super moist and awesome!
Oh muffins! I love muffins. I wish I hadn’t just eaten a muffin, so I could eat another. On second thought…does that matter? 2nd muffin, here I come!
What a great way to start the morning! Thanks for linking to my muffins. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
These sound delicious! Just a quick question….can something else be used in place of the coconut, or can I just leave it out? My family and I are not fans of coconut.
Wonderful – only thing missing is chocolate
Hate to ruin the muffin – so going to just put a rosebud chocolate on top of half.
Wonderful. Perfect for all ingredients have fresh, except for tomatoes :going to add chocolate to top of half.
To lower sugar – use brown sugar or cane 3/4 cup, and increase applesauce to 3/4 cup and can decrease oil to 1/3 cup.
Hi Jamie,
I’ve only thought of adding either veggies or fruits in my muffins but never both at the same time. I feel healthy by just going through this recipe.
Do you think I can replace flaked sweetened coconut with dessicated coconut? I don’t think I can get the former from my local grocers.
p/s: Thanks for linking my muffin post.
Emily-
I definitely think you can replace the coconut without any problems at all! Your strawberry muffins looked so delish I couldn’t resist linking!
-Jamie
Fruits, veggies…these are positively health food! LOL love it.
One of my favorite types of muffin. Can’t wait to try.
BTW…where did you get those ADORABLE muffin papers? Too cute!
These look like delicious muffins. Perfect for school to start and breakfast on the go!
These sound so good. I love the combination. I am like you, i always buy sooo much more food than i need. ALWAYS!!!! Nice job to use your ingrediants. YUMMY!
Um, these look and sound fab! Side note-I love that pan!!!
Thanks, Naomi! I picked the pan up a while back at an antique store. I haven’t baked in it, just using it for photos. They are vintage (1930′s) Ekco Ovenex…try stalking them on etsy, they usually have quite a few. I love the Starburst pattern.
-Jamie
I over-buy too…I might have to make these!
Those are the cutest muffin liners I have EVER seen!
These look wonderful and full of yummy tasty wholseome ingredients. Who wouldn’t want to wake up to some of these
Those look delicious. I love muffins! Thanks for sharing this.
How funny.. I made ‘Good Morning Muffins’ on Saturday morning as well! Yours have many more veggies and fruits than mine (and your cupcake liners are waaay cuter!), but we were so on the same baking wave length or something this weekend!
YUM! Thank you for posting this, Jamie! I can’t wait to make ‘em!
Those paper cups are darling! Where ever did you find them. (I’m hoping you are going to say Walmart…though I know it can’t be true!)
Muffin skirts! Love them.
I love the muffin cups! They’re adorable!
I get pretty tired of sweet muffins but I loooooooove morning glory muffins! Such cute muffin liners too.
I love the adorable muffin papers… they came like that? you didn’t fold them over on your own? so so cute! and the muffins look scrumptious
Clare-
They are from Michael’s and are a Wilton product. Yes, they came as pictured.
-Jamie
I LOVE those muffin liners!! The muffins sound simply amazing…I can’t wait to try this recipe. I especially love the additional of pineapple.
I recently found your blog (through tastespotting, maybe)…your recipes and photos are outstandung!
Kelli-
Thanks for stopping by and for you kind words about My Baking Addiction; I hope you continue to visit. The liners are from Michael’s and are a Wilton product.
-Jamie
Look good! Would you be able to tell me if you use about 1 carrot and 1 zucchini? And do you add the dry ingredients after mixing all the wet? Thank you. New to cooking, I was hoping someone else would ask cause they are not smart ques!
Claire-
The approximations for the zucchini and carrots are going to vary depending on the size of the vegetables. For me, one zucchini and 2 1/2 carrots did the trick, but again this will vary. Yes, combine the wet and dry ingredients. I changed the directions to be a bit more specific about this. Happy Baking!!!
-Jamie
Where did you find those cupcake liners?
Nothing better than starting the day with a muffin—yum!
These muffins looks outstanding and like they would make for a perfect start to any day.
Thank you for your reply. I made the muffins, and will def make them again, and again! Very delicious and easy!
I don’t have children but I do have a husband who isn’t keen on zucchini. My love for zucchini got in the way of that little matter the other week when I bought a ridiculous amount of them. I’m now desperately looking for ways of cooking with my stash without the husband knowing he’s eating it. So far the best trick has been grating the zucchini and adding it to pretty much anything.
Those muffins look incredible. I will be baking a batch to finish off the zucchini load!
I loooove the muffin liners. So cute and unique. This looks like a perfect way to utilize some apples!
Oh man this looks delicious! And your photographs are beautiful! Everything here looks great!
Thanks!
I recently launched my own blog, I’d love for you to check it out and let me know what you think!
http://www.prettygoodfood.com
they look soo yummy!
These muffins look yummy. Could I substitute honey in place of sugar? I use honey in most of my baking. 1/4 cup honey for 1 cup sugar, and cut down a little on the liquid.
I even use honey with canning fruits. Fill jars with fruit, add hot water , then add a couple of teaspoons of honey on top. Process as usual. We’re fortunate in that we have an apiary, so unpasteurized honey in abundance.
I love Morning Glory muffins and these look absolutely delicious!!
how wonderful!! can you substitute the vegetable oil for applesauce, or will the muffins just come out too dry?
also, i like Geerry’s comment about using honey instead of sugar, I think that is a delicious substitute!
I’ve been looking for a Morning Glory Muffin recipe, and just made these – they’re DELICIOUS!!! I made a couple of substitutions…used 1 egg and 4 egg whites, and replaced the oil and applesauce with plain non-fat yogurt (just to make them a little more Weight Watchers friendly). They turned out fantastic! Thanks so much for a great recipe.
Just made these with the pulp from my juicer–delish! I used the honey substitute–I’ll use brown sugar next time. I’d like them to be a touch sweeter. Also, I made a loaf because I’ve misplaced my muffin tin–just as great. Let it bake for 40 min.
Thanks!
This recipe sounds delicious! I am always looking for fast and easy breakfasts to take to work, and I would love to try this one, now that I have some muffin tins! One question — I do not care for zucchini. Would I be able to leave it out entirely, or could I substitute more of another ingredient without messing it up? Maybe more apple or carrot?
Danielle-
Honestly, you really can’t taste the zucchini, but I am sure you could substitute it with another ingredient. Let me know how they turn out. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
WOW! i have been looking for this recipe forever! love these muffins… thank you
Question: Is the apple necessary?
Callista-
I have not attempted this recipe without the apple, so I cannot comment on the outcome if the apples are removed. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
HA! I’m that way with shopping for food as well. Totally impulse.
These muffins look rockin’!
Wonderful recipe as for a cupcake that is so wholesome and healthy! I love those linings too
Can’t wait to make them!
Is there any way to do these without the pineapple? Or can fresh be substituted for the canned? I’m not a huge fan of canned pineapple but these muffins sound fantastic and I really want to give the recipe a try. Perhaps increasing the apple sauce to compensate for the lack of moisture from leaving the pineapple out?
Kami-
You can try substituting fresh pineapple for canned; this shouldn’t be a problem. Stop back and let me know how the recipe turned out – have a great day!
-Jamie
I made these this morning. While they were a bit time consuming and have quite a few ingredients, they are DELICIOUS!!!!! I made a dozen today and put the rest of the batter in the fridge to make in a couple of days. I probably have enough batter for 6-8 more muffins.