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Morning glory muffins are sweet, moist, and ideal for busy mornings! Pair them with a mug of your favorite coffee for the perfect on-the-go breakfast.

Morning glory muffins piled on a wooden board. A pot of coffee is visible in the background.

Are you a muffin kind of person? I totally am, but most of the time, I prefer muffin tops.

Yep, I’m the girl at Starbucks ordering one of their giant blueberry muffins and tossing the entire bottom of the muffin into the trash. It’s wasteful, I know.

I’ve tried to pawn the muffin bottoms off on Elle by over-exaggerating their level of deliciousness, but the girl knows what’s up; she’s not having it.

Then there are the muffins at our local grocery store that are to die for good! Okay, that’s a minor exaggeration, but you feel me, right?

Their pistachio muffins are LOADED with chopped pistachios and topped with a ridiculous amount of sparkling sugar. But guess what, once that crunchy sugar and perfectly golden top are gone, I’m out.

My husband does the same thing, only with chocolate glazed donuts. He slices them in half like a bagel so he can simply enjoy all that chocolate frosting goodness with a wee little bit of donut. I’m typically intercepting him on the way to the trash like, ummm, gimme that. Because carbs.

There are a few muffins that I’ll enjoy in their entirety and one of them happens to be these morning glory muffins.

Two morning glory muffins on a plate. One of the muffins is split in half with a pat of butter on one of the halves.
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What are morning glory muffins?

If you’ve never had morning glory muffins, let me be the first to tell you that you’re missing out. 

Morning glory muffins are apparently named for the cafe in Nantucket where they were first created. The original recipe included carrots, apples, raisins, pecans, coconut, and cinnamon.

My recipe has a lot of those original ingredients with a few swaps. Mine are made in part with whole wheat flour for nuttiness and have tons of applesauce and grated apples, carrots, zucchini, pineapple, coconut, and pecans.

Overhead view of baked morning glory muffins in a muffin tin.

Yeah, we’re talking about all kinds of flavor and texture in these delicious muffins!

Morning glory muffins are sure to be a hit with fans of apple cinnamon muffins, fans of carrot cake, fans of hummingbird cupcakes…heck, even fans of bran muffins will like these!

Whether you’re whipping these morning glory muffins up to share with the family on a chilly morning or as a breakfast treat for your co-workers, I promise they’ll enjoy every single bite from muffin top to muffin bottom!

Ingredients for morning glory muffins arranged on a white countertop.

How to make morning glory muffins

All of the fruits and vegetables in morning glory muffins make for a longer ingredient list than normal, but don’t let that intimidate you. These muffins are as easy as pie (or, well, muffins) to make!

Key ingredients

This recipe has all of the typical muffin ingredients like eggs, granulated sugar, baking soda, vanilla, etc. But there are a handful of ingredients that help to set these muffins apart:

Whole wheat flour: I don’t bake with whole wheat flour a lot, but it’s a great addition to morning glory muffins. Using a mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour gives these muffins a nuttiness that pairs well with the other ingredients. 

Feel free to use a total of 2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour in place of the all-purpose/whole wheat mix if you don’t have whole wheat flour on hand.

Dry ingredients for morning glory muffins being whisked together in a ceramic mixing bowl.

Applesauce: Applesauce is a great ingredient when baking, especially in muffins and quick bread recipes, such as applesauce bread. It adds flavor and moisture, keeping these muffins from needing a lot of oil or fat.

I like to use unsweetened applesauce, but feel free to use sweetened applesauce if you prefer sweeter muffins.

Grated carrots and zucchini: Nothing like sneaking veggies into your kids via muffins, right? Parents of vegetable-hating kids will know what I mean. This recipe has a full cup of grated carrots and a cup of grated zucchini, adding flavor and nutrients to the muffins.

Grated apple: Yes, there’s already applesauce in these morning glory muffins, but some grated apple adds a different texture.

Wet ingredients for morning glory muffins in a white mixing bowl, about to be stirred together.

Crushed pineapple: If you’ve made J. Alexander’s carrot cake, then you know how well carrots and pineapple go together! Crushed pineapple adds a nice acidity to the muffins and even more moisture.

Flaked coconut: The original morning glory muffins included coconut and I definitely couldn’t skip it – I love coconut! Like the applesauce, you can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut, depending on how sweet you’d like the final muffins to be.

Pecans: Chopped pecans add to the nuttiness of the recipe and also give the muffins some great texture. Feel free to follow my directions on how to toast nuts if you’d like to toast the pecans before adding them to the batter.

Morning glory muffin batter being stirred in a ceramic mixing bowl.

Making this recipe

Once your ingredients are prepped and ready, making these morning glory muffins is pretty similar to most muffin and quick bread recipes.

This recipe makes 18 muffins, so prep 18 muffin cups by either greasing them or lining them with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until combined: both of the flours, the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Add in the carrots, zucchini, grated apple, pineapple, coconut, and pecans.

Add all of the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Divide the batter between the prepped muffin cups and bake for 20-24 minutes.

Let the muffins cool for about 5 minutes in the pan before moving them to a cooling rack.

Morning glory muffin batter in a muffin tin, ready to go in the oven.

Storage tips

These muffins are best the day they’re made, but you can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

If you want longer-term storage, I recommend freezing them. Place them in a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to a month.

When you’re ready to enjoy a muffin for your breakfast or an afternoon snack, microwave for 30-60 seconds to thaw.

Two morning glory muffins on a plate with a mug of coffee in the background.

More fabulous muffin recipes

If these morning glory muffins made you want to have muffins at the ready all of the time? Check out these other great muffin recipes:

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Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

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Blueberry Crumb Muffins

These blueberry crumb muffins are the ultimate breakfast or snack with a cup of coffee. Bursting with fresh blueberries and topped with cinnamon crumbs, these tender muffins are a bakery-worthy treat.
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Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are rich, delicious and loaded with flavor. Have ’em for breakfast all week long. Every morning is better with chocolate!
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Pumpkin Muffins pop with warm and comforting fall spices, a perfect match for earthy pumpkin. Top them with pumpkin seeds for an extra crunch!
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Flavorful and fluffy, Chai Muffins are the epitome of coziness. These warmly spiced muffins have a spiced streusel on top and are perfect for fall and winter mornings.
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These coffee cake muffins are the perfect way to start your morning! A twist on a classic coffee cake recipe, these muffins have a crumble toppings and a coffee glaze drizzled on top.
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Close up of morning glory muffins piled on a wooden board.
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Morning Glory Muffins

By: Jamie
4.70 from 10 ratings
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 22 minutes
Total: 42 minutes
Servings: 18 muffins
Packed with carrots, zucchini, apples, pineapple, coconut, and pecans, these morning glory muffins are a hearty way to start your day!

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • ¾ cup applesauce see notes
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup grated carrots
  • 1 cup grated zucchini
  • ½ cup peeled and grated apple from about 1 medium apple
  • 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple drained
  • ½ cup flaked coconut see notes
  • cup coarsely chopped pecans

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease or line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.
  • In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and kosher salt. Whisk the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.
  • In another bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, vegetable oil and vanilla. Stir in carrots, zucchini, apple, pineapple, coconut and pecans.
  • Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined, but do not overmix.
  • Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20-24 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.

Video

Notes

For sweeter muffins, use sweetened applesauce and/or sweetened coconut. For less-sweet muffins, use unsweetened applesauce and/or unsweetened coconut.
If you do not have whole wheat flour, feel free to substitute an equal amount of all-purpose flour.
These muffins are best served the same day; however, they will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze them for up to a month for longer-term storage.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 214kcal, Carbohydrates: 29g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.04g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 204mg, Potassium: 126mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 1249IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 17mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

4.70 from 10 votes (10 ratings without comment)

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129 Comments

  1. Jamie J. says:

    Up in the commentary, you said we could sub 1 3/4 c AP flour. But I noticed down in the recipe, that there’s a total of 2 3/4 c flour. Is one of those a typo? I plan on using AP flour but am not sure which measurement to use. Thank you for the help. These sound delicious!

    1. Jamie says:

      Hi there – Thank you for catching that! The recipe card is correct; I just updated the post copy to 2 3/4 cups. Thanks for keeping an eye out! Happy baking –
      Jamie

  2. Dodie says:

    These are excellent — moist and full of flavor. Will definitely make these again.

    1. Jamie says:

      So happy to hear you enjoyed the muffins, Dodie! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback.