Morning Glory Muffins
This recipe, a throwback to the "back to the land" '60s, brings together all kinds of fruits and vegetables in an earthy whole-grain muffin that, despite the description, manages to taste very good indeed. Moist and just sweet enough, Morning Glory are a great "eat in the car" treat. They need the enhancement of neither butter nor jam (though either — or cream cheese — wouldn't be out of place).
Baking gluten-free? For great results, substitute King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour for the all-purpose flour in this recipe; no other changes needed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raisins or Jammy Bits, your favorite flavor*
- 2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, Premium Whole Wheat Flour, or Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups peeled and grated carrots
- 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated (or leave the peel on; your choice)
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- *See "tips," below.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.
- In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt.
- Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice.
- Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened.
- Drain the raisins and stir them in.
- Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they'll be full almost to the top; that's OK).
- Bake the muffins for 25 to 28 minutes, until they're nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the inner muffins comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling. Wrap any leftovers airtight, and store at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
- Yield: 12 muffins.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1 muffin
- Servings Per Batch 12
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 342
- Calories from Fat
- Total Fat 18g
- Saturated Fat
- Trans Fat
- Cholesterol 53mg
- Sodium 347mg
- Total Carbohydrate 26g
- Dietary Fiber 4g
- Sugars 19g
- Protein 6g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
Tips from our bakers
- Our Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour makes it easy to make many of your favorite traditional recipes (like this one) gluten-free. Simply substitute Measure for Measure flour 1:1 for the flour called for in your recipe; no additional ingredients or other changes needed.
- Not fond of raisins? Substitute Substitute Jammy Bits, sweet, soft little morsels of fruit purée.
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Reviews
How the glory did my muffins come out so dry!? I think I am cursed whenever I do recipes that are not metric...been baking Danish family recipes for years. Only thing I added extra was 1/8c ground flax seed...and used a new muffin pan. I am going to blame the Nordic gods for tampering with my oven temperature. But, I will still give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars since all the reviews are near fives. I will not give up!Oh dear! Let's see what we can do to combat the work of the Nordic gods, Kel. First, we want you to know that all of our recipes can be viewed and printed in volume, ounces, or grams. You'll find the option right under the "Ingredients" header. Second, flax seed would absorb some liquid, so it wouldn't hurt to add an extra tablespoon of liquid to compensate for that. Lastly, if your new muffin pan has a dark interior, it might help to lower the oven temperature by 25°F and extend the baking time by an extra two to three minutes. It will allow them to bake more evenly, rather than the edges baking quickly and drying out before the center has a chance to bake through. We hope the next batch is a hit! Annabelle@KAF
I swaped out the raisins for chocolate chips- what isn't better with chocolate? I also added 1/8 cup of chia seeds, 1/8 c of hemp and 1/8c of flax seeds. They were all well disguised in these delicious muffins.
These are delicious.
Love this recipe. I change it each time, add a banana, cut back the sugar, added zucchini to every batch, the garden is full of them. It is so quick, easy and delicious. What do I do to bake this has a loaf?We're glad you love this recipe, Stella. We haven't tried making it as a loaf, but we think it could work well if you're up for checking on the loaf periodically during baking. Choose a 9" by 5" pan since this loaf has lots of mix-ins and you don't want it to overflow in the oven. Bake at 350°F for about 50-60 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick. When the toothpick comes out mostly clean, it's done! Extend the baking time as necessary until it tests done. Happy baking! Kye@KAF
Have made these twice. Family loves them. Foloowed the recipe except had no sunflower seeds/bran so subbed in golden flaxseed meal which I did have. Second time was out of ginger and son bought fresh so grated about 1/4 teaspoon and used that instead of dried. Wow, just enough ginger to make the carrots really stand out. Think that will be our new standard.
To my fellow bakers having issues with discoloration due to the baking soda...use a baking soda that is aluminum free and you won't have any more problems.
These were absolutely DELICIOUS and the recipe was easy enough that my 6 year old twins made them pretty much by themselves! We most definitely be making these again and again
I veganized this recipe and they came out great! I substituted 9 TBS aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas) for the 3 eggs and also added 1/8 tsp cream of tartar. They rose beautifully and taste delicious. I used ~2/3 cup brown sugar and swapped dates for the raisins since that is what I had. Next time I'll swap out half of the oil for applesauce. And like other reviewers mentioned, they made my kitchen smell amazing!
I made these muffins today and my family loved them. They were very easy to make. Also made my house smell so good. Will be making them again.
I love this recipe. The muffins tasted great, but sunflower seeds took on a greenish hue. The ones in your photo look perfect. Is there a way to prevent that from happening?Hello Mary! Some seeds and nuts, most commonly walnuts and sunflower seeds, have pigments that are sensitive to certain ingredients, particularly ingredients that are high in acid or alkaline. The most common alkaline ingredient? Baking soda. The baking soda in this recipe reacts with the sunflower seeds and brings out those pigments. As of now, there aren't any ways to avoid that. They're still perfectly fine and delicious, they just get a greenish hue. Annabelle@KAF
