What is a Morning Glory Muffin?

Not going to lie, I had to do a little research myself to see what is in these bad boys! 

I had eaten them before and knew the flavor profile but had never made them at home. It was time to change that!

First, some morning glory muffins history: Morning glory muffins were invented in the 1970s by Pam McKinstry. She owned a cafe called “Morning Glory Café” — thus the muffin’s name. It spread in popularity after the recipe was published in the 1980s. 

A morning glory muffin is a cinnamon-spiced muffin batter folded together with shredded carrot, apple, and coconut. Then, it’s studded with chopped nuts and golden raisins. They are seriously loaded!

I subbed in zucchini for apples and coconut oil for coconut flakes for this recipe. I only used regular raisins, but you could also use golden raisins!

This is a forgiving muffin recipe — there are tons of variations with swapped ingredients.

Morning Glory Muffin Ingredients

Now, it may seem like these carrot zucchini morning glory muffins have a daunting, long ingredient list.

But don’t fear! You probably have a majority of the ingredients in your cupboards. 

Remember, we are making muffins packed with goodies. This is a maximalist muffin! Here’s what you’ll need:

Baking essentials

Flour, baking soda, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract

Eggs

Some people use ground flax and water as a substitute. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve heard of others having great results! 

Coconut oil

Measure your coconut oil after it has been melted. If you prefer vegetable oil or butter, you can sub those in.

Grated carrot

To make things quicker, you can always use your food processor. Just don’t use matchsticks — they’ll be too thick!

Grated zucchini

If you want to go the traditional route and use grated apple instead, go for it. You can also grate this in your food processor to speed things up. 

Chopped walnuts

You could also substitute chopped pecans or pistachios

Raisins

I used regular raisins, but you could use golden raisins or dried cranberries instead.

Recipe Variations

Gluten-Free Morning Glory Muffins

To make these morning glory muffins gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour mix.

Whole Wheat Morning Glory Muffins

For best results, use equal parts whole wheat flour and regular, all-purpose flour. You can go with all whole wheat flour if you want, but they’ll taste extra “healthy!”

Are these muffins healthy? 

If you ask me, these are already a pretty darn healthy muffin. I mean, there’s no chocolate in them and veggies instead so….it’s basically a salad haha! 🙃

Plus, coconut oil is used in place of vegetable oil. That’s a win-win for flavor and texture.

To make the muffins healthier, you can use an equal mix of whole wheat flour and regular flour. 

You could also substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar or add flax seeds for a little extra fiber.