Morning Glory Muffins

I will say that though I looked through many recipes for morning glory muffins in order to create this one, I didn't know much about the history behind it. Through a bit of research I found that Earthbound farm claims to have developed the first morning glory muffin back in the late seventies. I did not look into the details but to be honest I am not much of a history enthusiast so I will leave further research for another day. I do know however, how to make one and what goes into it.

At first glance, my impression of a morning glory muffin is that it contained quite a bit of "add-ins". Depending on what you are making, a lot of add-ins can ruin a dish if they are thrown in haphazardly, but in this case they work well together. Regardless of the recipe you look at, a morning glory muffin is going to have an array of ingredients. You will find a combination of fruits, vegetables (typically shredded carrot), and other additions like coconut, raisins, as well as nuts if they are desired. Given all of the ingredients you can find in morning glory muffins its clear that they are also pretty versatile. I mean, I find muffins themselves to be versatile when it comes to the kinds you can make and these are no exception.

Great as a morning snack or a way to effortlessly sneak a few nutrients into your lil' picky eater, these muffins are definitely worth a try. Remember you can add or switch up ingredients to suit your tastes. Dried cranberries could be used for the raisins, nuts can be added, and coconut can be omitted. Get creative with your spices too; a dash of cloves would be a tasty addition. Just don't get too crazy!

Morning Glory Muffins

1/2 Cup raisins
1/2 Cup hot water
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 Cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup brown sugar
2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp Salt


2 Large eggs
1 Egg white
1/3 Cup canola oil
1/3 Cup applesauce
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 Cup pineapple juice (apple and orange juices work too)

1 1/2 Cups grated carrots
1 1/2 Cups peeled and grated apple
1/2 Cup shredded sweetened coconut


Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 12 muffin tins with muffin liners. Pour the hot water over the raisins and let sit.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, brown sugar (which will leave a few lumps in your dry ingredients; that's fine), spices, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg white, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and juice. Add to the flour mixture and stir until until just moistened. Drain your raisins. Mix together your carrots, apple, drained raisins and coconut; fold into batter until all is combined. Remember not to over mix!

Spray the prepared muffin liners with cooking spray (optional, but it makes the liner come off easier once baked). Divide batter among muffin tins. They will be quite full but that's OK, just be sure the batter does not come above the liner.

Bake about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Timing will vary depending on any substitutions you make or additional mix in's so keep an eye on them.

Remove from oven and let cool in the pan a few minutes before moving them to wire racks to cool completely. If you'd like, freeze a few to heat for a quick mid-morning snack or breakfast on the go. 

Makes 12 muffins