A paleo morning glory muffin recipe for those with gluten and grain sensitivities. These classic muffins are easy to prepare and super comforting!
The morning glory muffin, a.k.a. the Something for Everyone Muff, is just so likable. A muffin jam packed with carrots, apples, shredded coconut, raisins and walnuts? I mean, who in Hades was smart enough to come up with this flavor infusion?!
Let me google it.
::Insert elevator music::
Okay, I have the answer.
Chef Pam McKinstry invented the morning glory muffin in 1978 on Nantucket Island for Earthbound Farm. In the kitchen with the whisk (or perhaps a wooden spoon, who knows?). Here’s the original morning glory muffin recipe. Slash, Pam, I’d like to meet you, you cheeky muffin maven you.
Per usual, I did a little add and subtract magic and came up with a grain-free, oil-free, and refined sugar-free version of the recipe, which is also paleo-friendly.
Some people add pineapple. I don’t.
Do you ever say to yourself, “Wow. I should probably vacuum, wash my linens, scrub the tile, season my cast iron skillet, do my taxes, and take care of my fiscal and social responsibilities as a human” and then promptly bake muffins instead? Don’t answer that.
I’m gonna give it to you straight: these muffins require some work. There’s an above-average amount of grating, chopping, and ingredient measuring required for this recipe, but they’re soooo worth it. The recipe also includes ⅓ of a cup of mashed sweet potato, which I recognize not all of you have on-hand just any ol’ day, like me. If you don’t feel like roasting a sweet potato for the sake of these muffins, I bet you could use a ripe banana instead…and then you’d end up with banana bread morning glory muffs, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that, son!
These grain-free, refined sugar-free dairy-free morning glory muffins are all sorts of nutritious and are perfect for the sharing. They’re well-worth the effort!
The everythang muffin!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup mashed sweet potato
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrot 1 large
- 1 cup grated apple ½ large Fugi
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger peeled and grated, optional
- 2 cups almond flour/meal
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut or flaked coconut
- 2/3 cup raisins
- 2/3 cup raw walnuts chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12-muffin tray with baking cups.
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Whisk together the mashed sweet potato, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract, grated carrot, apple, and ginger until well-combined (wet ingredients).
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In a seperate mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, shredded coconut, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (dry ingredients).
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Pour the dry mixture into the bowl with the wet mixture and stir well until a thick batter forms.
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using an ice cream scoop or small measuring cup, scoop batter into the lined muffin tray, filling the cups 3/4 of the way up.
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Place muffin tray on the center rack in the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until muffins test clean when poked with a toothpick.
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Allow muffins to cool at least 20 minutes before mowing them down < - if you try to eat the muffins before letting them cool, they will stick to the muffin cups like whoa.
Hahaha, I was like, what in the heck is she on about?! That ain’t pizza!
I’m helping a client with a FODMAP elimination diet, and with a few small tweaks I think this recipe could work! Thanks for another amazing recipe.
Oh man, at first I was like ‘Um I think Julia is off her rocker?’ buuuut DUH. I am super gullible, so April Fools’ is the worst for me! Ok so these muffins are packed with so much and I’m in love with them. You+me+these muffins=the perfect brunch?!
I was wondering where you were going with that pizza jargon, lol. I’m glad it ended in these muffins because they look waaaay better, IMO. 😉
Now I just need to figure out how to get away with leaving work to drive my happy ass to Reno to eat one. You saved me one, right?
So, basically, everything good in the world stuffed into a muffin…FOR BREAKFAST. I approve.
xoxoxox Love ultra-stuffed muffs 😉
My problem is that I do all of those responsible things only to make a disaster out of my kitchen right after! haha. I luuuuuuurve morning glory muffins so much. Pineapple or no pineapple they’re delicious either way. I’d take these over pizza any day of the week too 😉
Do you think chick pea flour would work here? I’m gonna try it!
That’s a great question! I actually have almost no experience with chickpea flour, but my assumption is it would work. let me know how they turn out!
Could you substitute pureed pumpkin if you don’t have sweet potato? These look amazing.
Absolutely! Pumpkin would work like a dream 😀
Has anyone ever calculated the nutrion facts?
I followed the Grain Free Morning Glory Paleo recipe but the “batter” was super dry – not like a batter at all. I substituted:
Coconut flour for the almond flour
Honey for the maple syrup
Mashed peach for the sweet potato
Your thoughts on which ingredient screwed it up?
Hi Chris, the batter was super dry because you substituted coconut flour for almond flour. Coconut flour absorbs roughly 3 times more liquid than almond flour, so you would have needed to change the portion of liquid, too. I haven’t tested the recipe with coconut flour, but you would probably need to add an additional egg and at least 1/2 cup to 1 cup additional liquid (such as coconut milk or oil). Since the entire recipe would be different, you would need to experiment with the liquid-to-flour ratio. Let me know if you try the recipe again as it’s written in the post. 🙂
Ha! Yes, after I emailed you, I did some Internet searching, which I should have done BEFORE I made the muffins. You can tell I don’t bake much, right? Anyway, after researching, I decided not to waste what I had so far (I had only baked one muffin to test it). I added one egg (all that I had left in the house) and two 13.5 ounce cans of coconut milk. The batter consistency was much better, then. I did not have a large twelve muffin tray, just two small twelve mini-muffin trays, so I baked 24 more. That batch came out pretty well. In the interim, I went to the grocery store and for the last batch, I added one more egg and some extra raisins (love raisins!). Even better consistency. My baking time was about 38 minutes. That batch was the best. The muffins are good, but definitely have a strong coconut taste (ya think?!). Since I can’t use almond flour (allergies), I think next time I will try a substitute I read online, which is one full cup of tapioca flour and one scan cup of coconut flour. I’ll let you know how that turns out. As much as I bake, though, you probably won’t here from me until 2016. 🙂 Thanks for a great recipe and an interesting learning experience!
I just took these out of the oven. I had substitute regular syrup though as I didn’t have maple I could have tried Molassas instead but it is such a strong flavor. Anyway. LOVE THEM. I did need to cook mine a little less time, 25-28 minutes in my convection bake which I am not experience at using. Thanks!
So glad they turned out well, Karen! And thanks for letting us know which changes you made – that’s very helpful! xo
This turned out so delicious. Thank you so much for an amazing and healthy muffin. This is definitely a keeper in my muffin recipe rotation.
Substitutions because I didn’t have it: No ginger & no coconut. I food processed dates for raisins. Used orange squash for the sweet potato, garbanzo bean flour for the almond flour, Opal apple for Fuji. No muffin papers – greased the tins (popped out beautifully). Results? A squidge powdery texture with the garbanzo flour. Since no oil in the garbanzo flour as in the almond could possibly add a little – like 1/4 c. – coconut oil and try that out. But it never stops me from lavishly buttering. Had these with omelet with minced mushrooms. Love the ingredients! Thank you!
Can this work without the coconut? does it need a substitute?
I didn’t have any coconut and the muffins turned out fine without it.
I’ve made these muffins several times now. They are great for breakfast on the go and snacks! I’ve changed the ingredients up a few times, now I add pineapple and zucchini as well! I’m not a huge fan of raisins, so I made the muffins with dried cranberries a couple times which was a good substitution. This time, I tried some golden raisins which taste great as well. I’ve made these with pumpkin a couple times rather than sweet potato and I can’t tell any difference between the two. I use my Ninja food processor for the apple, carrot, pineapple, zucchini, and walnuts, which makes this recipe a snap. This is probably the most delicious paleo baked good I’ve tried, and I feel like they have so many healthy ingredients! Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear it, Carol! I love the idea of incorporating pineapple and zucchini to change up the flavor, and I bet dried cranberries are fabulous in the muffin! I’m so thrilled you’re enjoying the recipe – thanks so much for the feedback! xo
These muffins are the bomb! I eat one every single morning! The only thing I consistantly add is 1/2 of a smashed ripe avacado! Yum!
That sounds amazing! I’m sure the added fat from the avocado keeps the muffins super moist and flavorful – love it! Thanks for sharing the tip, Kaye!
Hi there! This recipe looks like exactly what I need for feeding a bunch of folks this weekend. My question is this: does anyone think that I could mix up the batter ahead of time (2-3 days) and then just bake them the morning of our brunch? Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Stacey,
So glad you’re thinking of serving these muffins for brunch – they really are magnificent! I generally don’t mix batter in advance because the leavening agents only work for a short period of time. Plus, I’m a little bit weird about eggs, but that’s more of a personal preference. Essentially, I would recommend making the batter right around the same time you’re going to bake the muffins and wouldn’t make it more than 12 hours ahead of time (again a personal preference). If you do end up making the batter in advance, I would advise bringing the batter to room temperature prior to baking. Hope this helps, and hope you love the muffins!!
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I’m diabetic and need to know what the carb count is, and the calories. I love morning glory muffins, and every other kind of muffin there is! lol
Is “20 minute prep time” part of the joke? Took me much longer to measure, grate and chop. But it was worth it. They turned out great and are packed full of flavor.
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love the recipe, I changed the the sweet potatoes for mashed bananas.
would you know approx the carb count per muffin?
These turned out so great. I randomly did not realize I was out of apple but I had a persimmon (go figure). I will be making these again and again.
Ooooooh persimmon sounds amazing!! So happy the muffins worked out and thanks so much for your feedback, Heather!! xo
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was searching for a grain free muffin recipe loaded with lots of stuff, and I happened upon this one. So glad I did 🙂
Didn’t have sweet potato, but had some canned pumpkin puree, so I used that. I had two small zucchini to use up, so those went in instead of carrot (I squeezed out the excess water), and I had Gala apple. I forgot the vanilla, but I didn’t miss it. I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, pecans instead of walnuts, and I threw in about 1/3 cup of Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips-mmmmm!!
Once the batter was all mixed up, it seemed like it still needed moisture, so I added 3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil. I think that was a good decision, because they were a tad crumbly on top, so without I think they may have crumbled apart. I baked them for 30 minutes and the toothpick came out clean (except for chocolate :)), but when eating they were just a tad undone in the middle. Next time I will bake longer, but perhaps lower to 325, because they had already started to brown on the top.
I recommend using a food processor, Ninja or something comparable to shred fruits and veggies, which will make prep time much faster. I used my food processor with the shredding blade and it was a breeze.
This is a great recipe: easy to whip up, chock full of healthy things, and very forgiving to substitutions- granted you keep the ratios approximately the same.
My loaded muffin craving is officially satiated!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Hi Sandy,
Your version of the morning glory muffins sounds fabulous! Thanks for all the tips and suggestions! Now I’m itching to try the recipe using pumpkin and zucchini! xo
Can I add this to my bread machine and make it into a bread?
Hi Wanda,
I’ve never tested the muffin batter in a bread machine, so I’m not sure it would work out very well. You could try baking it in a loaf pan, but I haven’t tested this method either. Let me know if you end up trying it!
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I hate to use that much energy to roast a half of a sweet potato, but I do want to use a sweet potato. Do you think if I grated it with the carrots that it would come out the same? or somewhat similar?
Connie
That’s a great question – I’ve never tries grating the sweet potato, but my guess is it may work. The muffins would definitely have more texture to them and may be a little less moist. If you want to replace the mashed sweet potato with a banana or applesauce, you could certainly go that route instead! Let me know what you end up trying! xo
Use your microwave to cook the sweet potato, I never put my white potatoes or sweet potatoes in the oven, always in the microwave, and they turn out great.
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Hi there! Any chance you have a calorie count, carbohydrate count, etc. for the recipe as written? I just baked a batch and am trying to figure out what to enter into my food diary on MyFitnessPal app.
Thanks!
Hi Colleen! I updated the recipe with nutritional information. Let me know if you need anything else!
Oh man, these look awesome! So since they have carrots, they count as a veggie, right? Haha .. .
I love your style of writing! It sounds just like you’re talking to me through the screen. I actually started laughing out loud while I was reading this post — you really got me with the pizza thing!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Cheers!
Thanks so much, Brynn! I’m glad you found it humorous! I definitely count the muffins as at least one serving of veggies, lol! 😀
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Is there a reason you don’t include the vanilla extract or the coconut flakes in the instructions? I caught the coconut flakes omission, but not the vanilla extract. Hopefully they’ll still taste decent.
Hi Martia,
My mistake – I went ahead and updated the recipe. Thanks for letting me know about the errors. I bet your muffins will still taste great 😉
Thanks! And yes, they still tasted amazing. I’ll be making these on a regular basis 🙂
I would like to add pineapple to this recipe…can you guide as to how I could do this? For example how much pineapple, and would I use fresh or canned? Thanks
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Wow, these are excellent! Thank you!
Wow, these are amazing!! We have made them many times by now! Each time I tweak the addtions a little. Zucchini is good as are dried, unsweetened cherries or apricots. Looking forward to playing with this idea more. I also make a double batch and bake them in the giant muffin tins. Makes for a substantial breakfast on their own. Thanks again!
I’m so happy to hear it, Kim!! Adding zucchini and dried cherries sounds amazing as well – I’ll have to try this! Thanks for the sweet note! xo
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I just made these and they are delicious. I did make one major change: I used flax eggs instead of actual eggs. I knew that they were unlikely to rise much as a result, and so I filled the muffin cups just about to the top. Even so, I got 14 muffins out of the batch. The other changes I made were minor: a touch more sweet potato, so that what I had left over wouldn’t be wasted, more carrot than apple because I didn’t have enough apple (still 2 cups total), currants instead of raisins, and 2T coconut milk because the batter seemed a bit dry (although I think I would omit this next time). They really are delicious and I love that they don’t have any oil!! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Thanks so much for letting us know your changes, Aimee! I’m so glad you like the muffins! xo