Paleo morning glory muffins recipe made with almond flour are a healthy breakfast or snack, perfect for those with gluten and grain sensitivities. These classic muffins are easy to prepare and super comforting!
Love starting your day with something wholesome, cozy, bursting with flavor and gluten-free? Well, you’re in luck! These Paleo Morning Glory Muffins are packed with carrot, apple, coconut, and crunchy walnuts for the ultimate feel-good breakfast or snack.
These easy wholesome muffins feel nostalgic and homey but are actually surprisingly healthy. These beauties are grain-free (like my Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bars!), naturally sweetened, and full of real, nourishing ingredients.
We start with light and fluffy almond flour and sweet bursts of apple and raisin which form the delicious base of these muffins. The earthy carrots and toasty crunch from the walnuts and coconut take this recipe to the next level.
My favorite part is this paleo version keeps all those cozy flavors I adore from coffee shop muffins while giving me plenty of slow-burn energy due to the lack of added sugar. No big sugar spike and crash here, folks!
Ingredients for Paleo Morning Glory Muffins
Here’s all the ingredients you’ll need to make these delicious paleo morning muffins. You probably have a handful hanging around in your pantry already, but they’re all easy ingredients to source if you don’t!
Mashed Sweet Potato: This might sound like a weird ingredient to add to a muffin. But sweet potatoes add natural sweetness and moisture to this recipe that keep our muffins soft and tender. Swap it out for ripe banana if you’d like.
Eggs: Act as a binder to give structure, lift, and richness to the batter.
Pure Maple Syrup: My favorite natural sweetener for muffins is pure maple syrup. We only need a little bit!
Pure Vanilla Extract: Enhances the other flavors and adds a touch of warmth to your muffins.
Grated Carrot: The main ingredient for that classic morning glory texture! Along with the slight chewiness, you’ll also get plenty of sweetness and a vibrant pop of color from your carrots. Plus, they add Vitamins and antioxidants.
Grated Apple: For a fruity zing that brings extra moisture to your muffins. I suggest using Fuji or Honeycrisp as they hold up well and are relatively sweet. But use whichever apples you like best or have on hand!
Fresh Grated Ginger: Adds a gentle zing that brightens everything up. Add more if you’re obsessed with ginger, or omit it if you aren’t into it.
Almond Flour: The grain-free base that creates a tender, light moist crumb that beats regular all-purpose flour any day. I stick with super fine almond flour for the best texture.
Unsweetened Shredded Coconut: Contributes to the light texture and imparts a creamy, sweet flavor.
Raisins: These nuggets of sticky sweetness add a hit of texture to each bite. Golden raisins are great here too.
Chopped Walnuts: I hear you. There’s a lot of chewiness going on in this recipe. But chopped walnuts bring crunch!
Ground Cinnamon: The ultimate warm spice that gives your muffins a perfect, fall-inspired coziness. Use pumpkin pie spice if you’d like.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The leavening agents that help the muffins rise.
Sea Salt: Enhances all the flavors! Don’t skip it.
Recipe Customizations
- Switch out the sweet potatoes. If you’re really not feeling the sweet potatoes in these paleo morning glory muffins, use a ripe mashed banana instead. It’ll give you a lighter, slightly fruitier flavor, but the texture should be similar.
- You can use pecans, almonds, pumpkin seeds, or hazelnuts in place of the walnuts if you prefer!
- If you can’t eat nuts, leave out the walnuts and switch the almond flour for sunflower seed flour. The texture will be very slightly different, but it’s a decent alternative.
- If you’re making these around summertime, feel free to stir in crushed pineapple or a handful of chopped dried mango. It’ll give things a tropical twist!
- Want to make things even cozier? Add cardamom, nutmeg, or even a touch of cloves to switch things up!
- Make them sweeter by adding a touch of coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, or sugar-free sweetener.
- You can throw in a tablespoon of ground flax or chia seeds for a fiber boost.
How to Make Paleo Morning Glory Muffins
Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and lining a muffin tin with parchment paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt until the dry ingredients are evenly combined.
In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until a smooth batter forms.
Now for the fun part! Fold in the shredded carrots, diced apple, raisins, chopped walnuts, and shredded coconut. This is where the muffins start to look (and smell!) like a cozy autumn morning.
Scoop the batter evenly into your muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool in the muffin pan for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling for around 20 minutes. Try to resist eating one straight from the oven, as the muffin will stick to the paper liners.
Storage Tips:
- Room Temperature: Store muffins in an airtight container or in a zip lock bag on the counter for up to 2 days.
- Refrigerator: Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Tips for Making the Best Paleo Morning Glory Muffins
- Use a medium-sized box grater for the carrots and apples. If it’s too fine, they’ll disappear into the batter. Too coarse, and they’ll weigh it down.
- These muffins are super moist. So, let them rest in the pan for at least 15 to 20 minutes before removing them from the pan.
These gluten-free morning glory muffins are perfect for meal prep, brunches, road trips, or those days you just want something homemade that feels special. Make a batch on Sunday and watch them disappear before midweek.
They have the perfect texture and that pop of flavor to make you swoon. Those cozy spices, real ingredients, and chewy texture will keep you coming back for more!
Enjoyed this beautiful bake? Here are 5 more gluten-free muffins you’re bound to love!
More Muffin Recipes:
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Paleo Carrot Cake Banana Muffins
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Matcha Muffins
Enjoy this great recipe on repeat for a lower sugar alternative to classic muffins!
Paleo Morning Glory Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup mashed sweet potato
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrot 1 large
- 1 cup grated apple ½ large Fugi
- 2 tsp 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 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12-muffin tray with baking cups.
- Whisk together the mashed sweet potato, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract, grated carrot, apple, and ginger until well-combined (wet ingredients).
- In a seperate mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, shredded coconut, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (dry ingredients).
- Pour the dry mixture into the bowl with the wet mixture and stir well until a thick batter forms.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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
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!!
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!
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
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.
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!
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
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!
Has anyone ever calculated the nutrion facts?
Could you substitute pureed pumpkin if you don’t have sweet potato? These look amazing.
Absolutely! Pumpkin would work like a dream 😀
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!
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 😉
So, basically, everything good in the world stuffed into a muffin…FOR BREAKFAST. I approve.
xoxoxox Love ultra-stuffed muffs 😉
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?
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?!
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.
Deserves FIVE STARS! So happy I made a double batch. These are DEFINITELY worth the work! THANK YOU!!!
I’m so happy you like them, Lisa! Thanks for the sweet note! xo