If you're looking for a Healthy Morning Glory Muffin recipe that is wholesome and naturally dairy-free but doesn't compromise on flavor, you will love these! I fell in love with Morning Glory Muffins many years ago when you could find them in every cafe and coffee shop (especially in the 1990s). I don't see them around very much anymore and it's unfortunate because they really are the best muffins! Read on to find out why they are called morning glory muffins and why they were so darn popular in the 1990s.
However, I have created a lighter version so they can be enjoyed at home, without the added fat and calories of the coffee shop variety. These Weight Watchers Morning Glory Muffins are also known as "sunshine muffins" and were inspired by the recipe in the cookbook that came with my new food processor and by my own Healthy Carrot Muffins . They are full of healthy and wholesome ingredients like carrots, sunflower seeds, oats, walnuts, and coconut and are great for a quick snack, dessert, or on-the-go healthy breakfast or breakfast dessert! They are the ultimate breakfast muffin.
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🥘Ingredient Notes
Although there is still healthy fat in this recipe, I cut a lot of the fat by replacing the vegetable oil with unsweetened applesauce.
For this morning glory muffin recipe, you'll need:
- All-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. I use a combination of flour because although whole wheat flour has more fiber, it can make muffins dense. The AP flour balances the density and they are both same WW point value.
- Quick rolled oats. Quick oats are smaller than old fashioned and create a softer texture. Rolled oats and quick oats are the same thing.
- Orange zest. Adds a welcome citrus zing to these muffins!
- Walnuts. I would recommend toasting your walnuts as it really brings out the nutty flavor and adds that extra special something to your muffins!
- Unsweetened applesauce. Unsweetened applesauce replaces the oil (fat) in this recipe.
- Coconut. Make sure it's unsweetened or it adds a lot of unnecessary calories. You can use fine or medium shredded coconut, depending on your preference.
- Sunflower seeds. You want to make sure these are shelled, raw and unsalted.
*See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
📖Variations & Substitutions
There are many different variations of Morning Glory Muffins out there. Some have zucchini, apple, raisins, and even pineapple. Here are my recommended variations or substitutions.
- Dairy-free - These muffins are naturally dairy-free
- Add-ins - Add Chia seeds or flax seeds for extra fiber and add golden raisins, if so desired
- Walnuts - you can substitute pecans (you can also toast the pecans the same way you toast the walnuts)
🔪How to Make Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
- Step 1: Toast Walnuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scatter walnuts on the sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes until fragrant. Cool and set aside. *You can chop them once cooled if you're not using pre-chopped walnuts.
- Step 2: Add brown sugar, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla to a separate bowl and stir until combined.
- Step 3: Add the walnuts and shredded carrots to the dry ingredients.
- Step 4: Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or non-stick cooking spray. Add the flours, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, oats, and zest into a large bowl and stir together.
- Step 5:Add the flour and carrot mixture to the egg mixture. Add coconut.
- Step 6: Mix until combined.
- Step 7: Scoop the muffin batter evenly into the 12 prepared muffin cups and sprinkle on sunflower seeds, dividing evenly between all 12 muffins.
- Step 8: Bake until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 20 -22 minutes).
Expert Recipe Tips
- Toast the Walnuts for Maximum Flavor. Toasting enhances the natural oils and deepens the nutty flavor. Spread them on a baking sheet and toast at 350°F (175°C) for 7-10 minutes until fragrant. Let them cool before adding them to the batter.
- Don’t Overmix the Batter. Overmixing can lead to dense muffins. Stir the ingredients just until combined to keep the muffins light and fluffy. A few lumps in the batter are totally fine!
- Use Freshly Grated Carrots. Pre-shredded store-bought carrots tend to be dry and don’t add as much moisture. For the best texture and flavor, grate your own carrots using a food processor or box grater.
- Measure Flour Correctly. For accurate measuring, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Scooping directly from the bag can pack too much flour, leading to dry muffins.
- Adjust Sweetness to Taste. If you prefer a less sweet muffin, reduce the brown sugar to ½ cup or replace it with coconut sugar. If you like a bit more natural sweetness, add ¼ cup of golden raisins or chopped dates.
- Use Unsweetened Applesauce for Moisture. Applesauce replaces oil while keeping the muffins soft and moist. Make sure it's unsweetened to avoid adding extra sugar.
- Bake Until Just Done. Overbaking can make muffins dry. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out with a few moist crumbs (but no wet batter), they’re ready!
🥗 What to serve with Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
Serve these delicious muffins alongside a cup of coffee and/or fresh fruits or a fruit salad (shown). These healthy morning muffins also make an excellent breakfast potluck contribution!
👪 Serving Size
This recipe makes 12 Morning Glory muffins. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust. You'll just need additional muffin tins.
🔢WW Points
These hearty muffins are 5 WW points, but worth every single point! You can bring down the Weight Watchers points even further by substituting monk fruit for the brown sugar, but only use half the amount ( ⅓ cup).
🌡️Storage
Store these sunshine muffins in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature and up to 4 days in the fridge. They can be frozen for up to 3 months in a sealed container or Ziplock freezer bag.
Top tip
When you're shredding carrots, shred extra and freeze them in Ziplock freezer bags in 2-cup portions. It makes it so much easier if you have a food processor (affiliate link), but even if you don't, you can grate them by hand.
It takes a few extra minutes of your time upfront, but trust me, you'll be glad you did the next time you go to make anything with shredded carrots, such as my Healthy Carrot Bread, Healthy & Light Carrot Cake, Award-Winning Creamy Carrot Soup or even these Honey Sriracha Chicken Lettuce Wraps (this makes for a super quick dinner with pre-shredded carrots from your freezer!
Then pop them into the microwave to defrost for a few minutes (just be sure to drain off excess water, but do not squeeze out the water, as you need some moisture for a moist muffin).
So, if you're looking for healthy morning glory muffins that taste amazing, these are THE BEST morning glory muffins! And I can safely say that because I'm pretty much a connoisseur, having consumed so many when they were all the rage in the 1900s (see why they were all the rage below).
❔ Recipe FAQ's
Morning Glory Muffins are meant to be a little bit of everything; sort of a harvest muffin. There are many variations but they generally have walnuts, orange juice or zest, coconut, apples, carrots, brown sugar, flour, and oats. However, they can also have zucchini, raisins, seeds, or pineapple.
Morning Glory Muffins were created by Pam McKinstry owner of the “Morning Glory Cafe” on Nantucket Island and the muffin was said to be named after the cafe. She created her original recipe for Morning Glory Muffins in 1978. Then in 1981, Gourmet magazine printed her recipe. A decade later, in 1991, it was selected by the readers as one of the best recipes of the past 25 years in the magazine. Hence, they were on every cafe and coffee shop menu in the 1990s.
Toasting the walnuts is optional but highly recommended! It enhances their nutty flavor and adds a delicious crunch. If you prefer, you can also use pecans instead of walnuts.
Yes! To make mini muffins, use a mini muffin tin and reduce the baking time to about 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cl
Not to worry! If you only have old-fashioned oats you can add ½ a cup to the food processor and pulse them a couple of times to break them down, creating 'quick oats". There will still be some larger pieces, but they should not be a fine powder. Then measure them for the recipe.
📋More Healthy Muffin Recipes
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📋Healthy Morning Glory Muffins recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup quick rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- ⅔ cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
- 4 large carrots, grated (2 cups shredded) * if using frozen, defrost and drain off excess water, but do NOT squeeze out
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
Garnish
- 2 tablespoon raw, shelled, unsalted sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scatter walnuts on sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes until fragrant. Cool and set aside. *You can chop them once cooled, if you're not using pre-chopped walnuts.⅔ cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
- Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners or non-stick cooking spray.
- Add the flours, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, oats and zest into a medium mixing bowl and stir together.½ cup all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup whole wheat flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ cup quick rolled oats, 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- Add the walnuts and shredded carrots to dry ingredient mixture.4 large carrots, grated (2 cups shredded)
- Add brown sugar, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla to a separate large mixing bowl and stir until combined.⅔ cup brown sugar, 4 large eggs, room temperature, ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour and carrot mixture to the egg mixture, then add coconut.⅓ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
- Mix until combined.
- Scoop the batter evenly among the 12 prepared muffin cups and sprinkle on sunflower seeds, dividing seeds evenly between all 12 muffins2 tablespoon raw, shelled, unsalted sunflower seeds
- Bake until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 20 -22 minutes)
- Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes.
Notes
-
- Toast the Walnuts for Maximum Flavor. Toasting enhances the natural oils and deepens the nutty flavor. Spread them on a baking sheet and toast at 350°F (175°C) for 7-10 minutes until fragrant. Let them cool before adding them to the batter.
-
- Don’t Overmix the Batter. Overmixing can lead to dense muffins. Stir the ingredients just until combined to keep the muffins light and fluffy. A few lumps in the batter are totally fine!
-
- Use Freshly Grated Carrots. Pre-shredded store-bought carrots tend to be dry and don’t add as much moisture. For the best texture and flavor, grate your own carrots using a food processor or box grater.
-
- Measure Flour Correctly. For accurate measuring, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Scooping directly from the bag can pack in too much flour, leading to dry muffins.
-
- Adjust Sweetness to Taste. If you prefer a less sweet muffin, reduce the brown sugar to ½ cup or replace it with coconut sugar. If you like a bit more natural sweetness, add ¼ cup of golden raisins or chopped dates.
-
- Use Unsweetened Applesauce for Moisture. Applesauce replaces oil while keeping the muffins soft and moist. Make sure it's unsweetened to avoid adding extra sugar.
-
- Bake Until Just Done. Overbaking can make muffins dry. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out with a few moist crumbs (but no wet batter), they’re ready!
Angie
Is there something else I can substitute apple sauce with as my hubby is fructose intolerant and apple is v high fructose? Thanks
Terri Gilson
Yes, you could use Greek yogurt (non-fat) instead, but you'll likely have to add more sweetener.
Enjoy!
Terri
Asha
These muffins are tasty and perfect for a quick, grab-and-go breakfast on busy mornings. So many good ingredients inside, too!
Bernice
These morning glory muffins are so named because they are glorious! They baked up really nice and stayed fresh for a few days. It was nice to have a healthy treat in the morning for a few days.
nancy
i've been looking for a tasty morning muffin recipe and this one is a winner!
Vanessa
I grew up with these muffins but haven't seen them in ages! Thanks for the recipe! I forgot how delicious they are. Definitely going to start adding these to the breakfast rotation.
Colleen
I always loved morning glory muffins but I haven't had one in years. Now I can make my own and I even have all of the ingredients. (I'll use a gluten-free flour blend) Thanks for sharing!