Healthy morning glory muffins filled with wholesome ingredients like oats, apples, carrots, almond butter, walnuts, raisins and naturally sweetened with maple syrup, These easy vegan carrot apple muffins are wonderfully moist, hearty and great for breakfast and snacking! (Gluten free, oil free & refined sugar free)
My social feeds are flooded with all things pumpkin-- not that I'm complaining. I mean, I know I've already done my fair share of pumpkin recipes too (hiya spelt pumpkin bread & chocolate chip pumpkin muffins) buttt, allow me to remind you that it's also peak season for carrots and apples with these morning glory muffins!
What are morning glory muffins? They're supposedly 'healthier' muffins since they typically include nuts/seeds, veggies and fruit but if you ever take a look at store bought muffins they're loaded with added sugar and butter. IMO it's totally fine to enjoy a store bought muffin but since I basically eat muffins everyday for breakfast I wanted to make a version that is a) made with some healthier swaps and b) inexpensive (cause muffins are actually quite $$$) .
A couple rounds of testing these, I was finally happy with the texture of these vegan and gluten free morning glory muffins! They're fluffy yet hearty and just textural perfection thanks to the all the fun add-ins.
How to make healthy morning glory muffins
The Ingredients (& substitutions)
- Apples: Both apple sauce and shredded apples go into these muffins. Here's a quick 5 minute apple sauce recipe!
- Almond Butter: Adds healthy fats and moisture. You could also use sunflower butter or tahini for nut free.
- Maple Syrup: For naturally sweetened muffins and also keeps them moist.
- Baking powder, baking soda + apple cider vinegar: Helps make them fluffy.
- Rolled Oats (Gluten free): If you don't have a high speed blender, I recommend using oat flour instead and making this recipe in a bowl because the batter does get quite thick. You can use store bought or make your own by blending the same amount of oats first and then adding it to a bowl. If using pre-made oat flour, use ½ cups (180g).
- Carrots
- Walnuts: Or any nuts/seeds of your choice.
- Raisins: Or any dried fruit of your choice.
Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla and orange zest is also added for an extra boost in flavour.
The Directions
- Add all the ingredients (except fold-ins) to a blender starting with the wet ingredients and then blend until a thick batter forms. Add in 1-2 tablespoon of water or non dairy milk if you find the batter to be overly thick (see video for consistency).
- Fold in the carrots, apples, raisins and walnuts.
- Divide the batter between 6 muffin cups. Bake at 425 F for 5 minutes and then at 350 F for 15-18 minutes or until tops of the muffins are springy to the touch.
Like mentioned above, these can also easily be made without a blender just by swapping the rolled oats for oat flour! Mix the wet ingredients together first and then the dry. Fold in the shredded apples, shredded carrots, walnuts and raisins and bake.
Freezing & Storing Tips
These hearty muffins store & freeze beautifully so you could make a double batch for 12 muffins and have them ready throughout the week! Read how to properly store & reheat muffins in this post to keep them as fresh as possible.
So hearty and perfectly flavoured with warming spices and orange zest-- if you like carrot muffins and apples muffins you will love these!
More healthy vegan muffins to love:
SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓
If you recreate this Healthy Morning Glory Muffins recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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Healthy Morning Glory Muffins (Vegan + Gluten Free)
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 6 muffins 1x
Description
Healthy morning glory muffins that are hearty & delicious thanks to the oats, carrots, apples, raisins & walnuts. Tender, moist & great for breakfast or snacking! (Vegan + Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- ½ cup apple sauce (120g // + 1-2 tablespoon water or non dairy milk as needed)
- 2 tbsp almond butter (32g)
- ¼ cup maple syrup (80g)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (10g)
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (10g)
- 1 ½ cups gluten free rolled oats (180g)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder (7g)
- ½ tsp baking soda (3g)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ small apple shredded (40g)
- ½ small carrot shredded (40g)
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts (30g // or any nuts of choice)
- ¼ cup raisins (30g // or any dried fruit of choice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F and line or grease 6 muffin cups.
- Into a blender add in the the apple sauce, almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar and blend until smooth. Next add in the oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and blend until combined. You may need to add in 1-2 tablespoon of water or non dairy milk depending on how much moisture your apple sauce has (see video for batter consistency). Fold in shredded apples, carrots, walnuts and raisins.
- Divide batter between the 6 muffin cups and then bake for 5 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 F and bake for another 15-18 minutes.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 3 minutes and then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Helpful Equipment: spatula, 6 cup muffin tin, mixing bowls, muffin liners
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 23 minutes
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: vegan, gluten free, north american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 14.7g
- Sodium: 318mg
- Fat: 8.2g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7gg
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 39.8g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6.3g
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: gluten free vegan morning glory muffins, healthy morning glory muffins, healthy carrot apple muffins
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chiarawsn says
Would really like to try this recipe but what is the cooking time if I bake the batter in a loaf pan ?
Thanks 🙂
Lisa Kitahara says
Hi Chiarawsn! I haven't tested it as a loaf, so I can't say it'll work for sure. I think it might end up a bit gummy or under baked, but it might work if you use a pan with a larger surface area (I'm thinking 9x5 inch). It would take about 40-50 minutes! Let me know how it turns out-- goodluck!
Jessie Sierra says
These look perfect for breakfast! Sort of like a healthier morning glory muffin! I can't wait to make them!
★★★★★
Bonnie says
Hi, wondering if I could sub peanut butter or avocado oil for almond butter?
Lisa Kitahara says
Yes you can!
Nancy says
I so enjoyed this recipe. I will be making these muffins and gifting them to family and friends. I love the moist texture...s o like traditional Morning Glories. One tweak for my taste is to use a tad less nutmeg. Thank you for such a great recipe!
★★★★★
Kristine says
I love these muffins! New favorite muffin recipe! Delicious, healthy, great texture, amazing for breakfast or as a snack any time of day. Love this recipe!
★★★★★
Marie says
These muffins are the absolute BEST! My entire family is obsessed, we love how healthy the ingredients are and how satisfying and delicious they taste. I feel like it can be tricky to make a delicious vegan muffin, but Lisa totally nailed it with this recipe. I usually double the recipe to make 12 muffins (just doubling all the ingredients as listed) and they turn out perfect, they also freeze really well. I highly recommend giving these a try, you'll love them.
★★★★★