My friend’s grandmother swears these muffins were made at a little Nantucket restaurant in 1978, and she’s never let me forget it. I finally made them myself this weekend, and her story suddenly made sense. Morning glory muffins are lightly sweet, softly spiced, and packed with fruit, veg, and nuts, which is a lot of flavor for something that should be a snack.
I made them vegan and gluten-free, using oat flour and potato starch instead of almond flour. The result is tender rather than dense, naturally sweetened, and honest about what’s inside. One bowl, 35 minutes, a dozen muffins. Real time: 35 minutes. Hands-on: 15 minutes of prep. Serve them with coffee or tea and a glass of dairy-free milk, and let the weekend be a little slower than the week.
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What’s actually in a morning glory muffin?
The original, created by Pam McKinstry at her Nantucket restaurant, Morning Glory Cafe, is built on wholesome fillers: shredded coconut, raisins, grated apple and carrot, pineapple, pecans or walnuts, and cinnamon. Around that she adds the usual flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, eggs, oil, and vanilla. My version keeps most of the goodies and swaps the rest to make the batter vegan and gluten-free.
- Flaxseed meal + orange juice form the flax egg. No eggs, and the orange adds a quiet sweetness and a hint of citrus.
- Coconut sugar is the sweetener. It’s lower glycemic with a light caramel note. Brown sugar or cane sugar would probably work fine.
- Avocado oil + dairy-free milk. This batter is lower in oil than the classic, so the milk keeps it pourable. Any neutral oil works, even melted vegan butter.
- Oat flour + potato starch. This gluten-free pairing keeps the crumb light so the muffins don’t turn out dense and gummy. Not potato flour, by the way.
- The classics: grated apple and carrot, shredded coconut, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, salt, baking soda.
- Baking powder gives extra lift. Gluten-free batters flop into dense, gummy mounds without it, and this one doesn’t.
How to make them
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Whisk the flaxseed meal and orange juice in a large bowl and let it sit for a few minutes while it thickens. In that time, grate the apple and carrot on the large side of a box grater. I use this box grater for almost everything, and it’s doing real affiliate work for the brand (full disclosure).
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Once the flax has gelled, whisk in the coconut sugar, dairy-free milk, avocado oil, and vanilla. Add the oat flour, potato starch, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and mix until smooth with no lumps. Fold in the grated carrot and apple, then the raisins, coconut, and walnuts. Let the batter rest about 5 minutes so it thickens slightly. You don’t need to squeeze the liquid out of the grated fruit.
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Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups. They will be full, and that’s fine. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until risen, dry to the touch, and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Let them cool, then eat
These are very moist right out of the oven, so I like to give them at least 20 minutes to cool before the first one hits the plate. They’re wholesome, satisfying, moist, tender, naturally sweet, subtly spiced, and packed with fruit, nuts, and vegetables. Honestly? They’re just really good.
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They work as a grab-and-go snack or a proper sweet breakfast. They keep covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, in the fridge for 4 to 5 days, or frozen for about a month.
Make it yours
- Skip the nuts for a nut-free batch, or add more coconut instead.
- Swap the raisins for chopped dried cranberries or currants.
- Prefer buckwheat over oats? Try it in place of the oat flour, though I haven’t tested that swap myself.
- Want to use a real egg instead of the flax egg? Use 1 large (or 2 small) and dial back the milk a touch. Untested by me, but it sounds right.
Nutrition per muffin, as a rough estimate: 244 calories, 35.7 g carbs, 2.5 g protein, 11.2 g fat, 2.8 g fiber, 16.6 g sugar.
Happy cooking,
Maya