Name: Morning Glory Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 medium zucchini*; 2 medium sized carrots*; 1 green apple*; 2 cups whole grain flour*; ⅓ cup ground flax seeds; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ½ cup apple sauce; ½ cup maple syrup*; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon grated (fresh ginger*); ½ cup chopped walnuts*; ½ cup unsweetened dried cranberries; ½ cup small dice frozen pineapple*

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Vegan morning glory muffins are nutritious, delicious and a satisfying breakfast or snack. Healthy applesauce muffins with no added sugar are easy to make and perfect for a make ahead grab and go breakfast or snack.

Sugar free Healthy Morning Glory Muffins….a tasty way to start your day with veggies!

Morning Glory Muffins, tumbled out onto a white dish towel with blue pattern, along with a zucchini, two carrots and a green apple. There are walnuts and dried cranberries strewn around.

Healthy morning glory muffins are the perfect way to start the day! They’re filled with wholesome ingredients and baked into a light and fluffy, tasty and satisfying, incredibly nutritious breakfast or snack.

Simple, sweet, old fashioned goodness is just what you’ll find in these healthy muffins. A few little tricks ensure this vegan muffin is moist and tender, with amazing texture.

Yes, it’s a healthy muffin…but also so scrumptious everyone will love them. Good thing the recipe is so easy, because you’ll be making these again and again.

The original Morning Glory Muffins were created by Chef Pam McKinstry for her restaurant on Nantucket Island. I’ve taken some liberties with the recipe to omit the oil and sugar….and the result is still delicious and pays homage to the original with carrots, pineapple, apples and walnuts.

Ingredients and Substitutions for Vegan Morning Glory Muffins

Don’t be alarmed by the number of ingredients. They’re mostly basic pantry staples I’m sure you already have and I’ve listed lots of substitutions too.

CARROTS: Good substitutes would be shredded parsnips or beets.
ZUCCHINI: Substitute yellow summer squash, but scoop out the seeds before shredding.
APPLE: any color, any kind of apple will work well. Firm pears that won’t turn to mush when grating can also be used.
WHOLE GRAIN FLOUR: I used a combination of sprouted spelt and whole wheat. I also tested this recipe with Gluten-free 1-to-1 flour with terrific results—the muffins rose well and had great texture.
GROUND FLAX: Provides a bit of a nutty flavor and also acts as a binder since there are no eggs. Ground chia seeds would make a good sub. My experience is that you don’t always have to make “flax eggs” in vegan baking. The liquid from the shredded zucchini and apples, plus the applesauce will help the flax gel well. The same technique is used in my healthy zucchini bread recipe.
BAKING POWDER, BAKING SODA: the combo gives these vegan muffins a nice rise.
CINNAMON: if you like a bit more spice, add a pinch of allspice, cloves or nutmeg.
APPLESAUCE: A great way to keep these muffins vegan and sugar-free. If you need a sub, use bananas, pears, peaches or mango that are ripe and blend until the consistency is similar to applesauce.
MAPLE SYRUP: I used date syrup in this recipe and the texture was perfect, the taste was a bit sweeter.
VANILLA: skip if you don’t have.
FRESH GINGER: Substitute ½ teaspoon ground ginger if you don’t have fresh.
UNSWEETENED DRIED CRANBERRIES: look for unsweetened and unsulfured dried fruit. Substitute raisins, cherries or chopped apricots, figs or other dried fruit. This adds both sweetness and a chewy texture. If you’re looking for another way to use dried cranberries, check out these yummy gluten-free vegan cookies.
CHOPPED WALNUTS: You can substitute any nuts (pecans, almonds, pistachios, etc.) or seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp) for a bit of crunch.
FROZEN PINEAPPLE: Morning glory muffins with pineapple are delish….and no added sugar is needed! You can sub chopped frozen mango, peaches, small diced pears or other sweet fruit.

How to make The BEST Morning Glory Muffins

Shred the carrots, zucchini and apple. You can do this with a box grater or a food processor. No peeling needed and don’t bother to wash the processor bowl in between veggies. Remember, it’s an easy muffin recipe…no reason to create extra work!

4 photos showing step by step making muffin batter. 1. Mixing wet ingredients together with shredded veggies. 2. Mixing dry ingredients together. 3. Combining the wet with the dry ingredients. 4. Gently stirring in dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and diced frozen pineapple.

Mix wet ingredients together with shredded veggies.
Stir together flour, flax, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Combine wet and dry ingredients.
Gently fold in dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and diced pineapple.

Bowl of muffin batter and a muffin tin lined with purple and light blue liners, half of them already filled with batter and a large cookie scoop filling another.

Use a scoop to fill muffin tins. Evenly divide the batter between the 12 lined muffins.

Morning glory muffins. Showing 4 muffins in tins before and after baking.

Use all the batter. The muffins will be a bit fuller than ¾, and they will rise…but they will not spill over! They’ll be perfect.

close up of a morning glory muffin, still in the pan with a beautiful rise and crust, with a light blue liner.

Put the muffins into a preheated 425 oven for a quick rise, and a crisp top. After 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 350 to continue cooking for 15 minutes.