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These delicious morning glory muffins, brimming with wholesome ingredients like pineapple, carrots, apples, and walnuts, make the perfect breakfast or healthy snack. Plus, learn how to make these into beautiful TALL bakery style muffins!
The smell of morning glory muffins baking in the oven is the perfect way to start a morning. Healthy morning glory muffins are the perfect quick breakfast, a great addition to your child’s lunchbox, the perfect afternoon snack, or you get where I’m going with this… they’re the perfect any time food!
Making this morning glory muffin recipe and these egg muffin cups is an easy way to meal prep for the week! As a mom, I am a huge fan of anything that makes my busy weekdays a little easier, and tastier too)!
Origin of Morning Glory Muffins
Morning Glory muffins originated from the Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket Island. They were created by the owner, Chef Pam McKinstry in 1978, and in 1981, Gourmet Magazine printed her recipe. The original recipe has been tweaked over the years, but the idea is the same! These breakfast muffins will be popular with the whole family, and they’re great for making treats for your neighbors and friends!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe for Morning Glory Muffins
- Quick and easy to make
- Kid-friendly
- Great for meal prep
- Easy to customize
Best Morning Glory Muffins Ingredients
These hearty muffins branch out from the typical muffin ingredients, and you’ll be surprised how delicious they are! Get the detailed ingredients list and instructions for this recipe in the recipe card below.
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Sweetened coconut: Make sure to get shredded coconut.
- Raisins: Light or dark raisins will work.
- Large apple
- Crushed pineapple: Make sure they’re drained!
- Shredded carrots: It’s best to use a box grater to shred your own so they’re nice and thin.
- Pecans or walnuts
- Large eggs
- Vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Morning Glory Muffins with Pineapple
This will become one of your favorite recipes! Healthy ingredients packed into a perfectly sweet, fluffy muffin, you can’t go wrong! Get the full recipe in the recipe card below.
- Prep fruit. Grate the apple and measure out ¾ cup. Next, wrap the grated apple in a few paper towels and squeeze out the excess liquid. Discard the juice and set the grated apple aside. Be sure to drain the crushed pineapple as well, and discard the juice.
- Combine baking ingredients. In a large bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a spoon to combine and set aside.
- Combine nuts, veggies, and fruits. In a larger, separate bowl combine shredded coconut, raisins, grated apple, drained crushed pineapple, grated carrots, and chopped nuts. Stir with a spoon to combine and set aside.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Stir to combine with a fork or spatula for 20 seconds.
- Combine all. Gradually mix in the dry flour mixture and the fruit mixture, mixing by hand just until combined. The muffin batter will be very thick!
- Rest. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- For bakery style muffin tops, line a 12-count muffin pan with 6 muffin liners, meaning you’ll only fill every other muffin well with batter. Filling every other well allows the muffins to spread and dome without running into each other. For this recipe I used tulip muffin liners, you can find them on Amazon. Tulip liners naturally produce a taller muffin so you don’t need to do the every other muffin method. If you’re using regular muffin liners, I recommend filling every other muffin well.
- Fill muffin tins. Fill the paper liners in muffin cups full of batter. Use a butter knife to smooth the tops of the muffins if lumpy. Top the muffins with additional raisins, pecans, and shredded coconut.
- Bake, cool, and serve. Place one pan in the center of the oven and bake for 7 minutes at 425ºF, then keep the muffins in the oven, and turn the temperature down to 350ºF and bake for 13-17 minutes for regular liners and for 19-21 minutes for tulip liners, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing. Repeat with the remaining batter, making sure to bump the temperature back up to 425ºF.
How to Create Bakery Style Muffins
Bakery style muffins are known for their domed tops. Plus who doesn’t love them? I used a few techniques to help “lift” these muffins so they would have large, domed tops!
1. The Rest Period
Let the batter rest for 15 minutes after it’s mixed and before you scoop it into the muffin pan. During the resting period, starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter, causing them to swell and giving the batter a thicker consistency (ref the kitchen whisper). Our 15 minute rest is just a quick rest.
2. Fill Every Other Muffin Cup
This tip has been a game changer! For bakery style muffin tops, line a 12 count muffin pan with 6 muffin liners, meaning you’ll only fill every other muffin well with batter. Filling every other cup allows the muffins to spread and dome without running into each other. This technique also encourages the muffins to brown, creating a golden muffin top.
3. Fill Them To The Top
Fill your muffin liners to the top with batter. Yes, this goes against everything you’re heard but it’s important in helping the muffin gain that height.
4. Bake at High Temperature Initially
Bake the muffins at a high temperature (425ºF) initially, then lower to 350ºF. Starting the muffins off at a higher temperature causes the batter to rise rapidly, setting the outer surface of the muffin, producing a dome shape.
*Note: For this recipe I used tulip muffin liners, which naturally produce a taller muffin so you don’t need to do the every other muffin method. If you’re using regular muffin liners, I recommend filling every other muffin well.
Healthy Morning Glory Muffins Storage
Storing and Freezing Muffins
Muffin Storage
If you’ll be eating the muffins within 24 hours of baking, you can leave them uncovered on the counter. The muffins will not dry out while left at room temperature for 1 day.
In fact, muffins are so moist they can become soggy and those crunchy, sugary tops can disappear when stored in an airtight container.
But I have a trick to help that – paper towels.
For longer storage, 2-4 days, line the bottom of an airtight container with paper towels. Place the muffins in a single layer in the container then cover the muffins with any additional layer of paper towels. The paper towels will act like a sponge, absorbing the moisture they release while they are stored.
If the paper towels become too moist around day 2 or day 3, replace them with fresh paper towels.
How To Freeze Muffins
Individually wrap each muffin in plastic wrap. Then place them in a ziploc bag or airtight container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To thaw, leave them at room temperature until defrosted, about 1 hour. Or unwrap them and microwave at 20 second intervals until defrosted.
How to Properly Measure Flour
The most accurate way to measure flour is to use a kitchen scale, weighing it in grams.
If you don’t have a kitchen scale, follow this method.
- Aerate the flour with a whisk or spoon. Flour becomes heavy and compact as it sits. Aerating is the same as fluffing the flour, but not the same as sifting it. Do not sift the flour unless the recipe specifically calls for it.
- Use a spoon to sprinkle the flour into the measuring cup. Do not tap the cup against the counter, as this will compact the flour.
- Use the back of a butter knife to level off the excess.
More Muffin Recipes
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Best Morning Glory Muffins Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large apple, peeled, cored and grated (measure 3/4 cup), 105 grams
- 8 oz crushed pineapple, drained, 227 grams
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, 360 grams
- 1 cup granulated sugar, 200 grams
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes, 43 grams
- ¾ cup raisins, light or dark, 111 grams
- 2 cups grated carrots, 200 grams
- ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts, 57 grams
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil, 236 ml
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grate the apple and measure out ¾ cup. Next, wrap the grated apple in a few paper towels and squeeze out the excess liquid. Discard the juice and set the grated apple aside. Be sure to drain the crushed pineapple as well, discard the juice.
- In a mixing bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir with a spoon to combine and set aside.
- In a larger mixing bowl combine shredded coconut, raisins, grated apple, drained crushed pineapple, grated carrots and chopped nuts. Stir with a spoon to combine and set aside.
- In a larger mixing bowl combine the eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Stir to combine with a fork or spatula for 20 seconds.
- Gradually mix in the dry ingredients and the fruit mixture, mixing by hand just until combined. The batter will be very thick!
- Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- For bakery style muffin tops, line a 12 count muffin pan with 6 muffins liners, meaning you’ll only fill every other muffin well with batter. Filling every other well allows the muffins to spread and dome without running into each other. For this recipe I used tulip muffin liners, you can find them on amazon. Tulip liners naturally produce a taller muffin so you don’t need to do the every other muffin method. If you’re using regular muffin liners, I recommend filling every other muffin well.
- Fill the liners full with batter. Use a butter knife to smooth the tops of the muffins if lumpy. Top the muffins with additional raisins, pecans and shredded coconut.
- Place one pan in the center of the oven and bake for 7 minutes at 425ºF, then keep the muffins in the oven, and turn the temperature down to 350ºF and bake for 13-17 minutes for regular liners and for 19-21 minutes for tulip liners, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing. Repeat with the remaining batter, making sure to bump the temperature back up to 425ºF.
This is a definite keeper recipe for sure! So jam packed full of goodies yet still fluffy. A must try!
Morning Glory muffins. My absolute favourite. These do not last long. 😋
Hi Beth,
Your Morning Glory muffin recipe is simply delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Cheers,
Lin
These muffins turned out beautifully, very delicious recipe just as written.