Morning Glory Muffins

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Morning Glory muffins are a year round muffin but the fall season seems like a reminder to me to make them again. The carrots in my garden are almost ready to dig up and many trees are heavy with apples ripe for the picking.

I’ll definitely use carrots and Granny Smith apples from the grocery store but I know this is the season and they will be at their peak.

I think of these as a healthy gluten free muffin filled with apple, carrot, coconut, raisins and walnuts. Recipes for Morning Glory Muffins vary and cooks need options so I’ve given you some below.

Muffins Are The Easiest Gluten Free Thing to Make

Muffins are always the easiest baked good to make so that’s what I recommend to anyone new to gluten free. Start with homemade muffins.

You don’t need an electric mixer, just two bowls and a spatula. One bowl for dry ingredients and a second for wet ingredients. Combine them together and you've got muffin batter.

In this particular recipe there's one extra bowl with all the healthy ingredients. Mixing the apple, carrot, nuts, raisins and coconut together first helps to make sure everything is evenly mixed. It's worth it!

Substitutions For Morning Glory Muffins

Carrot and Apple

Measure 2¾ to 3 cups total and use any combination of grated carrot, apple or zucchini. Drained, crushed pineapple appears in some versions of morning glory muffins. That taste reminds me more of a carrot cake but there's nothing wrong with that either.

Nuts

Walnuts or pecans are my favourite but try any nuts you like. For a nut-free version use pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Raisins

I’m one of those people who do not like raisins in my muffins (or my cookies for that matter). However, I do make an exception with this recipe but substitute dried cranberries or finely chopped dates if you prefer.

Coconut

In my mind Morning Glory Muffins must have coconut but in your kitchen you can substitute and create your favourite muffins. Stick to the same total amount of cups and your muffins should turn out just fine.

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A collage of 4 pictures making Morning Glory Muffins; the dry ingredients, the apple/carrot bowl, scooping batter into the pan and finally the cooked muffins on a wire rack surrounded by green apples and fresh, whole carrots. — Morning Glory Muffins

FAQ's About Gluten Free Flour

These are the three questions I'm most often asked about gluten free flour.

How do I know what gluten free flour to use?

It takes time baking to learn about gluten free flour. There's no right flour blend for everyone but there is likely more than one blend that you will be happy with. I recommend baking the same handful of easy recipes (like muffins and pancakes), over and over so you can notice the subtle differences. The more you bake the more confident you'll become making adjustments and the quicker you'll find out what flour blend you like.

Should I use a store bought or homemade gluten free flour blend?

Store bought is a great place to start since there are so many to choose from. Ultimately it will depend on what kind of baking you do. Be open to trying different flours and flour blends until everyone in your house enjoys what you make.

What's in your EGFG gluten free flour blend?

I named my favourite flour blend after my name, Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet (EGFG). Sweet rice flour and potato starch dramatically improved my baking. Sweet rice flour retains more moisture than other rice flours while potato starch has a smooth texture and adds tenderness to baking. I cook with many other flours but my EGFG flour blend works for me in the majority of my baking.

A top down look at the blend of flours and starches to make my gluten free flour blend; sweet rice flour, potato starch, sorghum flour and millet flour.

Virtual Gluten Free Cooking Classes

If you're keen to do a deep dive into gluten free flour join me for my virtual cooking class, Understanding How To Use Gluten Free Flour. I usually offer it every other month and can schedule it for a day that works for you if you're the first person to ask me.

If you're excited about experimenting and want my list of 29 Tips For Cooking with Gluten Free Flour follow the link to my sign up page. This free resource will be available next week and everyone on my list will be able to download it.

More Resources For Using Gluten Free Flour

Tools For Gluten Free Baking

Every kitchen needs tools and my advice is to buy quality bakeware. It doesn't need to be the most expensive but not the cheapest either. These are some of the tools I use to make muffins:

Use a portion scoop because it's quick and everything bakes evenly with a uniform size.

Regular size muffin pan in 6 or 12 cups, my choice for everyday snacks
Portion scoops to efficiently portion the batter making uniform size muffins
Mini size muffin tin for little hands or just a change from the ordinary
Silicone cupcake and muffin pan, 12 cup
Ceramic coated muffin tin
Regular round silicone muffin liners or a set of different shaped muffin liners

When your gluten free baking turns out, now that is the joy of baking! Let me know in the comments below how your muffins turned out.

Originally posted 2015, updated September 2022.

More Muffin Recipes

Banana Muffins
Cornmeal Raspberry Muffins
Pumpkin Ginger Muffins
Cranberry Orange Muffins
Rhubarb Streusel Muffins
Muffins That Taste Like Donuts
Gluten Free Muffins - A Recipe Roundup explaining how I vary and rotate my favourite muffins throughout the year so I never get tired of them.