These super easy Morning Glory Muffins are healthy and packed with flavor! They’re a great way to start off a healthy January.
Happy January, everyone!
Hope you had a fantastic holiday season! I know I did, and I enjoyed every minute of my holiday break from my blog 
Hey, as much as I love you guys and baking, a girl’s gotta unwind, ya know?
But now I’m back and in full swing with… healthy January! *crickets*
So I know this is a dessert blog, and I know it’s written in blood in the dessert bible that thou shall not make healthy desserts, but let me level with ya: January is a slloooooowww month for me traffic-wise. Everyone is trying to be good and do Crossfit and drink whatever green object they can find. Therefore, delicious, sprinkle-laden desserts aren’t high on your priority list; I get it (kind of. Begrudgingly).
For the next week or two, I’m going to post some healthy-ish recipes so everyone can come over here and stay until they fall off of the bandwagon and go back to eating cupcakes. I’ll be here waiting for you when you realize green algae tastes like death!
To kick off this healthy-ish month of January, I am bringing you these Healthy and Easy Morning Glory Muffins! To say they’re packed with flavor and goodness is an understatement.
Filled with carrots, apples, coconut, flaxseed, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, ginger, pineapple and pepitas, they have a carrot cake-like taste, a moist and fluffy interior, and good-for-you ingredients to keep you moving through the day. Of course, some of the ingredients, like the pepitas, could be swapped out for sunflower seeds if you prefer, but I liked the pop of green the pepitas had, and truthfully, they were less expensive than the sunflower seeds at my market. (Score!)
So whether you’re pretending to be good until you get a good-enough excuse to be bad, or you’re actually good all the time… enjoy these muffins and let me know when you’re done with your phase, okay? I’ll be here.
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil (may use coconut oil, but know it has more saturated fat)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup low-sugar applesauce
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2-3 tsp ground cinnamon, depending on how spiced you like it
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 cups grated carrots, squeezed dry
- 1 medium-large apple, grated
- One (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
- ⅓ cup flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed)
- ½ cup shredded coconut (unsweetened preferred)
- ½ cup pepitas (may use sunflower seeds)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tines with about 20-22 paper liners; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, gently whisk together the oil, eggs, vanilla, and applesauce to combine. Set aside briefly. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Gradually beat in the dry mixture on low speed until just barely incorporated – you should still see lots of white flour streaks in the batter.
- Using a spatula, fold in the carrots, apple, pineapple, flaxseed meal, about ⅓ of the shredded coconut and ⅓ cup pepitas until just barely combined. Do not over-mix, as this leads to tough muffins!
- Distribute the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling about ¾ full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining shredded coconut and remaining pepitas. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched gently and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool completely before serving.
Fluffy, tender and super flavorful muffins that are great on-the-go or served with a cup of green tea!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
