These Morning Glory Muffins are the easy, wholesome bake you’ll want on repeat, and they’re the perfect way to use leftover cranberry sauce from the holidays. Made with fresh-milled whole wheat flour, grated carrot and apple, warm spices, toasted pecans, and coconut, they come together quickly with just a whisk and spatula. Pops of cranberry sauce add a bright holiday tang, turning these classic morning muffins into something extra special.
Heartier than a typical muffin, they make an ideal breakfast, lunchbox treat, or snack, whilst freezing well so you can defrost them on your counter overnight for breakfast the next morning. They are “healthy-ish” without tasting too much like it, and they pair perfectly with a good smear of salted butter. This is everything you love about Morning Glory muffins, upgraded with a delicious cranberry twist!
Ingredient variations and substitutions:
One of the best things about these muffins is how adaptable they are as you can easily swap ingredients based on your taste, what’s in your pantry, or what leftovers you’d like to use up. In fact, this recipe came together that very way, inspired by leftover toasted pecans from Thanksgiving pecan pie and a generous jar of cranberry sauce. Below are a few easy substitution ideas.
- Whole wheat flour: I use whole wheat flour as much as I can because I’m lucky to own a Mockmill and always have an abundance of freshly milled grains on hand. That said, this recipe works beautifully with all-purpose flour, or with a blend of all-purpose flour and other flours like oat, almond, rye, spelt, or additional whole grains (just avoid using 100% oat or almond flour). Thanks to the naturally moist, hearty crumb of these muffins, they’re quite forgiving and adaptable to a variety of flours.
- Brown sugar: I love the depth and warmth that brown sugar brings, so it’s usually my first choice. That said, these muffins have plenty of flavor on their own, so the brown sugar can easily be swapped for coconut sugar, cane sugar, or regular white sugar without significantly changing the final result.
- Ginger and cinnamon: You could add to this spice mix with 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and pinch or finely ground pepper, or omit any of the spices.
- Olive oil: Feel free to use any neutral oil.
- Carrot: The carrot can be substituted with zucchini, for a more summery variation of these muffin.
- Apple: Pear is an obvious substitute here, but you can also replace the apple with additional carrot or zucchini if that’s what you have on hand.
- Coconut: I love the texture that coconut gives these muffins, however I understand that not all people like coconut. You can omit the coconut without altering the muffin too much.
- Pecans: Pecans and cranberry make a lovely festive combination, but walnuts are an equally complementary option. You could also replace the pecans with more coconut or another dried fruit.
- Cranberry sauce: These muffins work perfectly well without cranberry sauce. If you’d like to use another type of jam instead, use half the amount (90g instead of 180g). You could also use apple sauce or tinned pineapple, which are more traditional morning glory muffin add ins!
My favourite pans for easy muffin making:
One of the great things about Morning Glory Muffins is that they’re very forgiving, and you don’t need to be too precise about the type or size of pan you use. The batter is best scooped right to the top of the liner, as these muffins don’t rise dramatically or risk overflowing. Whether you’re using a standard muffin pan, a larger pan, or even a cake tin, simply fill it to just shy of the final height you’re aiming for.
My personal preference for home baking is carbon steel muffin pans. They’re affordable, durable, dishwasher safe, and promote even baking. In fact, carbon steel is all I’ve ever used for muffin pans, and I’ve found them to be consistently reliable.
- For these Morning Glory Muffins, I usually bake them in a regular muffin pan with a capacity of about one cup per well. This size works beautifully for this recipe:: Wiltshire Carbon Steel Muffin Pan.
- For larger, bakery-style muffins or tea cakes, I also love these Wiltshire Easy Bake Texas Muffin Pan.
- And for extra-small muffins (so cute!), I reach for my Bakemaster Mini Muffin Pans.
Beyond your muffin pans, you’ll only need a whisk, a spatula, a couple of spoons, a grater, and two mixing bowls – keeping the prep and cleanup simple!
Morning Glory Muffins with Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat your oven to 375℉/190℃. Line your muffin tin with papers and very lightly grease with oil spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk your eggs, olive oil, sugar, and vanilla together, then add in your grated carrot and apple, chopped pecans, coconut and cranberry sauce and mix with a spatula until well combined.
- Pour this wet mixture into the dries and fold everything together until well homogenised.
- Using a couple of dinner spoons, or a cookie scoop, spoon the batter into the muffin liners until almost to the top of the liner. These muffins won't rise substantially, so be wary of under-filling the liner and ending up with a short muffin.
- Bake for about 22-25 minutes, rotating half way, until the muffins feel just bouncy to the touch, and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes, before enjoying with a slab of salted butter or just as they are!
Notes
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