These Paleo Morning Glory Muffins are the perfect healthy snack to enjoy any time of day. They are subtly sweet and contain so many nutrient-dense ingredients! Best enjoyed warm with a dab of butter.
Jump to RecipeI love to look in my fridge, see what random ingredients I have leftover, and use that to inspire a recipe. That’s exactly how these Paleo Morning Glory Muffins were created! Sitting in my fridge was an almost empty jar of applesauce and a bag of shredded carrots. To me, that sounded like morning glory muffins – a baked good known for using carrots in the batter and apple as a sweetener, to create a hearty and flavor-packed muffin. To be enjoyed any time of day.
Being the paleo baking enthusiast that I am, I used the classic nutrient dense and blood sugar friendly baking ingredients.
Paleo Ingredients
- Almond Flour – my favorite baking flour, adds protein + fat to create nutritious and satiating baked goods
- Ground Flax Seed – a great source of fiber for this recipe, and creates a more “hearty” muffin
- Cinnamon – a flavor enhancer that provide anti inflammatory benefits, win-win!
- Eggs – present in just about all my baked goods, used as a binder and also a source of protein
- Coconut Sugar – my go-to cane sugar replacement (typically 1:1)
- Applesauce – provides a little sweetness and a little flavor, opt for unsweetened versions
- Coconut Oil – if you’re not into too much coconut flavor, replace with refined coconut oil or substitute butter
- Vanilla Extract – because of the alcohol used to make vanilla extract, this is debatably a paleo ingredient so use your own judgement and feel free to omit
Add Ins
- Shredded Carrots – I used a bag of store-bought matchstick carrots, so the carrots were a more prominent than shredding whole carrots at home. Either way works! When shredding at home, you might only need 1/2 cup, since it will be more dense/packed down.
- Shredded Coconut – this is totally optional, I like coconut flavor so I threw some in the batter
- Raisins – adds a bit of sweetness as well as a bit of texture, be sure check the ingredients to be cautious of added sugar
- Walnuts – a nice subtle crunch, feel free to substitute chopped almonds or nut of choice
Making Paleo Morning Glory Muffins
Morning Glory muffins are super versatile and the add ins can be adjusted to your liking! For example, add more coconut, less carrots. Add more raisins or swap for dried cranberries. Try chopped pecans instead of walnuts. Another idea is to add grated apples or even grated zucchini. Start with the batter and then use what you’ve got or what you like!
The batter comes out pretty thick, so don’t be discouraged after you mix the dry and wet ingredients together. That means it might take a little extra work to fold in the add ins and create an even distribution. I like to use a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop the batter out of the mixing bowl and a spatula to transfer the batter from the cup to the muffin tins.
These muffins are more hearty than sweet, so I like to warm them up, cut in half, and enjoy with a little dab of melting butter on each side.
For more hidden veggie muffins, try these Gluten Free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!
Paleo Morning Glory Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup ground flax seed
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted and cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla
Add Ins
- 1 cup matchstick carrots see notes
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- ⅓ cup raisins
- ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F and prepare a muffin tin with liners or oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour, ground flax, cinnamon, and baking powder.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut sugar, applesauce, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients into the large mixing bowl and mix together.
- Once a thick batter is formed, fold in the carrots, shredded coconut, raisins, and walnuts, until evenly combined.
- Scoop about ⅓ cup of the batter into each muffin cup. Should make about 12 muffins. Bake in the over for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
- Store in an airtight container on the counter for 3 days. Best enjoyed warmed with a little butter or ghee!
