During my sophomore year of college, I lived in an apartment located about a mile away from campus along with three other girls. Nearly every morning after turning off my alarm clock, I climbed down the ladder of my lofted bed, pulled on my workout clothes, and headed out the door for a run.
Still half asleep and not quite fully coherent, I typically stuck with the same route (I lacked the brainpower to remember new directions and street names that early in the morning!). I followed the asphalt path that meandered around a few different parks in the residential neighborhoods behind our apartment complex, mentally picking out my favorite houses as I passed by the quiet roads.
For about two weeks during the early spring and again in the late summer, I really looked forward to a particular stretch of my route. A long straight section, bordered by the houses’ wooden backyard fences on the right and an empty riverbed on the left, it pointed due east.
Since I started my run at almost the same time every single day, the bright yellow sun was just starting to peek out over the horizon as I jogged down that stretch during those four special weeks, painting the sky with soft pinks and tangerine hues, while the deep purple of the night began to fade.
I felt like I was witnessing an artist at work as those rich colors of dawn rippled farther and farther across the dawn sky, and on those days, I always finished my run full of peace and inspiration.
Once I returned home and showered, I typically poured myself a small bowl of my favorite Trader Joe’s cereal to slowly savor as my post-workout fuel, but these Morning Glory Bran Muffins would have been the ideal breakfast for those mornings—and not just because of their name! Full of healthy ingredients and cozy cinnamon, their comforting flavors pair perfectly with the crisp morning air of my runs, and both of my parents even called them the best muffins they’ve ever had.
That’s high praise, coming from them!
Chef Pam McKinstry created the original recipe for morning glory muffins, named after the Morning Glory Café where she worked. The muffins included a little bit of everything: carrots, apples, raisins, nuts, and coconut… As well as way too much oil, refined flour and sugar for my tastes. So let’s talk about how we’re gong to make this healthier version!
You’ll start with oat bran. (Or wheat bran—both work equally well!) Although the original recipe didn’t include bran, I absolutely love bran muffins and thought it’d be a fun addition. I also have a secret trick to making the best bran muffins…
You’ll soak the oat bran in a mixture of Greek yogurt, milk, and vanilla while measuring and mixing together the other ingredients! This trick softens the oat bran (similar to how all of my protein-packed overnight oat recipes work), which makes your bran muffins extremely tender. Trust me—this simple tip makes these muffins absolutely irresistible!
Even better, the Greek yogurt adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil for a fraction of the calories, so you just need 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Yes, that’s it! Greek yogurt also adds a protein boost because it contains around 21g of protein per cup, as compared to regular yogurt with around 10g. There’s a reason Greek yogurt is one of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking!
Instead of white flour, you’ll use whole wheat flour Just regular ol’ whole wheat flour! This is the kind that I buy because it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to find at most grocery stores where I live in the US. I’ve also included my recommended gluten-free flour blend in the Notes section, if you prefer that instead.
We’re also skipping the refined sugar today, so you’ll sweeten these healthy muffins with a combination of pure maple syrup and molasses. Be sure you buy the good stuff when it comes to maple syrup! Skip the pancake syrups or sugar-free syrups. Pure maple syrup generally comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs, and the only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup.” I’ve even bought it in bulk online before at a cheaper price.
The molasses is what gives bran muffins their characteristic rich, warm flavor, so please don’t skip it! It’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages, and you can usually find it near either the honey or the maple syrup at the grocery store. (This is the kind I buy.) You’ll use it in all of my bran muffin recipes, as well as all of my gingerbread recipes. It’s a mandatory ingredient in gingerbread, too!
And now for the part you’ve been waiting for… The mix-ins! You’ll stir in shredded carrots, diced apple, raisins, diced pecans, and shredded unsweetened coconut. Whew! That’s quite a mouthful to say… And an even tastier one to eat! My dad’s eyes lit up as he took bite after bite. “These are my kind of muffins!” he exclaimed as he tasted each of those ingredients.
And after he ate three, my mom claimed another four, leaving almost none for me… I’d say that’s a pretty good sign, wouldn’t you??
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your muffins and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Morning Glory Bran Muffins | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) oat bran (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (120mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) molasses, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (160g) freshly grated carrots
- ¾ cup (94g) diced apple
- ¼ cup (40g) raisins
- 2 tbsp (14g) finely diced pecans
- 2 tbsp (10g) shredded unsweetened coconut
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oat bran, Greek yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Let the mixture rest for at least 10 minutes while preparing the remaining ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a third bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and egg whites. Stir in the molasses and maple syrup. Add the oat bran mixture, stirring until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in the carrots, apple, raisins, pecans, and coconut.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 20-23 minutes or until the tops feel firm to the touch. Cool in the muffin cups for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.
For the gluten-free flour, use the following blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, and ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought blends should also work, as long as they are measured like this.
White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat flour.
Any milk (including non-dairy) may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the maple syrup. Do not substitute pancake syrup because it will not produce the same taste or texture. Do not substitute anything for the molasses; it’s required to produce the iconic bran muffin flavor.
Do not substitute store-bought pre-shredded carrots. They’re too thick and dry, and they’ll dry out your muffins.
Both red or green apples will work. When cutting the apple, make sure the pieces are no larger than the raisins to ensure the muffins bake properly.
Any nuts may be substituted for the pecans.
I’m not a huge fan of nuts or coconut in my muffins, which is why there’s very little of them. You’re welcome to add more, if you prefer!
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Carrot Cake Bran Muffins
♥ Apple Gingerbread Bran Muffins
♥ Peach Pie Bran Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Strawberry Bran Muffins
♥ Zucchini Bread Bran Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bran Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Bran Muffins
I am confused…oat flour or oat cereal?
If you click on the words “oat bran” in the recipe (the pink-colored text), you’ll see exactly what product I used! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins Anita!
Hi there! I love this muffin recipe. It’s a really solid foundation for incorporating lots of great flavors into the bran muffin. I’ve used it a couple of time to get rid of some of the fruits and veggies I have lying around. So far I’ve subbed shredded beets for carrots and apple, apple sauce and extra milk for yogurt, cranberries and dried apricot for carrots and I’ve even tossed in pumpkin purée for extra moisture.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying these muffins Julie! I never would’ve thought to substitute beets — that sounds delicious! 🙂 It sounds like you’re already plenty creative with this base, but I’d love to hear what you think if you try any of my other bran muffin recipes too! (Located here!)
I appreciate you sharing this recipe, but I’m so sad by how very bland and rather dense these turned out. (I’ve had oat bran muffins that still have a nice crumb, unlike this one.) Typically a baked good with such awesome ingredients like apple, carrot, raisins, cinnamon, molasses, oat bran, etc would taste amazing in my books. I had been craving fluffy, super flavourful morning glory muffins and these completely missed the mark. 🙁
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Pris! These muffins shouldn’t turn out bland or dense, so let’s figure out what happened with your batch. 🙂 Did you use oat bran or wheat bran, and did you measure it with measuring cups or a kitchen scale?
I used primarily oat bran, but also about 25% wheat bran. It was measured with the ‘spooning’ method into measuring cups.
Thanks for the info, Pris! If you don’t own a kitchen scale, here’s what I recommend doing for measuring the bran (and flour, cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up bran from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of bran extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess bran. Never “pat” the bran down with the knife or fork. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less bran to the batter, so you’ll end up with moist and tender muffins. Does that make sense? 🙂
Unfortunately, this recipe was a disaster for me. I am a huge baker and rarely are recipes a major fail. Despite all of the great ingredients and careful measuring, my muffins were dense and thick, and the bottom third were mushy because the raisins and apples sunk to the bottom and ‘steamed’ there. I wonder if it’s because I used plain Kefir (very thick) instead of plain yogurt, although the consistency of the two were almost exact.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jen! Let’s get these issues sorted out so your muffins turn out perfectly tender and baked through. 🙂 Just so I know, did you make any substitutions to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section underneath the Instructions? Also, how did you measure ingredients — with measuring cups or a kitchen scale?
Hi Amy, I just love this recipe! They came out beautifully. At first, my mouth said ‘not sweet enough’, but then all the other flavors hit. I might add a little more spice next time – nutmeg or maybe ginger. I used wheat bran but want to try oat bran next. And I have always loved molasses, and it is that key ingredient I was missing before. I make irish brown bread a lot, and always ‘stew’ the pinhead oats in the buttermilk while getting the other stuff together. Now same thing for muffins! Thanks so much!
I’m so glad you loved these muffins Anne! That means so much to me! I love your idea of adding a bit of extra nutmeg or ginger. I’m a huge spice fan too, so I may have to try that myself! 😉
My muffins turned like heavy blocks. Did not rise. I thought I left something out since I followed the instructions. But even though they are no pretty, they are not overly sweet and have great fkavor. Think next time I’ll use chunky home made applesauce instead of coconut oil.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Jane! I’m so glad you enjoyed their flavor. How did you measure the oat bran? Did you happen to scoop it directly from the container, by any chance? 🙂
Thank you for all your lovely recipes, they are wonderful, just one problem cannot pick which to bake first!
Would like to bake them, but one of the family has a medical condition called Gastropaerisis which means that is unable to process any butters or oils, is it possible to omit the small amount of oil in your recipes for an egg yolk, or more yoghurt or apple sauce or pumpkin puree?
Thank you
Have a lovely day!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Issi! It means the world to me that you want to try so many of them. That’s the best kind of compliment! 😉 That’s so kind of you to try to make something your family member can enjoy! You can use 2 whole eggs and omit the butter/coconut oil. The texture will be a teensy bit different (the butter/coconut oil makes them tender, so without that, they may turn out ever so slightly not quite as tender), but the flavor will remain the same! I can’t wait to hear what you think of them!
I just made these and they are very tasty. I was wondering if carton egg whites are a good idea or not and how much equates to a large egg white. I hate to waste the yolk because I do not have a use for it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these muffins Nicole! Yes, you can substitute carton egg whites if you prefer. Just make sure they’re at room temperature and not straight from the fridge! Most websites say that 2 tablespoons of carton egg whites is about the same as 1 large egg white, but sometimes I’ve found I need a teensy bit more, maybe an extra teaspoon or so. 🙂
Thank you so much! Making these again today 🙂 I love having some in the freezer and popping one in the microwave!
It’s my pleasure Nicole! That means so much to me that you’re making them again! 🙂 I love having muffins in the freezer to reheat whenever I’m craving one too!
Just took these out of the oven. Absolutely amazing! These are perfectly sweetened for my palate (I do not eat refined sugar). I followed the recipe except I used whole milk and yogurt since I do not eat low fat foods. Honey crisp apples worked perfectly. Best muffin recipe I’ve had in a long time. My son LOVED them. I only baked them for 19 min and made a half dozen mini muffins with remaining batter. Topped off with a bit of butter before popping them into my mouth! Yum!
I’m so glad you and your son loved these muffins Kristina! That means the world to me that you’d call them the best muffins you’ve had in a long time. Thank you so much for sharing that with me! 🙂 I really appreciate you sharing your recipe modifications too — I always love hearing what tweaks work!
Made these today with a few minor adjustments and my husband loved them ( and so did I) which is an accomplishment in itself! Also love the low calorie count as some muffin recipes that say healthy….are quite often not.
I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed these muffins Mimi! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂