Protein Morning Glory Muffins

These healthy, protein packed morning glory muffins are my new favorite thing. I legitimately crave them. This morning glory muffin recipe tastes like they are fresh from a bakery, but they are filled with wholesome, nutritious and satiating ingredients. Plus the best part? They are simple, gluten free, easily made vegan and can be stored in the fridge for a week.

It’s meal prep heaven. Or just normal heaven. Here’s how to make heathy morning glory muffin….heaven 😉

What are morning glory muffins?

When I was first asked to make a morning glory muffin, I was a little unsure about what it was. After a bit of research, I’ve found morning glory muffins are named after the location where they originated.

According to my research, Nantucket chef Pam McKinstry created the morning glory muffin at the Morning Glory Café in Nantucket, sometime in the late 1970’s. The recipe was a wholesome muffin packed with fruits, vegetables and nuts. A few years later the recipe was published in Gourmet Magazine, and people have been creating versions of the morning glory muffin ever since.

What to love about morning glory muffins

Let’s be honest, most muffins are just cake masquerading as breakfast. And there’s NOTHING wrong with that…I freaking love cake for breakfast (I mean, have you seen my baked oats?)

But when it comes to meal prep, or making any grab-n-go breakfast, I want to know that I am getting something that is wholesome, healthy and a good start to my day.

There’s no point in categorizing and demonizing foods (believe me, I’m kind of over it), but there is validity in knowing what foods make you feel the best, and that’s why I love a healthy morning glory muffin.

What makes this morning glory muffin recipe different

The main things that make this morning glory muffin recipe different are:

• No flour – call me crazy, but flour sometimes sets me off for a sluggish start. If I’m making a baked good designed for the morning, I like to use flours that are high in fat-soluble fiber (such as oats) or high in natural fats (such as almond flour). In this case we are using oat flour.
• Protein powder – by now you know I love Garden of Life unflavored plant based protein powder. And unlike other morning glory recipes, this protein adds satiety and extra nutrition to the recipe.
• Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt – and instead of oil or butter, this recipe relies on yogurt for the moisture. I basically took all of my favorite breakfast ingredients and baked them, and I loved how it turned out.

I want this to be a breakfast recipe at its core, not a muffin recipe, and that’s the main reason that this is one of the healthier, more delicious gluten free morning glory muffin recipes you’ll see out there 😉 (cocky, I know I know)

Dry ingredients you will need for these gluten free morning glory muffins

Now that I’ve talked your ear off about what makes this morning glory muffin recipe different, here’s what you’ll need:

• 140 grams oat flour, about 1 & ¼ cup oats blended into flour
• 70 grams unsweetened protein powder, or 2 scoops
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon, all spice, ginger, cloves
• Pinch of salt

Wet ingredients you will need for these healthy morning glory muffins

• 110 grams or ½ cup greek yogurt, coconut yogurt also works
• 150 mL or ½ cup maple syrup
• 100 grams or 1 cup shredded carrots, loosely packed
• 180 mL or ¾ cup almond milk, or any plant milk
• 30 grams or 1/3 cup walnuts, crushed
• 70 grams or ⅔ cup dried craisins, or any dried fruit of choice
• 2 tbsp hemp seeds for topping
• 2 tbsp oats for topping

How to make this morning glory muffin recipe

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Whisk together the oat flour, protein powder, baking soda, cinnamon, all spice, ginger, cloves and salt in a large bowl.
• In another bowl, add the yogurt, maple syrup, carrots and plant milk, whisk until combined.

• Gradually add the dry ingredients in with the wet, adding about 1/4 of the dry ingredients at a time. Use a spatula to fold this in until no dry flour remains.
• Add the walnuts and craisins and stir until they are equally distributed.
• Using a scoop or large spoon, scoop the batter into a greased muffin tin. This will make 6 large muffins or 10-12 small muffins.
• Top each muffin with a sprinkling of hemp seeds and oats before baking.
• Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. These muffins will take a bit longer than your average muffin due to the high level of moisture in the batter!
• Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin and then serve!

Yes, size does matter (of your baking tin of course)

This recipe is designed for a “Jumbo Muffin Tin,” where each cup holds about 2/3 cup of batter.

If you only have a regular muffin tin on hand, reduce the baking time by 10 minutes, and this will make about 10-12 muffins.

FAQ

Looking for more muffins?

I got you. Here are a few of my favorites:

Make this recipe and love it?

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And that’s about it for this muffin recipe! If you have any questions, requests or comments, def feel free to leave them below.

And ofc you can always chat with me on Instagram or Pinterest, my two other homes. So please feel free to send me a message! And as always, happy baking! 

Watch the recipe video here:

https://youtu.be/-iK8iDLoaAY