These healthy breakfast muffins are loaded with good-for-you ingredients and are a perfect way to start the day.
These breakfast morning glory muffins are made with grated carrots and apples, pecans, and whole wheat flour which makes these the most delicious and moist healthy muffins.
They have a flavor between carrot cake and apple cake with lots of cinnamon and spices like nutmeg, and ginger.
If you like baking muffins, check out our moist banana mini muffins, pistachio muffins, moist vanilla muffins, and our cinnamon roll muffins.
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Why this recipe works
- These muffins are the perfect and most delicious way to start your morning.
- They are made with healthy ingredients like carrots, apples, and whole wheat flour.
- These muffins come together in one bowl and take in under an hour from start to finish!
- They are the perfect quick breakfast for busy mornings.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Whole wheat flour- use your favorite brand of whole wheat flour.
Baking soda – baking soda helps the cookies rise and spread. Make sure that your baking soda isn't expired. Don't replace baking soda with baking powder!
Spices- we used ground ginger, and nutmeg for this recipe. You can add any of your favorite fall spices like cloves, allspice, and pumpkin spice.
Carrots- use fresh carrots for this recipe! Not canned carrots and not pre-shredded carrots, to get the moist muffins to use fresh carrots and grate them yourself.
Cinnamon- we love adding cinnamon to carrot-flavored desserts, it adds so much flavor that compliments the carrot flavor.
Eggs- you will need 3 large eggs for this recipe. Make sure that you use room-temperature eggs in this recipe.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor. You can use regular vanilla extract or vanilla bean extract.
Brown sugar- we like using brown sugar for this recipe, the brown sugar adds extra flavor and tastes amazing with fall spices.
Honey- use your favorite brand of honey for this. Make sure you use high-quality honey for the best flavor.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. Canola oil or melted coconut oil will work great for this recipe.
Pecans- we used unsalted and unroasted pecans for this. You can use your favorite nuts for this. We chopped them into small pieces.
Orange juice- use fresh orange juice for this recipe. Fresh oranges will give you the best result. We don't recommend using store-bought orange juice. This will make the flavor pop!
Apple- peel and core your apple and grate it just like you were doing with the carrots. You can use any apple for this.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prep a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Peel and cut the stems of the carrot and grate them on the small or medium grater. Peel and core a large apple and grate it the same way.
Into a large mixing bowl, add the grated carrots, grated apple, vanilla extract, cinnamon, eggs, brown sugar, nutmeg, vegetable oil, ginger, kosher salt, honey, chopped pecans, and orange juice.
Mix the batter using a wooden spatula or a rubber spatula until the ingredients are well combined.
Add the whole wheat flour and baking soda and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible. Do not overmix the batter to ensure that your muffins are moist and tender.
Let the batter sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This step creates the signature domed tops that the best muffins have!
Scoop the batter with a large ice cream scooper into the muffin tins, filling them almost completely. You should have about 14-16 muffins, you can bake them in two batches.
Bake in a 200c (400f) preheated oven for 5 minutes, and then bake for another 12-14 minutes at 180c (350f) or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool for at least 20 minutes before eating. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist muffins and not dense and dry muffins.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Add some of your favorite add-ins! Make this recipe your own and add your favorite muffins add-ins: chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chocolate chunks, banana slices, chopped fruit, and more! Be creative!
- Be patient! I know it's extremely tempting to eat these muffins as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these muffins cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won't crumble up. These muffins are extra moist and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, so it will be worth it to wait these 15 minutes.
Faq's
Yes! Muffins can be a healthy breakfast option as long as you make them yourself and control what you put in the muffins. Just like this recipe!
This can happen for various reasons. Two main reasons are that you overmixed the batter and developed the gluten that makes the muffins dry and dense.
Another reason is that you didn't measure your flour correctly and added too much flour to the batter. It's important that you measure your flour correctly. Follow our tips in the recipe notes.
Yes! These muffins are loaded with healthy ingredients like apples and carrots, whole wheat flour and honey, nuts, and more!
My biggest tip for getting muffins light and fluffy with a domed top is to let the muffin batter rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This step allows the gluten to rest and activates the leaveners.
Storing
These muffins will last for up to 5 days stored at room temperature. Cover the muffins with plastic wrap or foil to prevent them from drying out.
Freezing
Freeze these muffins after they cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for a few hours or in the fridge overnight.
Reheating
I highly recommend reheating these muffins in the microwave for 20 seconds for each muffin. This brings back the moisture to these muffins and gives them a fresh texture!
Substitutions
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the whole wheat flour with gluten-free whole wheat flour.
Eggless- you can make these muffins egg free by swapping the eggs with flax eggs made with 3 tablespoon of flax meal soaked with 7.5 tablespoon of water.
Variations
Veggies and fruit- you can add your favorite veggies or fruit to the batter like grated zucchini instead of carrots, or grated pears instead of the apple.
Add-ins- make this recipe your own and add your favorite muffins add-ins: chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, chocolate chunks, banana slices, chopped fruit, etc.
Citrus- to add extra zesty flavor and aroma to these, add 1 teaspoon of orange zest.
Apple- you can swap the grated apple with applesauce. Use the same quantity.
More healthy breakfast recipes
Healthy gluten free granola- This easy healthy gluten free granola is crunchy and delicious and is made with gluten-free rolled oats, pecan, cinnamon, and seeds, and sweetened with honey.
Crustless spinach mushroom quiche- This crustless spinach mushroom quiche is made with mushrooms, spinach, onion, and mozzarella, and is perfect for brunch, breakfast, or serve it for dinner!
Protein overnight oats- These healthy protein overnight oats are a healthy and delicious plant-based breakfast that is perfect for meal prepping!
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📖 Recipe
Healthy breakfast Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups Carrots peeled, and grated
- 1 large Apple peeled, cored, and grated
- ¼ cup Vegetable oil or coconut oil or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- â…“ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Ginger
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- â…“ cup Orange juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 3 Eggs
- â…“ cup Honey
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup Pecans chopped, unsalted
- 2 teaspoon Baking soda
- 2 cups Whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prep a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Peel and cut the stems of the carrot and grate them on the small or medium grater. Peel and core a large apple and grate it the same way.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the grated carrots, grated apple, vanilla extract, cinnamon, eggs, brown sugar, nutmeg, vegetable oil, ginger, kosher salt, honey, chopped pecans, and orange juice.
- Mix the batter using a wooden spatula or a rubber spatula until the ingredients are well combined.
- Add the whole wheat flour and baking soda and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible. Do not overmix the batter to ensure that your muffins are moist and tender.
- Let the batter sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This step creates the signature domed tops that the best muffins have!
- Scoop the batter with a large ice cream scooper into the muffin tins, filling them almost completely. You should have about 14-16 muffins, you can bake them in two batches.
- Bake in a 200c (400f) preheated oven for 5 minutes, and then bake for another 12-14 minutes at 180c (350f) or until a toothpick comes out clean.Â
- Let the muffins cool for at least 20 minutes before eating. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist muffins and not dense and dry muffins.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Add some of your favorite add-ins! Make this recipe your own and add your favorite muffins add-ins: chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chocolate chunks, banana slices, chopped fruit, and more! Be creative!
- Be patient! I know it's extremely tempting to eat these muffins as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these muffins cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be firmer and won't crumble up. These muffins are extra moist and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, so it will be worth it to wait these 15 minutes.
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