What a glorious morning for Morning Glory Muffins. Or perhaps it’s a glorious afternoon, if you’re one of those people who prefers muffins as a snack. Whenever you choose to enjoy them, these keto muffins are going to be a hit! Tender, delicious, and packed full of goodness.
With shredded zucchini, flaked coconut, crunchy walnuts, and sugar-free cranberries, they have all the texture and flavor you crave. You will be hard pressed to believe that they didn’t come from your favorite bakery. And with less than 6 grams of carbs per muffin, they are a deliciously smart way to start your day.
If you’re a muffin fanatic like me, be sure to try my Keto Blueberry Muffins too. And if you prefer to bake with coconut flour, check out this recipe for Keto Zucchini Muffins.
If you aren’t familiar with morning glory muffins, let me assure you that they are delicious. They are rather something like everything-but-the-kitchen-sink muffins. The conventional version contains a rich array of veggies, fruits, nuts, and spices. They usually have carrots, apple, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon or ginger.
To make them keto-friendly, I used a combination of almond and coconut flour. I also ditched the apple, pineapple, and raisins, swapping in some grated zucchini and some keto dried cranberries. The end result was fabulous. Just as hearty and packed with goodness as I remember them, without all the carbs.
Reader’s Thoughts
“The first time I made these, I kind of gave a side eye to the ingredients because how could such a combo of ingredients be good together. But I was missing bran muffins and decided to give it a try. I was wrong; the ingredients come together to make magic! Now they are some of my favorite muffins!” — Misty
Why you will love these muffins
- Easy to make: Don’t be put off by the long ingredient list, these muffins are an easy one-bowl recipe.
- Perfect for busy mornings: They are hearty, filling, and easy to grab and go!
- Great texture: With shredded zucchini, a little carrot, some nuts, coconut, and sunflower seeds, you can see the goodness in each bite.
- Tastes like the classic: They have all the cozy, spiced flavor of traditional morning glory muffins.
- Moist and tender: All the shredded veggies keep them from drying out.
- Hearty and filling: They are low in carbs but high in fiber, to keep you fuller longer. Make ahead: They freeze beautifully so you can stock your freezer with easy breakfasts or snacks.
Ingredient Notes
- Keto flours: This recipe uses both coconut flour almond flour. As with any almond flour recipe, the finer your flour, the finer the consistency.
- Sweetener: I like to use some brown sugar substitute for this recipe, for added flavor.
- Protein powder: You can use whey protein, egg white protein, or plant-based protein. The added protein adds nutrition but it also helps the muffins rise better.
- Nuts and seeds: For added protein and crunch, these muffins are filled with unsweetened flaked coconut, chopped walnuts and sunflower seeds.
- Sugar free dried cranberries: I add these for a touch of sweetness. You can use store bought or learn how to dry cranberries at home.
- Veggies: This recipes includes both grated carrots and zucchini.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt.
Overview: How to Make This Recipe
- Combine the dry ingredients: Mix the flours, sweetener, baking powder, spices, nuts, seeds, and dried cranberries together.
- Add the wet ingredients: Stir in the melted butter, eggs, carrots, zucchini, water, and vanilla.
- Bake the muffins: Divide the batter between 16 muffin cups lined with parchment or silicone liners. Bake until golden brown and the tops are firm to the touch.
- Cool the muffins: Let cool completely in the pan before removing.
Tips for Success
- Prep your ingredients before you begin mixing things together. That means grating the carrots and zucchini, chopping the walnuts and cranberries, and melting the butter.
- This recipe makes 16 muffins. It’s a big batch so if you don’t have more than one muffin pan, you may need to work in batches. You can also cut the recipe in half easily.
- Whisk all of the dry ingredients together, including the chopped nuts and seeds, before you add in the wet ingredients. The grated carrot and zucchini is considered a “wet” ingredient.
- The protein powder helps the muffins rise properly and hold their shape. You can skip it if you must but expect your baked goods to be more dense.
Sweetener Options: I used an erythritol based sweetener for this recipe, as allulose tends to make them overly brown. If you do choose to use allulose, you may want to drop the temperature by 25 degrees. Watch them carefully while they are in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although carrots contain more sugar compared to other low carb vegetables, you can still eat them in on the keto diet. In this recipe, a small amount is spread over a large number of muffins. The carrots add less than 1g of carbs to each muffin and are unlikely to affect your state of ketosis.
These muffins are firm enough to just place in a container or a freezer bag and pop in the freezer. They can last several months that way. Bring them to room temperature or warm them in the microwave before serving. They will keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.
This keto morning glory muffin recipe has 5.9g of carbs and 3.0g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.0g net carbs per muffin.
Keto Morning Glory Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (150 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (91 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 1/3 cup (40 g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (27 g) unflavoured whey protein powder, (can sub egg white protein)
- 1/3 cup (28.33 g) unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1/3 cup (78.86 g) chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup (33.5 g) sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup (30.3 g) sugar-free dried cranberries, chopped
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (64 g) grated carrots, loosely packed
- 1/2 cup (62 g) grated zucchini, loosely packed
- 1/4 cup (59.15 g) water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line 16 muffins cups with parchment or silicone liners. (If you don't have two muffin pans you may need to work in batches).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, protein powder, coconut, walnuts, sunflower seeds, cranberries, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Stir in the eggs, melted butter, carrots, zucchini, water, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Divide among the prepared muffins cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and the tops are firm to the touch. Remove and let cool completely in the pan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Is there a substitute that you could recommend for the zucchini in the Morning Glory Muffins?
Not really sure… it’s my best option instead of applesauce that’s normal in morning glory muffins. You can try leaving it out.
Hi Carolyn – I made these this morning but halved the recipe using your “Servings Selector”. This made 6 nice sized muffins. I filled the cups to the top and they rose slightly but not much. I cooked them a full 30 minutes. Just an FYI for bakers: .17 cup is 2-3/4 tablespoons, or 8-1/4 teaspoons and .13 cup is 2 tablespoons. If you want to be really accurate, use the Metric and weigh the ingredients. I used the US customary and the tablespoon/teaspoon breakdown. Mine came out wonderful. I did spray the liners and let the muffins cool completely before removing from paper. I let them cool on a cooling rack out of the muffins pan, still in the liners. I used hemp hearts in place of sunflower seeds, used pecans ‘cos I didn’t have walnuts, and used almonds (as another reviewer mentioned) in place of the cranberries. This is a keeper for low carb baking!
Thanks!
Is there anything you can add in place of unflavored whey protein? I have vanilla protein and was wondering if I could use if you think it would work. These are the one thing I miss, it’s my favorite muffin.
Give it a go! Just leave out additional vanilla.
What can I substitute for zucchini as it not one of my favorite foods.
You won’t taste it. It just adds moisture. You could do more carrot if you like but it will raise the carb count.
Ugh! I surely did something wrong but I do not know what it was. I wanted to use this Morning Glory muffin recipe as a springboard for something a little different. I didn’t have sunflower seeds so I used sliced almond and didn’t have zucchini so I used unsweetened apple sauce. Oh, and I forgot the cinnamon, completely. Everything else I followed the recipe. Carolyn, your muffins came right out of the liners. Mine stuck like glue to the paper.
I hate it when people rate a recipe after they have made changes to every ingredient! Except for the substitutions I had to make, the texture, flavor, and satisfaction were great. I just need to figure out how to keep the muffins from sticking to the liners. Carolyn, you are the best. I appreciate all the difficult work you do/have done to create these fabulous recipes. Thank you!
The applesauce is a likely culprit. More sugar and more moisture than zucchini. Also… did you use parchment paper liners?
I spray the liners too as it helps the muffins to not stick to the liners.
Let the muffins cool completely before trying to unpaper them. If you want warm muffins then after removing the paper liners (after cooling completely!), warm in the microwave for a moment or in the oven on low heat
The muffins sound delicious! I will try them soon.
“What’s the story, Morning Glory?” is a line from the musical number, “Telephone Hour” in the film, “Bye, Bye, Birdie”.
“What’s the story, Morning Glory” is a line from the song, “The Telephone Hour,” in the musical “Bye, Bye Birdie.”
Just finish baking them. A little dry but I change it A little. I added 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and used pepetas instead of sunflower seeds added hemp seeds. The flavor was amazing. Now for some keto pumpkin butter!
What can I sub for coconut floor ? More almond flour?
Yes but you will need a full cup more… which raises the carb count.
Do I have to use protein powder?
Please read the blog post.
I am allergic to walnuts and pecans, would any other nut be a good substitute?
Yep, any nut is fine or you can skip them.
There may be a lot of ingredients but these muffins came together well and the result- excellent.
I used hemp seeds instead of sunflower seeds and almonds instead of walnuts.
Next time it will be pecans.
Thank you for a great way to get some vegetables involved.
AND they freeze and defrost really well.
Do the morning glory muffins taste good without nuts? I am allergic to both walnuts and sunflower seeds.
That should be fine… but are you okay with almond flour?
Can I substitute serve for allulose? Or is it basically the same thing?
Not at ALL the same thing. Please read my Guide to Keto Sweeteners: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/best-keto-sweeteners/
These were so good warm from the oven with butter. I didn’t add the cranberries because I didn’t have them on hand.
These look great. Can the flaked coconut be left out?
Sure.