Fall

Vegan Morning Glory Muffins

December 21, 2014
4.8
4 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes 1 dozen
Author Notes

These are the ultimate healthy breakfast muffin: delicious and fragrant and full of raisins, apples, carrots, and fresh date paste as a healthy sweetener. If you like a slightly sweeter muffin, add some sugar to the recipe (as instructed). —Gena Hamshaw

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons flax meal
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger (or 1 teaspoon ginger, ground)
  • 1 cup date paste (https://food52.com/recipes...)
  • 1/2 cup organic sugar
  • 1 cup soy or almond milk
  • 6 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 1/2 cups grated carrot
  • 1 small apple, grated
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line 12 muffin tins with liners, or oil them lightly.
  2. Mix the flax meal and warm water together; set the mixture aside to let it "gel."
  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the raisins, walnuts, and ginger.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the date paste, sugar if desired, non-dairy milk, and oil. Stir in the flax mixture.
  5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones until everything is well incorporated, and then fold in the carrot and apple.
  6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Allow them to cool before enjoying.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Cheryl
    Cheryl
  • Erica Bidelman
    Erica Bidelman
  • Angelica
    Angelica
  • Janice Jacob
    Janice Jacob
  • JoyceB
    JoyceB

13 Reviews

Isa L. January 31, 2022
The date paste recipe is fantastic especially when you use ground vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract. (I use Beyond Good Pure Madagascar Ground Vanilla Beans.)

I reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup and it was the perfect amount of sweetness.

I used powdered ginger instead of fresh and also added 1/4 teaspoon of allspice.

This recipe will be on heavy rotation. It’s so delicious!
 
Cheryl January 21, 2020
Delicious and liked by guests. I made as written but with a little extra apple and carrot. Used avocado oil. I had about 16 generous sized muffins. Thank you.
 
Erica B. February 22, 2018
Lovely Recipe, I substituted sugar for 1/4 cup of maple syrup and the date mixture with 1 cup of apple sauce, I also left out 2 tablespoons of oil & an entire tablespoon of cinnamon as both seemed too much as I was mixing the batter and they turned out wonderfully!
 
Co February 12, 2018
The batter for this is super wet, as opposed to other recipes I've used. Is that the way it's supposed to be?
 
Rosalie November 28, 2015
I'm on a raw sugar diet and these are my favorite recipe for vegan muffins I have found so far. I didn't have any flaxseeds on hand so I substituted them for two eggs which worked just as well as flax, I also noticed that the last time I had made these that they weren't sweet enough for my taste so I added about 1/4 a cup of maple syrup. After mixing the dry and the wet together I though that that the batter was a little thick but the muffins turned out just fine. Wonderful recipe I would recommend it to anyone!
 
Aburton February 10, 2015
anybody have any idea about calories in one muffin?
 
Angelica January 31, 2015
these turned out perfectly. my kiddo isn't a fan of raisens and she likes things on the sweeter side, i was also out of enough carrots and i don't stock canola oil normally...so these are the alterations i made: craisens (sweetened dried cranberries) instead of raisens; coconut oil instead of canola; 1/4 c. sugar; 1 c. carrots; large fuji apple. they are airy and moist but firm enough, not too crumbly. that date paste is divine all by itself! thanks for another great recipe Gena!
 
Hannah January 15, 2015
What would be a good substitute for the date paste? Honey?
 
Bela R. January 17, 2015
I'm going to try it with strained applesauce instead of date paste. I'll let you know how it goes
 
Elizabeth January 10, 2015
I made these this morning without the optional sugar and they are really good. I have cut out all sweeteners from my diet, and I really miss baked goods. I was worried the date flavor would be too strong, or that they would be dense, but they turned out great! They are not sweet at all, so the raisins are crucial. Next time I might try more apple and less carrot. I am so glad I tried them. Thank you for the recipe!
 
Soymoon January 4, 2015
Any thoughts on making these Gluten-Free?
 
Janice J. January 1, 2015
Made these a few days ago and loved them. I substituted an egg for the flax slurry and used pecans instead of walnuts. The date paste gave the muffins a really nice dimension and was a great way to use up dates that I had hiding at the back of my cupboard. One muffins is filling and keeps me going for hours. I popped a bunch in the freezer and they are just as good thawed. I'll definitely be making them again.
 
JoyceB December 27, 2014
Made these this morning using date molasses as I had a jar leftover from some Ottolenghi recipes, and they turned out a little ... Health farm-ish? So I think the homemade date syrup probably yields a lighter muffin.