These morning glory muffins are adapted from Cans Get You Cooking. You’ve no doubt seen a good deal of their promotion lately – I’m not affiliated with that promotion in any way, but have still received some of their recipes for sharing. And honestly, the more dairy-free food I can share with all of you, the better!
Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of many canned foods, but I’m also not against them. Especially when I heard that a recent study found most Americans throw away spoiled fresh fruits and vegetables two times a week (on average), wasting 15 to 20 percent of fresh produce each year! I seriously cringe when I inevitably have to do a fridge purge and throw out what was once fresh food. In fact, I think that might be my pre-new year resolution – to reduce our household waste of fresh foods to near zero! And true, some canned foods on hand might help with this.
That said, this recipe for morning glory muffins is on the sweet side! I recommend baking these up for dessert, rather than breakfast, or modifying to fit the sensitivity your sweet tooth.
Special Diet Notes: Sweet Morning Glory Muffins
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, optionally nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, and vegetarian. Nonetheless, use caution when selecting ingredients for the frosting (or skip it!). There are top 8-free alternatives for both available.
For egg-free and vegan morning glory muffins, use a powdered egg replacer, such as Ener-G or Bob’s Red Mill. Or you can use two flax or chia eggs. Applesauce or dairy-free yogurt (about 1/3 cup) plus an 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder may also be a suitable sub.
For gluten-free morning glory muffins, use your favorite gluten-free flour blend, but I would keep the eggs. A flour blend with a binder such as xanthan gum or guar gum will produce a more cohesive crumb, but will have a poor shelf life for consistency (freeze within a day or two). One without any binder will be a bit crumbly, but some brands do use other binding options, such as psyllium husk, that tend to produce less gummy results.
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (can sub whole wheat pastry flour - will be a touch heartier)
- 1½ cups granulated sugar (can sub coconut sugar, powdered in a spice grinder, or your favorite granulated sugar alternative for less sweet)
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 14.5-ounce can baby carrots, drained (can sub leftover cooked baby carrots)
- 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in 100 percent juice, drained
- ¾ cup melted coconut, grapeseed, rice bran, or non-GMO canola oil
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup shredded sweetened dried coconut (use unsweetened if you prefer a muffin that isn't over-the-top sweet)
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped (omit for nut-free)
- 4 ounces dairy-free cream cheese alternative (1/2 package), softened
- 3 tablespoons dairy-free margarine, softened
- 1½ cups powdered confectioners’ sugar
- To prepare muffins, preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, mash the carrots until smooth. Add the crushed pineapple, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in coconut and pecans (if using).
- Spoon mixture into prepared muffin tins, almost to top. Bake 30 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pans. Cool completely.
- To prepare frosting, using a hand blender, mix the cream cheese alternative and margarine in a medium mixing bowl until combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth.
- Top the morning glory muffins with frosting.
