I’ve been intrigued but the idea of a healthy morning muffin for a while, ever since some mamas in my moms’ group mentioned it as a great thing to give picky toddlers. There are a lot of recipes for Morning Glory Muffins online, but they usually include refined sugar and of course eggs and butter. So I challenged myself to come up with a vegan and sugar-free version.
These are awesome, if I do say so myself. They are vegan and sugar-free. There is a certain fluffy moistness to them that’s amazing, and better than a heavy “real” muffin in my not-so-humble, vegan opinion 
The key is the egg replacement of baking soda mixed with balsamic vinegar, which “rises” to give the whole thing some fluff. There is also about 1/3 of a carrot in each muffin, good if you’re worried about getting veggies in the little ones!
I’ve tried a gluten-free version but haven’t had much success with it (granted, I do not know what I am doing when it comes to gf baking. If you have some ideas let me know!) I also plan to experiment with different vegetables other than carrots, and adding in some sneaky super foods, like chia meal or teff flour. But I just couldn’t keep this recipe to myself any longer!
I feed these to Z in the morning and I know he’s getting in some nutrient-dense calories. (Of course, I think I love them even more than he does…)
Vegan Morning Glory Muffins
Ingredients:
- 4 medium carrots
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 5 dates
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup non-dairy milk of any kind
- 2 tbs vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Mix the carrots, maple syrup, dates, coconut oil, non-dairy milk, and vanilla in a high-speed blender and then pour that into a large bowl, scraping out the insides to get it all out.
Pour the baking soda and balsamic vinegar into a small bowl and let it foam, scraping the bottom with a spoon to get all of the baking soda mixed in if needed. Then pour it into the large bowl with the batter and stir in.
Thoroughly mix the flour, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl and then slowly add the dry mix into the main batter bowl and stir well.
Scoop the batter into a muffin pan to make 12 muffins.
Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.
~ Enjoy!
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
These look fantastic! But, I don’t have a vitamix and the last time I put dates into the blender it didn’t come out well. Would the food processor work for this if carrots were shredded? Thanks!
Hmmm..that’s a good question. For the dates, it might help to soak them. And shredded carrots might work, but you may have to adjust the wet/dry ratio by adding more flour or more milk, so that things hold together more.
Oh ! Another thing you could do would be to just reduce the amount of carrots, and up the amount of flour and milk so that there weren’t so many carrot pieces floating in too little batter to hold together. I hope that makes sense! Good luck!
I can’t wait to make these. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I’m making these to take on my trip (to avoid airport food).
Thanks ever so for this recipe. I tried it and the muffins taste great. I wasn’t sure what you mean by ‘vanilla’ so I used vanilla sugar, which makes this a lot less ‘sugar free’
. Only later did I realise that by vanilla you might mean vanilla extract or essence. Do you make your own, or have you a favorite brand that you can recommend? Thanks!
Hi Narimda,
Yes I meant vanilla extract…sorry! I will correct the recipe. I use ‘Simply Organic” brand which I find at Whole Foods.
hi eileen
i am a friend of emma’s – was at tuesday night drinks last week. i look forward to meeting you!
cathy
Oh yay! Same here!
If you use real eggs, I would try it with one (and eliminate the balsamic vinegar and reduce the baking soda)…but I’m not positive. Let me know how it goes if you try it! Looking forward to meeting you