Back when I lived in LA I used to treat myself to a Morning Glory muffin and a latte from Mani’s Bakery nearly every weekend.  The Morning Glory muffin was always my favorite, and I would be disappointed if I didn’t get there in time and Mani’s was sold out.  Mani’s Bakery has unfortunately closed since then, but I always told myself one of these days I would attempt to recreate those delicious muffins.

After browsing a few blogs and cooking websites, I decided to come up with a Morning Glory combining elements from a few different recipes.  These muffins are hearty, delicious, and full of good things (carrot! almond flour! applesauce!) and make your house smell amazing.  Seriously, my mouth was watering so much as these baked that I had to distract myself by watching old episodes of The Hills and painting my nails.  But once I bit into one of these muffins, I knew it was worth the wait.

Morning Glory Muffins (inspired from this recipe and this recipe)

*makes approx. 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup shredded carrot
3/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped dates

Directions:

Mix almond flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla together in a large bowl.

Shred your carrot and put in a separate bowl and add applesauce and egg.  Mix well and fold wet ingredients into larger bowl with dry ingredients.  Stir in coconut and dates.

Pour mixture into either paper muffin cups or a muffin tin sprayed with cooking oil.  Place in oven and bake 25-30 minutes, depending on how fast your oven cooks.

Once muffins are done baking, leave them in their tins for an additional 20 minutes while they cool, then dig in and enjoy!

A couple notes:

– These muffins don’t have any added sugar so if you want something a little more sweet, I recommend adding in some honey, maple syrup or brown sugar.

– Definitely watch your baking time – these bad boys cook up quickly!

– These muffins are delicious with some jam.  Raspberry jam to be exact.