These Vegan Morning Glory Muffins are perfect as a healthy breakfast. Topped with vegan cream cheese frosting, they are the ultimate carrot cake cupcake. Not only are these Vegan Morning Glory Muffins free from eggs and dairy, they are also gluten free. These muffins are light years away from dense, dry cellophane wrapped muffins from the bread aisle in the grocery store.
Muffin or Dessert, Both are Great
I worked on perfecting the recipe for Very Best Vegan Morning Glory Muffins for several years. The recipe started out as a very good morning muffin and ended up as a super fantastic, carroty, moist and tender muffin studded with apples, walnuts and raisins. Every bite is a taste adventure that keeps you going back for more. The ‘cream cheese’ frosting crowns the muffin. It turns a morning muffin into a delectable dessert fit for a birthday celebration or afternoon tea.
Gluten Free and Vegan
One of the best things about this recipe is that it doesn’t taste vegan or gluten free. The muffins are moist without being wet and dense without the heaviness associated with most fruit and veggie filled muffins. The walnuts add a great crunch and the coconut adds texture. In addition to being allergy friendly, the recipe doesn’t call for cups and cups of oil. The coconut oil used, is a moderate amount, and the applesauce and add-ins keep the muffinsFmoist without adding a lot of fat.
These muffins don’t have to be made vegan or glutenl free. Substitute regular flour for the King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour and regular cream cheese and unsalted dairy butter in the frosting. Also, omit the xanthan gum from the dry ingredients. See my take on other allergy friendly ingredients in my post Allergy Friendly Recipes Everyone Loves
Use the Food Processor
To speed things up, I use the shredder attachment on my food processor to make short work of grating the carrots, apples and zucchini. A stand mixer is helpful, but not required. You can use a hand mixer or mix everything the old fashioned way. This recipe is easy and gets these muffins into the oven without a lot of fuss.
Vegan Morning Glory Muffins
Equipment
- food processor
- muffin tins
- stand mixer
- cupcake papers
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 c King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour
- 1/2 t xanthan gum optional
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 t baking soda
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/2 t sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1/3 c raw organic honey
- 1/2 c coconut oil can be solid or liquid
- 3/4 c brown sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1/4 c applesauce can be sweetened or unsweetened
- 3/4 c warm water
Add Ins
- 2 large carrots scraped and shredded
- 2 small apples peeled, cored and shredded
- 1 large zucchini shredded
- 1/2 c coconut shredded sweetened or unsweetened
- 3/4 c chopped walnuts
- 3/4 c raisins
- 1/2 tbsp orange zest
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz vegan cream cheese Daiya is my favorite but Go-Veggie also works
- 1/4 c vegan butter Use stick vegan butter (Earth Balance). Melt and Country Crock are too salty
- 6 c powdered sugar
Instructions
- Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside.
- Use stand mixer (or hand mixer) to combine, honey, oil, and brown sugar
- Add in applesauce and vanilla and mix to incorporate
- Add the warm water a little at a time to create a moist, thick batter that can still be poured like traditional muffin batter
- Stir in add-ins
- Spoon into 18 muffin tins that have been lined with paper cupcake liners
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make sure that vegan cream cheese and vegan 'butter' are softened.
- Mix all frosting ingredients in a stand mixer until combined. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin. Add more butter if frosting is too thick.
- Mix on high with the whip attachment to incorporate air into the frosting 1 minute
- Dollop 2 tablespoons of frosting onto the middle of each cupcake and spread gently to the edge.