Morning Glory Muffins

If I had to choose between a sweet or savory breakfast, it would almost always be the former. I inherited my sweet tooth from my mom, who always made sure there was an assortment of pastries and cookies at home when I was growing up. She had a soft spot for muffins from a local coffee shop chain, and every time she stopped in for a latte, she’d leave with a brown paper bag filled to the brim with bran, blueberry, or morning glory muffins.

Packed with nuts, dried fruit, carrots, apples, and coconut, the hearty morning glory muffins were always my favorite of the bunch. Those muffins were delicious, but they were almost always too sweet, a bit underspiced, and slightly dry. It wasn’t until I made my own—using my Birmingham-based test kitchen colleague Jasmine Smith’s recipe—that I realized how much more delicious a morning glory muffin could be. They’re moist and tender, just sweet enough but not cloying, have wonderful woodsy, spiced notes of cinnamon and ginger, and are topped with an orange glaze that makes them even better than a bakery's.

Techniques for the Best Morning Glory Muffin

Reach for white whole wheat flour. As I touched on in my shortbread recipe, white whole wheat flour's name does not refer to its color, but rather the wheat from which it’s made. Most American whole wheat flours are made from red wheat, which has a protein content of about 13%, while white whole wheat flour has a slightly lower protein content of about 12%. A higher protein content means that the flour has the potential to develop more gluten, which is great if you are looking to make a chewy boule, but not so much if you want tender baked goods. To minimize the risk of the muffins becoming chewy and tough, we recommend using white whole wheat flour, which can be found online, at specialty grocery stores, and some regular supermarkets.

Use orange juice and zest for a bright flavor and moist texture. Fresh citrus zest contains many fragrant oils, and together with orange juice, gives the muffins a sweet-tart flavor. The juice also helps moisten the batter, helping prevent the muffins from being dry. Orange juice also balances the confectioners’ sugar in the glaze, and prevents it from being cloyingly sweet.

Don’t overmix. Along with using the wrong kind of flour, overmixing the batter—which can cause too much gluten to develop—can result in tough, chewy muffins. Unlike bread doughs that need to be kneaded or stretched and folded to promote gluten development, quick bread and muffin batters should be lightly mixed. For moist, tender muffins, keep mixing to a minimum: Whisk your dry ingredients together, add the carrots, apple, coconut, raisins, and pecans, then fold the wet ingredients into the batter until it just comes together.

While these muffins are delicious just as they are, a simple glaze gives them a nice sheen and extra touch of sweetness. Something tells me my mom would have as much of a soft spot for these as I do.