Home ยป Morning Glory Muffins + Weekly Menu

Morning Glory Muffins + Weekly Menu

My niece turned 2 yesterday and so we made the trip to and from Chicago to celebrate properly. She is absolutely adorable and when she says my girls’ names, she combines it into a cute little “Shea-Pipuuur” (Shea and Piper). Piper literally comes out sounding like “pie-purrrr”. The cutest!

At 6, 4, and 2, these girls are just smitten with one another and there are now tears every time we have to end our time together. It’s bittersweet to see that bond grow and the difficulty in parting and on my niece’s side, at 2, simply understanding. It seems like so long ago that I had a 2-year-old!

As Ava was enjoying her cupcake, daintily picking off and consuming the sprinkles and frosting a pinch at a time, literally, I was thinking, “my little monsters would house that cupcake so fast!” The girls love their sweets, especially Shea.

In fact, breakfast has gotten a bit wonky lately. For starters, they’ve shied away from nearly any savory food. Eggs, never. Chicken sausage, maybe. On occasion. Peanut butter is more often than not denied. They want the carb-y stuff for breakfast and I get it. It’s what I want too! Mmmm…donuts.

In all seriousness, I want them to have enough protein, fat, and fiber in the morning because it’s the meal they eat the best and I don’t want them hungry before their next meal/snack. We’re school-goers now and the schedule is a real thing we have to live by. Honestly, the go-to breakfasts have been Perfect Bars ($2.19/each), Kodiak Cake Muffin Cups ($2.33/each), or Aldi’s Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Superfoods Granola or the Coconut Cacao Superfoods Granola which they eat by the fistful (by far, the cheapest option but lowest in protein).

So, I’m on a mission for convenience but also something that I’d like for breakfast, that is nutritious, and that I can feed 2 little girls for less than $5/breakfast. Never mind the organic milk, woof. Fellow dietitian, podcaster, and internet friend Regan from This Unmillennial Life posted this recipe in the form of quick bread and I was all over it. I did switch the recipe into muffins and added some vanilla extract, but otherwise, kept it as-is. So, so good! And, the girls LOVE them!

Morning Glory Muffins

Morning Glory Muffins

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

These muffins have it all - fruit, vegetable, whole grain! Subtly sweet with golden bran texture and flavor. Grab-and-go breakfast for the win!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup bran cereal*
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 medium carrots, shredded (about 1 cup)
  • 1 apple, peeled, cored, and shredded (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • 2/3 cup oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 egg, whisked
  • 2 tsp turbinado or coarse sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mist 18 muffin wells with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
  2. Using a mini food prep/food processor (or rolling pin with the cereal in a ziplock bag, sealed all with air removed), pulse or crush until coarsely ground. Place in a large bowl.
  3. To the bowl, add the flour, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk until well-combined.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients, shredded carrot through egg; mix until all ingredients are well-combined.
  5. Fill each muffin well about 2/3rds full. Sprinkle with the sugar.
  6. Bake for 24-26 minutes. Allow to cool in the muffin tins for at least 10-15 minutes before removing.

Notes

*I used Fiber One Original, but bran flakes or wheat bran would work just fine.

Recipe slightly adapted from This Unmillennial Life

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 211Total Fat: 8.7gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 279mgCarbohydrates: 34.1gFiber: 2.7gSugar: 20.1gProtein: 2.7g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

In need of more busy morning breakfast options?

Weekly Menu: January 17th – 21st

Be well,

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3 Comments

  1. Anastasia
    January 17, 2021 / 9:31 pm

    This recipe confuses me!
    1 CUP of Honey????
    2/3 CUP oil???

    My current “unhealthy” version only uses 1/4 cup honey and 1/3 cup oil.

    Are these amounts correct? They seem excessive.

    • Nicole Morrissey
      Author
      January 18, 2021 / 12:44 pm

      Anastasia, the amounts are correct. Perhaps a major difference lies in how many muffins your recipe produces? 18 muffins is quite a few and the nutrition information reflects the number produced. If the recipe doesn’t meet your nutritional needs, I’m sorry!

      • Anastasia
        January 18, 2021 / 4:09 pm

        No need to apologize. The numbers just seemed big to me.

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