Low Carb Morning Glory Muffins

These low carb Morning Glory Muffins are modeled after the iconic muffins created in 1978 and named for their place of origin, The Morning Glory Inn in Nantucket. If you're not familiar with Morning Glories, they're "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" type muffins that somehow manage to be wholesome, flavorful, and comforting all at once. Key ingredients are carrots, apples, pineapples and pecans, but mine are a little different. They are low carb, low sugar and call for both almond flour and oat fiber.

Oat Fiber

While the major flour in the muffins is almond flour, the oat fiber soaks up excess moisture and adds bulk without adding calories. Oat fiber recipes are hard to come by because it's an emerging ingredient, but I'm hoping to share more recipes that call for it because it's a good source of healthy fiber. As of now, you have to order it. I've used Anthony's brand and Nu Naturals.

Alternative Sweeteners in Muffins

Making Morning Glory Muffins low carb also meant eliminating the sugar and using an alternative. So far I've tested them with the following:

• Monk Fruit in the Raw
• Swerve
• Lakanto Golden (Erythritol)
• Lakanto Monk Fruit & Allulose
• Pure Durelife Allulose Powder

The first four on the list are 1:1 blends, which just means they measure like sugar. None of the muffins, even the ones with erythritol, had much of a mouth cooling aftertaste. I guess the spices and other ingredients mitigate that. The pure allulose muffins had the best flavor, but they were softer and darker. I added a little cornstarch to the allulose version to encourage chewiness and they developed an interesting sheen. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these blends, just be sure to measure by weight. I used 55 grams of sweetener.

Zucchini In Place of Apple

At first I wanted to make these keto, and but to do that I had to take out the apple. Morning Glory Muffins need apple, so I kept in a small amount and bulked them up with a little zucchini to keep the carbs down. If you want to reduce the carbs even more, just leave out the apple.

Doubling the Recipe

I made so many variations it made sense to make 6 at a time. Plus I'm usually baking for 2. If you want to double this, double all the ingredients but do not double the egg. Just use 2 eggs and 1 white. Another thing you can do which will save fat and calories is use the same gram amount of pasteurized carton eggs. So instead of 1 egg and a white, just pour in 65 grams of Bob Evans or Egg Beaters. If doubling, use 130. For all ingredients showing a weight, I used weights.

Variations

I'll be making these often because they're filling and pretty healthy. Not counting all the different sweetening experiments, the variations I've tried so far are as follows:

• Leave out the apple and carrot and add sugar free mini chocolate chips for Keto-Friendly Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Omit the oil completely to lower the calories. I did this by accident, actually, and while the muffins were a little dryer, they still tasted great. The fat from the almond flour keeps them moist.

A Quick Note on Lining and Cooling

Because these muffins are made with almond flour (and no gluten to bind), they’re a little more delicate than your typical Morning Glory Muffin. Paper liners are highly recommended to help them hold their shape and release cleanly from the pan.

Most importantly, Let them cool completely before removing the liners. They’ll firm up as they rest. You can even chill them slightly if you need them to be travel-friendly or lunchbox-ready. They freeze beautifully!

• Morning Glory Muffins Jumbo Size
• Low Carb Applesauce Oatmeal Bars
• Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Meringues
• Southern Comfort Ice Cream Dessert
• Sweet Potato Pie from CMW Apples

Recipe