Hearty Morning Harvest Muffins are loaded with heart-healthy rolled oats, almond meal, walnuts, zucchini, carrots, and maple syrup to help you get your morning started off right!
Are you always in a rush in the mornings and often skip breakfast because you simply don’t have time? Do you find yourself scouring your fridge for a not-yet-expired yogurt or the cupboards for a not-too-questionably stale English muffin (we can ignore those dark spots, it was a blueberry muffin, right?…)? Do you call coffee your breakfast?
No judgment. We have all been there. And as a NOT morning person, I can completely relate to this perpetual breakfast struggle. Enter these Hearty Morning Harvest Muffins.
These are perfect make-ahead muffins. Throw a batch together on the weekend and then you’ll have a fridge full of freshly baked healthy muffins ready to grab and go for the week. I always have a set of these muffins at the ready.
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How to Make Morning Harvest Muffins
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line your muffin tins with liners or spray with cooking spray. These muffins are pretty moist and like to stick to things!
In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, almond meal, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
Prepare the wet ingredients. Grate your zucchini and carrots. You’ll need roughly 1 small zucchini and 2 to 3 medium carrots.
Combine the shredded vegetables with the eggs, melted olive oil butter, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla extract.
Quick Tip: you can make your own almond meal in about 10 seconds. You only need a few cups of roasted, unsalted almonds (skin on—there’s good stuff in there) and a blender. Throw the almonds in the blender and pulse on high speed for about 10 seconds. Now you have fresh almond meal.
Equipment recommendation: I love this grater and use it all the time to grate something quickly or for small quantities. For higher volumes, I use my food processor and use the shredding attachment.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Mix a few times until ingredients are loosely incorporated. It’s alright if there are some bumps in the batter.
Next, fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. Sometimes I choose to add ½ cup of raisins or dried cranberries or cherries, but I generally prefer these with just the nuts and chocolate.
Scoop a few spoonfuls of batter into the muffin tins. These muffins aren’t going to rise a whole lot due to their composition, so go ahead and fill those muffin tins right to the top.
Then, pop your muffins in the oven and bake about 16 to 18 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake, as these muffins will dry out quickly!
Test for doneness using a toothpick. It should come out clean from the center. You can also use a visual test since these are not your typical muffins. Look for a bit of liquid on the edges of the baking tins that has cooked and congealed.
Let the muffins cool inside their tins for a few minutes before transferring to a baking rack to finish cooling. These muffins pair well with a dollop of almond butter.
How to Store Muffins
You can store these muffins in an airtight container or baggie in the fridge for about a week. Due to their moistness, they will tend to get a little questionable after about a week, especially if not refrigerated!
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We think you might also enjoy these breakfast treats:
- Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins
- Cranberry Dark Chocolate Cake Scones
- Fluffy Homemade Plain Bagels
- Chai Spiced Scones with Cinnamon Glaze
- Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
Hearty Morning Harvest Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 c rolled oats
- 1 c almond meal
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1½ c zucchini, grated (about 1 zucchini)
- 1½ c carrots, grated (about 2 to 3 medium carrots)
- ½ c maple syrup
- ¼ c vanilla unsweetened almond milk
- 6 Tbsp olive oil butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ c walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 2 Tbsp mini chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with liners or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, almond meal, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
- Combine the shredded zucchini and carrots with the eggs, melted olive oil butter, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla extract in a separate mixing bowl.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Mix a few times until ingredients are loosely incorporated. It’s alright if there are some bumps in the batter.
- Add the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. Fold the mix-ins into the batter until loosely incorporated.
- Scoop a few spoonfuls of batter into the muffin tins. It’s okay to fill the tins to the top, as these will not rise very much when baked.
- Bake muffins about 16 to 18 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake, as these muffins will dry out quickly. Test for doneness using a toothpick. It should come out clean from the center.
- Let the muffins cool inside their tins for a few minutes before transferring to a baking rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- You can make your own almond meal in about 10 seconds. Add a few cups of roasted, unsalted almonds in the blender, pulse on high speed for about 10 seconds until they turn into a fine powder.
Delicious!! These answered my gluten free baked breakfast prayers. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
These are absolutely incredible and are perfect every time I make them. I am wondering if I wanted to add protein powder to the recipe if you have any suggestions for this?
I’m so glad you like them! 🙂 I haven’t tried it (but love the idea!). What I would maybe start with would be subbing out equal parts of rolled oats with protein powder. I would start smaller, like maybe add 1/2 cup protein powder and remove 1/2 cup of rolled oats. Then I would play with the liquids a little. Maybe add a bit more milk if the consistency seems too thick/powdery. It can be a bit tricky because the consistency will change based on type of protein powder too (whey vs. plant protein). I’ve found plant proteins, especially pea protein, to be a bit more workable with baked goods. These muffins are thankfully a little more forgiving! I’d love to hear if you find a winning combo!:)