Tender Morning Glory Bread (Vegan)

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An overhead shot shows a sliced morning glory bread on a parchment-lined cutting board. Orange slices are seen nearby.

Rise and shine with this hearty morning glory bread recipe! Perfect as a breakfast bread or as an afternoon treat with a hot cup of tea. This vegan loaf cake is loaded up with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour, grated carrot and apple, raisins, walnuts, ground flax seed, maple syrup, orange juice, and shredded coconut. Similar to my vegan carrot muffins, every bite is moist, tender, just sweet enough, and extra flavorful with warm hints of cinnamon and vanilla. Once you grate your carrot and apple, mix your wet and dry ingredients together, and then bake in the oven, you’re good to go!

An up close, overhead shot shows a slice of morning glory bread, studded with raisins, shredded carrot and apple, coconut, and chopped walnuts.
An overhead shot shows ingredients needed for a morning glory bread recipe: all-purpose flour, orange, walnuts, coconut, sunflower oil, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, whole wheat flour, ground flax, soy milk, raisins, carrot, apple, and maple syrup.
An overhead shot shows a bowl with grated carrots and apple, a small bowl with orange zest, a small bowl with orange juice, a squeezes orange half, and some chopped walnuts in a bowl.
An overhead shot shows a mixing bowl filled with grated carrots and apple, soy milk, oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and orange juice.
A head-on shot shows a bowl filled with dry ingredients like flour, cinnamon, walnuts, raisins, and coconut.

My curiosity over developing a morning glory quick bread started over a year ago! A reader emailed me for advice on taking my carrot muffin recipe and turning that into a morning glory loaf. I had a few suggestions and sent them their way. They reported back on their progress and I kept thinking about testing a dedicated recipe for the blog. I am so pleased with the results that took root in that initial conversation!

This recipe is inspired by the legendary muffin invented by Pam McKinstry while operating The Morning Glory Cafe in Nantucket in the 70’s. While the original recipe contained 100% all-purpose flour, cane sugar, and pecans (I use a portion of whole wheat flour, maple syrup and walnuts), the flavor profile with this loaf is pretty faithful. You can read more about Chef McKinstry and the history here!

My favorite muffins and loaves veer towards the wholesome side. Vegan zucchini bread, spelt banana bread, anything with bran, whole grains, or hidden fruits/vegetables. This morning glory quick bread has it all. Grated carrots and apples, whole wheat and all-purpose flour, and a boat load of crunchy and sweet add-ins like raisins, walnuts, and coconut. A slice of this is quite filling! I ruined my lunch a couple times when I was testing this one hehe.

Some tips for making this morning glory loaf:

  • I prefer soy milk in my baking because it generally performs similarly to dairy milk. Having said that, I’m about 90% confident that other alternative milks would work fine here.
  • I have made this loaf with avocado oil in place of the sunflower and it was great! I just prefer the ultra neutral taste of sunflower oil for a loaf cake like this.
  • You can change up the add-ins if you want (different chopped nuts/seeds/dried fruit). You’ll need a scant cup total. I would avoid doing all dried fruit though–it will make the loaf too moist and crumbly.
  • Working with the included gram amounts will be the most accurate and will yield the best results. If you’re using cups, I recommend the spoon and level measuring method for the flour. Also for those using cups: do not “pack” the grated carrots, apples, or raisins.

This breakfast bread is naturally egg-free! Replacing eggs is always my first concern when working on quick breads. There’s a lot of moist ingredients in the classic morning glory mixture, so I wasn’t too keen to go in with apple sauce or anything like that. Working with the ratio of flours to soy milk and adding a hint more leavening from baking powder does the trick!

Hope you love this one! It really is a special treat.

An overhead shot shows a whole wheat flour mixture added to a liquid mixture with carrots in a mixing bowl. A hand is holding a spatula in the bowl, ready to stir everything together.
An overhead shot shows a loaf cake batter with shredded carrots and apples in a mixing bowl with a spatula sticking out.
An overhead shot shows morning glory loaf batter in a parchment-lined loaf pan. The raw batter is topped with a bit of chopped walnuts, raisins, and shredded coconut for garnish.
An overhead shot shows a freshly baked morning glory bread in a a parchment-lined loaf pan. The loaf is on a cooling rack.
An overhead shot shows a sliced morning glory bread on a parchment-lined cutting board. Orange slices are seen nearby.
An overhead shot shows slices of a vegan morning glory bread. A wedge of fresh orange is nearby.

Tender Morning Glory Bread (Vegan)

Loaded with carrots, apples, walnuts, raisins, and coconut, this wholesome morning glory bread is the perfect pairing with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Featuring whole wheat flour and maple syrup, this loaf cake is perfectly moist, sweet and hearty.