Morning Glory Smoothie

This Morning Glory Smoothie is a thick, creamy treat that’s full of healthy fats and nutritious fruits and veggies. Carrots, apples, coconut milk, nut butter, vanilla, cinnamon and ice create a fun, unique drink that’s perfect with breakfast or as a snack.

It’s dairy-free, vegan, Paleo and has no added sweeteners of any kind!

This blog post was updated on August 13, 2020.

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What is a Morning Glory Smoothie?

Morning Glory muffins were invented in 1978 by Pam McKinstry at her Morning Glory Cafe in New England. They became popular, started appearing in mainstream magazines in the early 1980s and have been a breakfast staple ever since.

Can you imagine creating a new muffin recipe – or any recipe – and people are still making it almost 4 decades later?

Those muffins are definitely my style – cram as much into a baked good as possible while making sure the batter holds together.

Carrots, apples, coconut, nuts, dried fruit, spices…yes, yes and yes. It’s like carrot cake on steroids. So this Morning Glory Smoothie takes all those flavors and blends them up for a simple, vibrant drink. And somehow, with the sunbutter, vanilla and cinnamon, it really does taste like a muffin!

This carrot apple smoothie is ready to be your new favorite drink. Thanks, Pam – here’s to another 40 years!

What you need

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. carrots (about 4 small or 3 medium)
• ½ apple 
• 14.5 oz full-fat unsweetened coconut milk, canned
• ¼ cup cold water
• 2 tbsp. sunbutter or nut butter of your choice
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ½ tsp. fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ cup ice cubes (about 4-5)
• honey or maple syrup (optional, see notes)

Equipment:

• a blender
• measuring spoons
• a cutting board
• a chef’s knife
• a vegetable peeler (optional)

How to make this Morning Glory Smoothie

Step 1: Trim the carrots. Peel if you feel like it (you may not, especially if they’re organic) and chop into small pieces. Core the apple if you feel like it (you may not if you’re using a really powerful blender) and chop into small pieces.

Step 2: If you have a powerful blender, chopping should be fine. If you don’t, you might want to grate the carrots and apple on a box grater or with a food processor using the shredding blade.

Step 3: Pour the coconut milk into the blender, then the carrots, apple, sunbutter, vanilla, sea salt and cinnamon and… guess what! Blend! Then add 2-3 ice cubes and blend until smooth.

Step 4: Taste, adjust seasonings, adding honey or maple syrup if you’d like it sweeter. If you want it colder, add a few more ice cubes.

Substitutions and variations

1. You can use any kind of apple you like. If you want a sweeter smoothie, go with something like Honeycrisp or Fuji. If you want it less sweet, use something like a Granny Smith.
2. Again, depending on how sweet you want it, you can also add a bit of maple syrup (to keep it vegan) or honey (not vegan).
3. You can use any milk you like. I use canned coconut milk here for the coconut flavor that the muffin has, plus it’s thick and rich.
4. You can use any nut butter you like, such as almond butter or peanut butter.
5. You can also add 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger and/or turmeric for a bit of heat. The same amount of cardamom would also be nice.
6. Blend in your favorite protein powder for a protein boost!

Make ahead

This coconut milk smoothie can be made up to 5 days in advance and kept in the fridge. You may have to stir or re-blend before serving.

Other smoothies and drinks

1. Strawberry Banana Smoothie
2. Chocolate Tahini Smoothie
3. Sweet Potato Smoothie Bowls
4. Frozen Pineapple Virgin Margarita
5. Honeydew Mint Cooler

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