Orange Muffins

This orange muffin recipe is everything you want in a morning morsel – vitamin c, deliciousness, and not as heavy as traditional muffins.

Our neighbors here in Sacramento have a gorgeous orange (art of which conveniently hangs over our property) The second best thing to having your own fruit trees is having friends and neighbors who share the fruits of their trees with you!

I love eating fresh oranges this time of year since they’re in season and so tasty but baking with them is just as good – hello orange breakfast muffins!

Orange Muffin Recipe

We’re all trying to eat a little healthier now to recover from the holidays. I think breakfast can be one of the hardest meals to get right. These healthy breakfast muffins are low in fat since the recipe calls for nonfat greek yogurt in lieu of oil.

They also have less sugar than most morning breads. I cut the sugar basically in half, letting the natural sweetness of the carrots play a bigger role. And let’s be real here, getting a great dose of Vitamin C before I even finish my coffee is a huge win. Not to mention the numerous vitamins and nutrients from the carrots!

I think they’re tasty on their own. I also love them topped with nonfat greek yogurt or peanut butter for extra protein. And not to worry, I took our friends some of these morsels to thank them. It’s only fair to share the fruits of their generosity!

Orange Muffins

One of the things I’ve realized in my years of baking is that the recipes for muffins, bread, and cakes aren’t much different. In fact, most of them are just baked in a different pan and things for dessert are topped with frosting.

So, you want to be extra careful when you pick out a muffin or bread for a breakfast morsel. OR if you’re up for making them at home, you can make a few swaps and have healthy breakfast muffins.

The shredded carrot adds the vitamins and gets you veggie before the day gets going. And the yogurt drastically cuts any fat from butter and/or oil while adding protein.

Using yogurt in baking

I’ve used greek yogurt in baking for years – even in fast bread recipes in place of oil! It’s a great substitute for oil, providing that moistness without all the fat.

Two things to note about using yogurt in baking. First, I still like to add a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil to the yogurt. I can’t tell you why just that bit makes a difference, but it does – especially since I’m often using nonfat yogurt.

Second, baked goods made with yogurt will start to mold (because it’s dairy after all), so plan to eat these soon or put them in the refrigerator or freezer. You’ll notice they have a stickier consistency after a day or two, but they still taste delicious!

Looking for more yogurt baking recipes, try these protein blueberry muffins made with blueberry yogurt.

Winter Orange & Carrot Recipes

More breakfast recipes

You might also want to see these healthy rice cake topping ideas and this homemade Betty Crocker cinnamon streusel coffee cake!