Lunchbox Harvest Muffins

By Melissa Clark

Updated Aug. 13, 2025

Lunchbox Harvest Muffins
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui.
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
5(2,476)
Comments
Read comments

These diminutive muffins make the rotation at least twice a week in my daughter's lunchbox. Although they are filled with plenty of good-for-you ingredients (whole-wheat flour, olive oil, apple and grated vegetables), they are moist and just sweet enough to ensure that they don’t end up coming back home, which is the sad fate of many a salami sandwich.

Featured in: Healthful Muffins, Moist and Sweet, for Anytime

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:About 2½ dozen mini-muffins (or 1 dozen regular muffins)
  • 140grams (1⅛ cups) whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 5grams (1 teaspoon) baking soda
  • 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼teaspoon salt
  • 2large eggs
  • ½cup olive oil
  • 1tablespoon honey
  • 70grams (⅓ cup) packed dark brown sugar
  • 1small apple, grated, and juices reserved (½ cup)
  • ½cup grated carrots or butternut squash or parsnips
  • ½cup grated zucchini or beets
  • 55grams (⅓ cup) raisins
  • 40grams (½ cup) unsweetened shredded coconut
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (30 servings)

79 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 54 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini-muffin tins.

  2. Step 2

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

  3. Step 3

    In a large bowl, combine the eggs, olive oil, honey, brown sugar, grated apple and juices and grated vegetables.

  4. Step 4

    Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the raisins and coconut.

  5. Step 5

    Fill each muffin cup ¾ of the way up, and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes for mini-muffins and about 20 to 22 minutes for regular muffins. The muffins are finished baking when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
2,476 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Pasture

I encourage the gentle writers citing calories and fat to relax just a wee li'l smidge. These are not sinful muffins. They are fine, upstanding, nutritious and ,may I say, outasite muffins.

Jen Braun

I make these about once a week now. Very forgiving recipe -- I've messed with it all kinds of ways: Used regular flour instead of whole wheat, all carrots for the veg (and all zucchini too), accidentally doubled the amount of veggies, on-purpose doubled the amount of raisins, and skipped the coconut. It's always come out fine. And my kids vacuum them up.

Erika

I took the olive oil down to 1/3 cup and the brown sugar down to 1/4 cup and they were delicious and moist. Thank you!

Sophie

Instead of grated apple and carrot you could use apple and carrot pulp leftover from juicing, for any of my juicing fans

J

I made these without eggs (used flax eggs as a substitute) and with gluten free flour and they were great! I think they would have been fluffier with the eggs, and I plan to make the original recipe one day to compare. I'll use a little less oil next time, as they were a bit too oily for me.

Charlie Seaman

Fantastically simple and easily modified to your own taste. Stay with the basic ingredients and customize the vegetables. I added raisins and fresh blueberries with dried cranberries

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.