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Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

carrot cake muffins with a vanilla glaze on a wooden cutting board.

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5 from 1 review

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins are a simple, yet delicious recipe that can be enjoyed as dessert or a snack. They're an easy recipe that you can bake in 30 minutes. These muffins have the classic carrot cake flavor, but are dairy and refined sugar free, plus I've included a gluten free option as well!

Ingredients

Units Scale

Dry Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Wet Ingredients:

  • 1 large mashed banana (about 2/3 cup)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup avocado oil
  • 1/4 cup almond milk mixed with 1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan with 10 paper liners
  2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and ground cloves. Set aside
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the mashed banana, egg, maple syrup, oil, almond milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
  4. Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a wooden spoon to mix until just combined. Fold in the grated carrots and raisins, and finish mixing just until there are no traces of flour left.
  5. Fill each muffin liner to the top with the carrot cake muffin batter, and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
  6. Carefully take the muffins out of the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

SIMPLE VANILLA GLAZE: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and 2-3 tablespoons of non-dairy milk. Spoon over cooled muffins and let harden.

  • High quality flour: Whenever I'm baking I like to use a good quality flour, like King Arthur. It always delivers delicious baked goods and isn't clumpy like other brands.
  • Quality spices: Just like the flour, spices are something I'm picky about because they can make or break a recipe. I like to use quality spices for the BEST flavor possible. (quality doesn't always mean expensive, I usually buy store brand and found they have better flavor than name brands!)
  • Don't overmix: When combining the dry and wet ingredients together, don't overmix them. You want to fold the batter just until there are no traces of flour so you end up with light and fluffy muffins.
  • Grate your carrots: Don't rely on pre-shredded carrots from the store, they don't add enough moisture. I like to peel and grate my own carrots, it's an extra step but it's worth it.
  • Use paper liners: I highly suggest lining your muffin tin with paper liners so that your carrot cake muffins don't stick.
  • Storing: Keep any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.