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Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins made with less sugar than most muffin recipes! These are also loaded with tons of shredded carrots, coconut, and juicy raisins. So easy, healthy, and delicious!
HEALTHY carrot cake muffins!
The perfect sweet treat when you need breakfast dessert or a afternoon snack.
I absolutely love the smell of something warm and cinnamon-y wafting from the kitchen in the morning. The sweet scent of bread, muffins, or pancakes just puts a spring in my step. The way the heat radiates out of the muffin liners from a warm banana nut or carrot muffin just makes my whole day better.
The grated carrots are the star of the show but we also have a ton of supporting actors – enter raisins, crunchy walnuts, and shredded coconut to add lots of flavor and texture.
One thing I love doing is sprinkling a handful of rolled oats on the bottom of my muffin cups before pouring in the batter and then topping them with another pinch of oats. This provides a nice added crunch to the muffin tops plus it makes them look so much prettier.
And let’s face it, this is practically carrot cake in muffin form, minus the cream cheese frosting.
I absolutely love this recipe. I have made it three times in the past six weeks and shared the muffins with friends. They love them also. This will be a staple at our house. The oatmeal on top adds to the taste and the look. Super good!!!
Ingredients for homemade carrot cake muffins
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour for this recipe. You can replace some with whole wheat flour as well. I haven’t tested the recipe with all whole wheat but I do think the muffins may be too dense
- Baking Soda: I don’t use baking powder, just baking soda
- Spices: You’ll need kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger to add warmth. You’ll also need two heaping teaspoons of cinnamon.
- Oil: I love using coconut oil for these muffins because it enhances the coconut flavor and makes the muffins much lighter than if you were to use butter. You can also use canola oil or vegetable oil
- Brown Sugar: is partially responsible for adding sweetness to the recipe as well as moisture
- Unsweetened Applesauce: Apple sauce provides a deeper flavor and cuts down on the refined sugars
- Greek yogurt: adds protein and reacts with the baking soda to help the muffins rise a bit. To make these dairy-free I suggest using coconut yogurt or something similar.
- Large Eggs: Adds structure and stability to baked goods
- Vanilla: 2 teaspoons vanilla extract is the perfect amount of vanilla. It shines beautifully in the recipe.
- Shredded carrots: You’ll need two cups of shredded carrots. Carrots and moisture and fiber to the muffins. Simply shred them on a box grater once peeled
- Mix-ins: I use shredded sweetened coconut, raisins, and walnuts. These add, color, and texture to the muffins. They pair beautifully with the cinnamon and ginger in the recipe. The other ingredient that you won’t find in other carrot cake muffin recipes – oats! The rolled oats – not oat flour. I sprinkle them in the muffin tin and on top of the muffins to add a nutty taste and some texture.
FAQs about this recipe
I know a lot of recipes call for honey or maple syrup. The truth is, I’ve never tested this recipe with a liquid sweetener to I’m unsure if that will work.
Some people like using ground cloves or a little grating of nutmeg, feel free to spruce these as you’d like!
I keep them in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. If it’s particularly warm where you live, I’d store them in the refrigerator and then reheat a muffin for a few seconds in the microwave or just bring it to room temperature on the counter before enjoying! For longer storage, placed cooled muffins into a freezer-safe bag and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Other muffin recipes to try:
- Outrageous Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free or Not!)
- Warm Lemon Zucchini Muffins
- Spiced Chai Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
- Lighter Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
- French Toast Cups with Coconut Almond Streusel
Super Moist and Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour I use 50:50 whole wheat and all purpose
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅔ cup melted coconut oil see notes
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- ¼ cup greek yogurt
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups carrots finely shredded
- ½ cup shredded coconut sweetened
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup walnuts chopped
- ¼ cup rolled oats divided
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. If you want, you can line your cupcake pan with paper liners. Or spray the insides with cooking spray. Sprinkle half the oats on the liners, set aside.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour(s), baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt, set aside.
- WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl with a whisk, hand mixer, or stand mixer, on medium speed, combine the brown sugar and oil. Beat in the yogurt and apple sauce until fully combined – about 1 minute. Mixture will be gritty and thin. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
- BATTER: With a spatula, manually stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined and all flour pockets are gone – do not overmix. Fold in the finely shredded carrots, shredded coconut, raisins, and walnuts. The muffin mixture will be thick. Pour into prepared cupcake pans. Sprinkle the remaining oats on top and shaved coconut too if you'd like.
- BAKE: for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs. Let cool for several minutes before devouring!
Notes
- After making these muffins more than a dozen times after originally posting the recipe back in 2014, i've found that I prefer them with ⅔ cup of oil rather than the originally stated amount of '¾ cup'. However either amount will work.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Mine turned out good except they were flat as flat muffins can be!!! What happened!
Hmm. I haven’t heard of this happening before so i’m assuming it something as simple as your leavening may have expired?
did you forget the baking soda? or salt?
Hi. I want to try these. I am from Pakistan and we rarely use coconut oil in our cooking. Therefore I want to know, is it more healthy? thanks!
Hi Beena,
There are numerous health benefits to using coconut oil in cooking. There is lots of research that shows that it can help reduce the risk of heart disease, benefits for the skin, aids in weight management, and also helps with immunity and digestion. If coconut oil isn’t easily available for you, you can replace it with canola oil, sunflower oil, etc.
How many do you get in one batch?
One batch makes 12-14 depending on how much you fill the muffin cups.
Made these yesterday – delish! I too love the raw oats on the bottom and tops. I subbed craisins for the raisins and used unsweetened shredded coconut – the muffins were perfectly sweet enough. I added 2 T. ground flaxseed meal as I do with most baked goods. I didn’t melt the coconut oil since that wasn’t specified (just noted it in one of the comment replies) – worked fine. Since the recipe makes 16 muffins and I don’t like baking partial pans – I filled my 12 muffin pan and (1) 3″x5″ mini loaf pan – both delish and great texture – the loaf pan took an extra 10-12 mins. baking. Thanks Marzia!
Aren’t those raw oats the best? Thanks for the time on the mini loafs, so helpful! 🙂
2nd time I have made these awesome muffins 🙂 I Love this recipe!!! Yummy- I’m bringing them to my daughter’s 4th grade holiday party and to a Pot Luck too! Making my Holiday WAY more delicious and fun! Thank YOU!
I don’t have apple sauce can I substitute with something else.
Feroza, you can add an additional 1/2 cup of greek yogurt in it’s place. I haven’t tried this before myself but it should work. I will say though, that the flavor will be a little different than using the apple sauce.
Wow! I got great reviews! My parents said they are they best things that I have ever baked! Haha.
For some reason the carrots turned green by the next day. Is there anything I could do about that for next time? Thanks for the recipe!
-R
Oh wow! Glad to hear you guys enjoyed them.
Did they really? I haven’t heard of the carrots turning green before. Hmm. Maybe perhaps store the muffins in the refrigerator for next time? Just bring them back to room temperature on the counter for a few minutes before enjoying. Hope that helps! 🙂
Im swapping out sugar for sucanat and using coconut milk yogurt instead of regular dairy yogurt, since I dont use dairy. The batter tastes delish so fingers crossed it works baking wise 🙂
Hie!!! I am wanting to try these muffins Tomm. Such great reviews that just can’t wait. I have 2 queries. Would be great if you could please help. One, I don’t have Greek Yogurt. Can I use plain yogurt? Two, I don’t have applesauce :(. Any replacement for it??? Thanks a ton!!
Hi Tanisha!
I’m so glad you’re going to give these carrot cake muffins a try! Yes, plain yogurt is fine, just use the exact same quantity. I am unsure of a substitute for the apple sauce. The flavor and moisture of these muffins are partly due to it. Please do let me know how you liked the muffins! 🙂
I could not find whole wheat flour from the grocery so I used APF all the way, total of 2 1/3 cups of APF. I also used vegetable oild instead of coconut oil. I also used almonds instead of walnuts. Well, it was a hit!!! My husband is not a muffin fan at all, but he loved every bit of it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi. I can’t find any whole wheat flour in the grocery. How much should I use if I only have all purpose flour?
Hi Allene, depending on where you are it may be called ‘wholemeal flour’. You can substitute all purpose flour if you’d like, replace the whole wheat flour with 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour. So use a total of 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour. Good luck!
Just made the muffins & they are very good, the only problem is that they seem to be very greasy at the bottom. I used paper liners & when I took them out of the muffin tin there was alot of oil at the bottom. I put them on a paper towel to absorb some of it. Is that the way they are supposed to be?
Hmm. I haven’t had that issue before. Did you use melted coconut oil?
Thanks for replying, yes I melted the coconut oil in the microwave. Could it be that I didn’t put enough oatmeal at the bottom? Maybe that’s what normally absorbs the oil.
Other than the oil issue, they taste great!
It may be the oats. If you’d like, you can cut the coconut oil back by 2 tablespoons for next time. Use 10 tablespoons instead of the 3/4 cup. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks so much for taking the time to post this recipe, it turned out really great! I’ve used it twice so far, the first time I only had fat free vanilla yogurt and it tasted amazing anyway, they were really moist, and I only use that word when I really need to because I hate the word “moist”, haha.
I also didn’t have ginger powder so I had to leave that out.
I used 1/2 cup raw sugar and 1/4 cup honey, again partly because that’s what I had, and I also like baking that’s on the less sweet side.
I particularly loved your tip of putting the oats on the bottom of the muffin tray and on the top, great idea that I’ve never seen before. I can’t remember where I saw this, but I read a great tip for melting coconut oil (I live in Canada so it’s liquid form in the jar in the summer months, but solidifies the rest of the year) – put the coconut oil in a glass jar and place it in a bowl of hot water, it turns into a liquid in just a few minutes. I’d always used the microwave before to turn it into liquid form, but I prefer not to use microwaves so I’ll be doing that from now on instead. As we know it’s always good to make sure your ingredients are room temperature when you’re baking, but especially so when you’re using coconut oil in a colder climate, I learned the hard way in the past by putting liquid coconut oil into cold ingredients and having it seize up right away, making it harder to blend.
Anyway for the second batch I used 2% plain yogurt but left everything else the same, and I used half the batter for a cake and the other half for muffins, but then I gave them all away without trying that batch so can’t compare it to the first, oops. The cake got glowing reviews, though!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sarah! Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment. So glad you like the little crunch from the rolled oats on the top and bottom. That’s one of my favorite parts <3 That's a great tip for melting coconut oil! I'm so happy to hear that that cake got great views 🙂
Thanks again!
I happened across your recipe today while searching for “carrot breakfast muffins”. Happy find 🙂 Turned out perfectly and we have some for later this week … I think. (I left the kiddos alone in the kitchen with them!) Thank you for sharing, made our day!
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed these muffins. Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment! 🙂
May I check whether the muffins will taste good without the sweetened coconut? I am unable to find shredded sweetened coconut. I was thinking is there anything i can substitute in place of the coconut.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Delia,
The muffins should taste fine without the sweetened coconut flakes. If you can find unsweetened coconut flakes, that should work just the same. If not, just simply omit it. It shouldn’t make a huge difference in taste.
Seriously the best muffins I EVER tried! My whole family absolutely loved them!
I have just seen this recipe. And I absolutely love, going to try it out tomorrow!!! I am crazy with this idea of adding almond milk and using only whole-wheat flower. Any advise?
Hi Christina,
You can use all whole wheat flour if you like but instead of using the 2 cups total flour the recipe calls for, use 1 3/4 cups flour (in total). Also, Add in about 3 tablespoons almond milk along with the rest of the ingredients. The almond milk will help keep the muffins moist since you’re using all whole-wheat flour. Let me know how it goes! Good luck! =)
What a blessing the moist, healthy carrot cake muffins have been to our family! I can serve them to my 96 year old mother and know she’s getting good nutrition. They are perfect for my 32 year old daughter who “hates breakfast” but desperately needs to eat it. And my husband and I can put them along side our health drink for a breakfast that’s fast and healthy. Plus they are scrumptious. All good ingredients in an easy to take form.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this carrot cake muffin recipe, Carol! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! =)
These muffins are fantastic! I doubled the recipe and used 1 cup coconut flour and pumpkin seeds instead of nuts for my 4 year old daughter to take to school. I also added 1/2 cup of powdered buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of flax/chia seed mix,and the greek yogurt was vanilla flavour. I will definitely be making these again!!! Mmmmm.
Instead of 1c all purpose flour, can I just use 2 cups whole wheat flour??
Hi lisa,
If you would like to use all whole wheat flour for this recipe, I suggest replacing the 1 cup of all purpose with 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour. So use a total of 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour. In addition to this increase the applesauce with an additional 2 tablespoons. That should ensure moist muffins that are completely whole wheat. I haven’t tried this myself, but the general rule of thumb is that 1 cup of all purpose is replaced by 3/4 cup whole wheat with the addition of 2 tablespoons of liquid. Let me know how it goes! =)
Can I make without the ginger powder? Don’t have any but really want to make this!
Hi Michelle,
Yes absolutely! These muffins can be made without the ginger powder! 🙂 no worries go right ahead and make ’em!
These are AMAZING!! Making my 3rd batch now in 2 weeks. My littles love them. I have made a batch in muffin top only pans so they think they are cookies 😉 Just baked at less time. THANK YOU!!
That’s such a good idea! Love that the muffin top pan makes healthy ‘cookies’ for the kiddos! Thanks for commenting!