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These healthy carrot cake muffins have all the flavors of a classic carrot cake, but in muffin size. Made with wholesome ingredients, these muffins are a healthy option for a quick snack or breakfast on-the-go.
We love keeping some homemade muffins on hand for a quick grab-and-go snack. However, not all muffin recipes are created equal so I developed this healthy carrot cake muffin recipe that is packed with whole grains, gluten free, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup.
Even though they are made with healthier ingredients, they still taste delicious. Your whole family is sure to love them!
Muffin recipes like this one freeze well, so I sometimes like to make a double batch so I only have to clean the kitchen once – while also stocking up on a healthy snack option.
Make this recipe your own by incorporating other mix-ins like nuts or shredded coconut.
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What Makes These Carrot Cake Muffins Healthy?
While everyone has a little bit of a different definition of what healthy means to them personally, here are a few of the reasons we love these healthier carrot cake muffins.
- We swap all purpose flour for oat flour and almond flour. Oats are a whole grain and associated with all kinds of health benefits like lower cholesterol. Use gluten free certified oats (or oat flour) and these muffins will be gluten free.
- By using almond flour, eggs, and yogurt in these muffins, they have a little more protein than traditional carrot cake muffin recipes.
- Pure maple syrup replaces refined sugar so these are naturally sweetened.
- These muffins are made with a healthier oil like olive oil or avocado oil which have less saturated fat instead of the butter sometimes used in traditional carrot cake muffin recipes.
Ingredients for Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
All you need are a few pantry staple ingredients to make these healthy carrot cake muffins.
- Oat flour: using oat flour in place of all purpose flour is a great way to incorporate more whole grains into your muffins. If you can’t find oat flour, you can easily make your own. Just add oats to a high powered blender and blend for about 1 minute until fine flour forms.
- Almond flour: adds protein and healthy fats to these muffins while also making them tender.
- Baking powder & baking soda: adds plenty of lift to this muffin recipe so they rise well in the oven.
- Spices (Ground Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg): a classic combo of spices for adding that carrot cake flavor we all know and love.
- Eggs: help these muffins hold their structure as well as adding moisture.
- Pure Maple Syrup: instead of refined sugar, these healthier muffins are naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup.
- Plain Yogurt: use a plain yogurt for these muffins – full fat or low fat both work. You can also use Greek yogurt if you prefer. The yogurt helps make these healthier muffins moist.
- Avocado Oil: we like using avocado oil, olive oil, or coconut oil in our baked goods.
- Carrot: you’ll need about 1-2 medium sized carrots for this recipe. I like to use the smallest size on my box grater because I like the smaller pieces of carrots in muffins like this one. Don’t use pre-shredded carrots.
- Raisins: use regular or golden raisins for this healthy muffin recipe. If you aren’t a fan of raisins – you can leave them out.
Variations
- Try Different Mix-ins: Feel free to add other mix-ins to these muffins instead of raisins. These are also great with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, pecans, or shredded coconut.
- Use Applesauce: You can use applesauce instead of the pure maple syrup to sweeten these muffins.
- Make Mini Muffins: Line a mini muffin tin with paper liners and fill with batter. Recipe should make 24 mini muffins. Reduce the baking time to 10-12 minutes.
- Add Frosting: for an extra special treat, you can add this healthy cream cheese frosting (made with greek yogurt) to the top of these muffins once they have cooled to room temperature. They become healthier cupcakes!
How to Make Healthy Carrot Muffins
These healthy carrot muffins are simple to put together in a few steps.
Preheat the Oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add paper liners to each of the muffin cups in your muffin pan. (I highly recommend using the liners rather than just adding cooking spray to the muffin pan.)
Mix the Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, add the oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir with a whisk to combine.
Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, add in the eggs, maple syrup, yogurt, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.
Combine: Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until mixed with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrot and raisins.
Fill Muffin Pan & Bake: Transfer batter to the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the center is set. (You can test with a toothpick – it’s done when it comes out clean besides a couple of crumbs.)
Storage
Fridge: store cooled muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Freezer: cooled muffins can be stored in a ziplock bag or freezer safe container for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or warm up in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes to Enjoy
Try my other healthy muffin recipes:
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin pan
- Muffin liners (paper or reusable)
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup oat flour
- ¾ cup almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt
- ¼ cup avocado oil, or melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups finely grated carrot
- ½ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir with a whisk to combine.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, add the large eggs, maple syrup, yogurt, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until mixed with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrot and raisins.
- Transfer batter to the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the center is set. (You can test with a toothpick.) Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way.
This recipe looks great but the nutritional info looks amiss. 4 TBS of butter across 12 muffins couldn’t equate to 1 gram of fat per muffin?? Am I missing something?
Hi Mary – Thanks so much for pointing that out & we are so sorry! We re-calculated it and you’re right, it was a little off. It’s been revised!