These Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins are moist, flavourful and loaded with healthy ingredients! They're easy to make and are perfect for a on-the-go breakfast or snack. Oil free, Refined Sugar Free & Gluten Free Option
It's March. It's carrot season ya'll.
Okay, I actually don't know when it's officially carrot season because they're sold all year around for relatively cheap BUT I do know that march means we're approaching spring, which means easter is right around the corner, and to me easter means carrots!
What You Need for Carrot Muffins
Even though these carrot cake muffins taste like a treat, they're actually made with healthy ingredients! So yeah, totally have one (or 5) for breakfast.
- Carrots: (duh)
- Flax Egg: we're using the handy flax egg to replace eggs thats typically used in muffins
- Non dairy milk + apple cider vinegar: this combo makes a butter milk and will help activate the baking soda for that nice fluffy tall muffin
- Banana: makes these muffins moist without adding any oil
- Coconut Sugar: or any sugar of your choice
- Walnuts & Raisins: it ain't carrot cake without walnuts and raisins people... but if you really want swap it for other nuts, seeds or dried fruit
- Spelt Flour: you can also use all purpose flour, gluten free all purpose mix or oat flour (see notes)
- Almond Flour: again helps with the moisture without added oils
- Tapioca Starch: helps bind these muffins and make the perfect crumb
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda: for the tallest fluffy carrot muffins!!
- Flavour: vanilla, ginger, nutmeg, cloves & salt
How to Make Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
Muffins are a meal prep lovers best friend. Not only do they keep and freeze really well, but they're also so easy to make! Let show you just how easy:
- Mix all wet ingredients together
- Add the dry ingredients and fold it into the wet until JUST combined (you will see streaks of flour and thats okay)
- Fold in the carrots, raisins and walnuts (this will finish off mixing the dry ingredients)
- Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through-- use the handy toothpick test to check.
Tips to Making Vegan Carrot Muffins
- Fill Muffin Tins to the TOP: Filling them to the top will help achieve that tall muffin!
- Toss Raisins in Flour: if you have sticky raisins, toss them in 1-2 teaspoon of flour so you don't end up with half a batch of muffins packed with raisins.
- Size of Grated Carrots: I like to use a medium to large size grate because then I can actually get the texture and flavour of the carrots.
- Weigh Ingredients: as always, I recommend weighing out the ingredients as this ensures the most accurate and perfect muffins!
How to Store Carrot Cake Muffins
- Room Temperature: once fully cooled, store in air tight container lined with paper towel for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: to keep them for longer, freeze them individually in an air tight bag or container. To reheat, microwave for 30-60 seconds with a damp paper towel around it until warmed through.
I hope you try and LOVE these carrot cake muffins as much as I do! You can totes go all out and frost them up with some cashew frosting, coconut whip cream or even a nice coconut butter glaze!! Okay yeah, that definitely needs to happen..
More Delicious Vegan Muffins to Try!
- Vegan Banana Blender Muffins (gluten free, oil free)
- Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (gf, of)
- Banana Protein Muffins (gf, of)
- Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Muffins (gf, of)
- 1-bowl Chocolate Chip Tahini Muffins (gf, of)
If you recreate this Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
These Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins are moist, flavourful and loaded with healthy ingredients! They're easy to make and are perfect for a on-the-go breakfast or snack. Oil free, Refined Sugar Free & Gluten Free Option
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 muffins 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: vegan, gluten free
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp flax meal + 5 tbsp water, mixed together for 10 mins
- ½ cup non-dairy milk + 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar , mixed together for 10 mins (125ml)
- ⅔ cup mashed banana (150g)
- ½ cup coconut sugar (100g)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 ⅓ cup spelt flour (160g)*
- ⅔ cup almond flour (74g)
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch (15g)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup nuts walnuts (40g)
- ⅓ cup raisins (50g)
- 1 cup shredded carrot (155g)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 220 C (425 F). Line or grease 9 muffin tins.
- Into a large bowl, mash the banana until pureed. Add in the 'butter milk', flax egg, coconut sugar and vanilla and whisk to combine.
- Add in the spelt flour, almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt and fold all the ingredients together until JUST combined.
- Fold in the carrots, raisins and walnuts using a spatula.
- Divide the muffin batter between the 9 muffin tins (fill them to the top).
- Bake for 5 minutes at 220 C (425 F) for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180 C (350 F) and bake for another 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 3 minutes. Carefully transfer muffins to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
Notes
- *If using oat flour, use 1 ¼ cup oat flour + ¼ cup tapioca starch + ⅔ cup almond flour
- Helpful Equipment: large mixing bowl, spatula, whisk, muffin tin, muffin liners
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 229g
- Sugar: 18.7g
- Sodium: 160mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6.8g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: g37.2
- Fiber: 4.7g
- Protein: 5.8g
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: carrot cake muffins, carrot muffins, healthy vegan muffins
SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓
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Janna says
I made these and they are really good!
They are super fluffy, too! You really don't notice that there is no oil in them.
I would definitely make them again 🙂
★★★★★
Lisa Kitahara says
Hi Janna!
Happy to hear you enjoyed these muffins, thank you so much!
Leen says
Hey Lisa im planning to make these this weekend, can i use cornstarch instead of tapioca as i dont have it on hand?
Lisa Kitahara says
Hi Leen!
I haven't tried it with corn starch but the texture might be a bit off since corn starch is much goopy-er when combined with wet ingredients. They are very similar though, so you could try sub-ing half corn starch and more flour in place of it. Let me know how it goes!
Tiare says
Hi! I’d love to make this recipe but only have oat, whole wheat, almond, and coconut flour...will any of these work?
Lisa Kitahara says
If you read the recipe notes, it has options for oat flour and almond flour 🙂
Jessi says
I made these last night. They got stuck to the baking cups. I should've just greased the pan and baked them there but I wanted to use the baking cups. Do u think you can suggest why this happened? The flavor is amazing though. I'd totally make again!
★★★★
Lisa Kitahara says
Hi Jessi! Did you use parchment baking cups? I always use those because they don't stick. You can find them on amazon!
Rebecca Bozeman says
These muffins are over the top delicious! Has all the elements of a moist carrot cake combined with raisins and walnuts. I shredded organic carrots which have so much more flavor than non-organic carrots. Also, used the oatmeal flour combo, which always works for me in Okonomi Kitchen recipes. Heed her warning to let them cool before eating because they still are baking after removing from the oven! I am on day three of eating them and they hold up super well.
★★★★★
Leondra says
These were good, the flavor is great. I left them in my oven for a little longer though. Used arrowroot instead of cornstarch so it was too soft for my liking. But giving them a bit more time in the oven or even toasting them is *chefs kiss*
Ria Khurana says
Hey do u think using whole grain spelt flour will work too??
Lisa Kitahara says
Yes I think it will! You might need a bit more liquid just because whole grains tend to absorb more liquid 🙂
natasha says
I cannot find tapioca starch, anything else I can use?
Lisa Kitahara says
You can try potato starch but use a tad bit less since it tends to be more absorbent and drying 🙂
Stephanie says
This is a wonderful recipe! I used the oat/tapioca/almond flour combo and chia-seed eggs rather than flax (2Tbsp chia + 6Tbsp water). I baked them for 15 minutes longer. They are delicious! My husband and mother-in-law LOVED them! I whipped up some vegan cream cheese--vegan butter--coconut sugar topping, and holy moly, it's hard to have only one a day! Thank you for this recipe 🤩
★★★★★
Lindsey says
Also wanted to add that in ingredients it says to make the “butter milk” with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and then other underneath it calls for another tablespoon of apple cider vinegar? Is this correct or is there only 1 tablespoon for the buttermilk?
Lisa Kitahara says
Hi Lindsey! Just updated the recipe card, thanks for catching that. In terms of the oat flour question, you can see it can be substituted in the notes section 🙂
Ahniah says
These were amazing!!! I totally recommend making these. I substituted oat flour for GF all-purpose, and I did not use raisins.
★★★★★
Lisa Kitahara says
So glad you enjoyed, Ahniah! 🙂
Anita says
These were LUSH, even for my little cousin with her sweet tooth (topped hers with whipped cream but still)! I did the oat/almond/tapioca variation, subbed most of the banana with applesauce, and made 12 muffins. Needed an extra 10 mins in the oven but all was good after. They disappeared so fast ahha will need to make again.
I might try using spelt flour next time- do you think it makes cakes fluffier than oat flour does, or not really?
★★★★★
JoAnn says
I dont have cloves can i leave out or add more of one of spices in recipe? Thank you
Lisa Kitahara says
Yes but the flavour may change 🙂
Rachel says
These were very good I will make them again for sure! I didnt add raisins but I should have because that would have made them over the top. I added pecans and shredded coconut to the batter. I used coconut fkour instead of almond and added extra vanilla and butter extracts and used cinnamon and apple pie spice instead of clove etc. I added extra sugar and it still needed to be sweeter for me.Next time im thinking about adding pineapple and maybe a light icing. Thanks so much for the recipe!
★★★★★
Stephanie says
Hi! This recipe is almost perfect for us! I’m thinking Of using in place of a big ol sugary carrot cake for Easter! However we cannot do almond or coconut. Do you think I could use oat flour in place of the almond? I planned on using GF flour in place is the spelt. Thank you!!
Eva says
My first muffins i've ever made, love them! I substituted some ingredients i didn't have - corn starch for tapioca, only had 1 banana -> made 1/2 cup dattes puree (7-8 medium dattes) and skipped sugar. I used half all purpose flour/half rice flour. Definitely making them again very soon
★★★★★
Santa Simo says
Good morning, I am impressed as how to tasty and easy the vegan carrot cake muffins turned out to be. I love carrot cakes and I made these muffins for the first time following exactly the recipe you provided. It came out perfect, just like the picture you have in the website. I was wondering this same recipe can be used to make vegan carrot cake load bread?
Thanks
Hedy says
Very tasty. I opted for the oat flour option. 1/3cup banana, 1/3 cup grated pineapple, 1/3 cup coconut. Everything else the same. Made 12 medium Vegan, GF muffins.
★★★★★
Dee says
Thanks for sharing this recipe. The muffins turned out amazing. I substituted vinegar with lemon juice.
😊
★★★★★