Healthy Carrot Muffins
Enjoy healthy carrot muffins (or cupcakes) that are moist, soft, nutritious, and perfectly spiced. The muffins are made with unrefined sugars, are oil-free, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and vegan (but don't taste it!). Great for breakfast, a snack, or grab-and-go treat!
Servings 9 muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (140 g) gluten-free flour (see notes for subs)
- 3/4 cup (84 g) ground almonds (see notes)
- 8 Tbsp (70 g) coconut sugar (or sugar of choice)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 heaped tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- 2 cups (not packed) (140 g) carrots finely grated
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) canned coconut milk (see notes)
- 2 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- For the most accurate results, measuring ingredients using my gram weights rather than the cup measurement is important. Simply use a kitchen scale and bowl and zero it out in between adding ingredients.You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.
- First, finely grate the carrots using a box grater or food processor disk and set them aside. Meanwhile, line a muffin tin (or silicone mold) with 9 regular-sized paper liners and preheat the oven to 360 °F/180 °C.
- Next, combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir/whisk.
- Then, pour in the wet ingredients (coconut milk, lemon juice, and vanilla), and mix with a spatula.
- Fold in the grated carrots, ensuring they're properly dispersed.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake the carrot muffins for between 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (or with a few crumbs, but not wet).
- Finally, leave the muffins to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing them from the muffin pan to cool completely on the wire rack. Optionally frost the muffins, e.g. with a simple icing, cashew cream, or a vegan cream cheese frosting. I also decorated them with homemade marzipan carrots. Enjoy!
Notes
- Flour: I used my own gluten-free flour mix, consisting of 80 g rice flour and 60 g potato starch. All-purpose gluten-free flour blends, like King Arthur's or Bob's Red Mill, work too. Alternatively, use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, or spelt flour.
- Milk: I used canned coconut milk (about 20% fat content). If using any other dairy-free milk, replace 30-40 ml with vegetable oil for moister carrot muffins.
- Almonds: Instead of ground almonds (almond flour), you could use ground walnuts or hazelnuts.
- Sugar: Different sugar can weigh differently. I.e. 1 Tbsp of coconut sugar weighs 9 grams vs. white sugar, which weighs 12 grams. For that reason, using my metric measurements is most accurate.
- Icing: I made a sugar-free icing by using equal amounts of powdered Erythritol and powdered dairy-free milk (e.g. coconut, soy, rice), plus a little dairy-free milk to thin.
Nutrition Facts
Healthy Carrot Muffins
Serving Size
1 muffin
Amount per Serving
Calories
170
% Daily Value*
Fat
7
g
11
%
Saturated Fat
2
g
10
%
Sodium
168
mg
7
%
Potassium
170
mg
5
%
Carbohydrates
23
g
8
%
Fiber
4
g
16
%
Sugar
9
g
10
%
Protein
3
g
6
%
Vitamin A
139
IU
3
%
Vitamin C
2
mg
2
%
Calcium
88
mg
9
%
Iron
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.