Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins: A healthy, naturally sweetened carrot cake recipe made into muffins! They’re gluten-free, dairy-free, and absolutely delish! Top with homemade (dairy-free!) cream cheese frosting, shredded coconut, grated carrots, and chopped walnuts!
ingredients:
Almond Flour: These muffins use my favorite blend of flours for gluten-free baking: almond, oat, and tapioca! The almond flour flour creates a fluffy, moist muffin or bread.
Oat Flour: Next, oat flour is the secondary baking flour in this recipe, and I find it adds a firmness to the bread while also giving it a delicious texture with small flakes of oats.
Tapioca Flour: The tapioca flour is a binding flour that holds the base of the muffin together. You can also substitute arrowroot starch 1:1.
Eggs: 3 to be exact!
Maple Syrup: pure maple syrup for natural sweetness.
Applesauce: The applesauce replaces oil and creates such a moist muffin!
Leavening: You’ll need both baking powder and baking soda for this recipe.
Spices: These muffins call for cinnamon and nutmeg which gives a touch of warmth to the muffins.
Grated Carrots: It wouldn’t be carrot cake without carrots! This recipe uses 1 cup of grated carrots, or about one very large carrots. Note: It’s necessary to finely grate the carrots yourself. Buying shredded carrots in the store are not quite fine enough for a muffin or loaf cake recipe.
Frosting: You’ll need dairy-free cream cheese (you can also use regular if you prefer), a touch of maple syrup, tapioca flour, and cinnamon. OR use your favorite homemade or store bought cream cheese frosting!
FAQ:
The batter for this carrot cake muffin recipe should be right in the middle of thick and thin. It won’t be too thick, and it won’t be runny. Right in the sweet spot!
When it comes to muffins and loaf cakes, you don’t want to over mix the batter. For that reason, I like to mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then gently combine them with a large spoon just until combined. Then, fold in the carrots last.
Store these in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- muffin tin
- Grater for carrots
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1ΒΌ cup almond flour about ~120 grams
- 1 cup oat flour about ~100 grams
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour or arrowroot starch
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Wet Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrots
Homemade Frosting (optional):
- 4 oz softened dairy-free cream cheese
- 1Β½ tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp tapioca flour
- sprinkle of cinnamon
Garnish Toppings (optional):
- grated coconut
- chopped walnuts
- shredded carrots
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Start by combining the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl: almond flour, oat flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (besides the carrots): eggs, maple syrup, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients bowl and gently mix with a spoon until combined. Then, fold in the grated carrots.
- In a greased or lined muffin tin, portion the batter. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- While the muffins bake, make the frosting. Combine softened cream cheese, maple syrup, tapioca flour, and cinnamon until smooth. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Let the muffins fully cool and top with the frosting. Garnish with a sprinkle of shredded coconut, grated carrots, or chopped walnuts. Store in the fridge and enjoy!