Healthy muffins! That taste like carrot cake! Oh, I think these healthy carrot cake muffins might just be a dream come true.
Truth be told, carrot cake gets me every single time. I fell in love with it a few years ago and my craving for cake has quadrupled since then. I can’t get over the spices, flavor, and that thick-n-creamy cream cheese frosting that pairs so wonderfully with the cake. I’m not sure it gets better. By the way, if you haven’t tried my grain free healthy carrot cake recipe, DO IT!
But wait, it does. Because now you can officially have carrot cake for breakfast in muffin form. I know, it’s probably not quite the same but my goodness does it crush a carrot cake craving like no other.
What makes these carrot cake muffins healthy?
Traditional muffin recipes can be packed with oil or butter and lots of refined sugars. To make these carrot cake muffins healthier, this recipe is made with applesauce and just a bit of olive oil for moisture plus pure maple syrup to sweeten them naturally. That’s right, these muffins aren’t baked with any refined sugars (except the glaze if you use it!)
Everything you need to make carrot cake muffins
Not only are these carrot cake muffins delicious, but they’re also made with nutrient-dense ingredients compared to a regular slice of carrot cake. Natural sweeteners, whole grains, and both fruits and veggies make them the perfect brunch treat or snack for both kids & adults. Here’s what you need:
- Flour: I like to use white whole wheat flour because it has the same nutritional benefits as whole wheat flour, but are much lighter in flavor and texture. You can usually find it at your local grocer. If you can’t, try looking for whole wheat pastry flour.
- Pure maple syrup: I prefer maple syrup but honey would also do the trick.
- Unsweetened applesauce: I love baking with applesauce because it naturally sweetens the recipe, adds fiber and vitamins and provides moisture to give these muffins a nice texture. Even though I use a few tablespoons of healthy oil in this recipe, most of the healthy fats come from walnuts or pecans.
- Milk: feel free to use any milk you’d like! I love using vanilla almond milk or coconut milk for a little extra flavor in the muffins. To keep these dairy free, use a dairy free milk.
- Eggs: you’ll just need one to help these carrot cake muffins stay together.
- Shredded carrots: you’ll need to shred about 2-3 medium carrots, but make sure to measure 1 cup full total. If you’re feeling like you want more, you can use 1 1/2 cups.
- Cozy spices: cinnamon & nutmeg add a cozy flavor to these healthy carrot cake muffins and gives them that carrot cake flavor goodness.
- For the glaze: cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and a splash of almond milk.
Simple ingredient swaps
Out of a few ingredients? Here’s what I can suggest for substitutions:
- Swap the applesauce. If you’re out of applesauce you can actually use 1 ripe mashed banana instead.
- Choose the oil. Melted and cooled coconut oil, olive oil and avocado oil will all work well in the recipe. Or choose an oil like walnut or hazelnut oil. Butter also works great — totally up to you!
- Milk of choice. I like to use almond or coconut milk in this recipe, but feel free to use any milk you’d like.
Can I make them gluten free?
I haven’t tested these carrot cake muffins with a gluten free flour, but I think chickpea flour or an all purpose gluten free flour should work well!
How to make vegan carrot cake muffins
Yes, these healthy carrot cake muffins should work well with a vegan substitute! Simply replace the egg with a flax egg. Learn how to make a flax egg here! Remember to also leave off cream cheese frosting (or use a dairy free cream cheese) and instead sprinkle tops with cinnamon and coarse sugar.
Have fun with mix-ins
Try adding shredded coconut, raisins or even fresh pineapple to these carrot cake muffins! Everyone prefers their carrot cake differently, so feel free to add them or enjoy the muffins as-is.
Tips for the best carrot cake muffins
- Follow the recipe. The best way to ensure the success of these healthy carrot cake muffins is to follow the recipe and use the exact ingredients as written (unless I note specific substitutes).
- Use finely shredded carrots. Shred those babies nice and thin so that they mix well in the batter.
- Do not overmix the batter. If you overmix batter you’ll end up with dense and gummy carrot cake muffins instead of fluffy and soft ones.
- Use fresh baking soda. If your baking soda is older than 3 months, I suggest grabbing a new one for best baking results.
Looking for a carrot cake bread?
I think these healthy carrot cake muffins can be made into a bread, too! Simply pour the batter into an 8×4 inch loaf pan greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Alternatively, try my famous carrot cake banana bread for a wonderful option.
How to store carrot cake muffins
- In the fridge: store these carrot cake muffins on the counter in an airtight container for a day, then transfer them to the fridge for up to 4-5 days. The muffins really do get better after sitting in an airtight container for a day; they sweeten up a bit and get super soft. Served with a big glass of almond milk!
- Freezer-friendly carrot cake muffins: Feel free to freeze these babies for later! Allow them to cool completely after baking, then place them in an airtight container or reusable bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat them, you can microwave them for 45 seconds-1 minute or until warm. I suggest freezing them without the the glaze and simply adding the glaze when you’re ready to enjoy them.
Recommended tools
- Mixing bowls
- Box grater
- Wooden spoon
- Whisk
- Muffin tin
- Muffin liners
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Wire Rack
Don’t forget to check out all of our favorite kitchen essentials.
More carrot cake recipes you’ll love
- Healthier Carrot Cake Banana Bread with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Carrot Cake Smoothie
- Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies (made with coconut oil + dairy free!)
- The Best Healthy Carrot Cake You’ll Ever Eat (gluten free & paleo-friendly!)
Get all of our carrot cake recipes here, and our Easter recipes here!
I hope you love these healthy carrot cake muffins! If you make them I’d love for you to leave a comment and a rating letting me know how you liked them. I greatly appreciate it – xoxo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Easy & Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour (all purpose flour or all purpose gf flour also works!)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup finely shredded carrots (from about 2-3 carrots)
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅓ cup natural unsweetened applesauce (or sub 1 mashed ripe banana)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or melted coconut oil, walnut oil or avocado oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk (any milk will work)
- Optional mix-ins:
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- For the glaze:
- 4 oz light cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons almond milk, to thin glaze
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with liners and spray the inside with nonstick cooking spray to prevent batter from sticking to the liners. You can also omit the liners and generously spray the muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Next add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a medium bowl; stir to combine and then set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, add carrots, maple syrup, applesauce, egg, oil and vanilla. Whisk to combine wet ingredients then slowly stir in milk and flour mixture until just combined.
- Fold in shredded coconut and raisins, if you'd like. Divide batter evenly between muffins cups or liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in pan then transfer muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once muffins are completely cool, you can make the cream cheese glaze: Place cream cheese in medium microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 10-20 seconds or until cream cheese is somewhat warm and a little runny. Stir gently and add in powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of milk; stir again and add more milk if necessary until glaze reaches desired consistency; not too runny and not overly thick.
- Dip each muffin top into cream cheese glaze then place back on wire rack. Sprinkle with shredded coconut or walnuts/pecans if desired. Makes 12 muffins.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
Originally published on Feb 12, 2015, republished on April 4th, 2020, updated with new photos and republished on March 30th, 2021, republished on April 8th, 2022, republished on March 28th, 2023, and republished on April 3rd, 2025.
These are actually amazing. Just made them and omg heavenly….
Every recipe i make from this website is incredible
So happy to hear that!
Texture and taste are fine, but, as written, this recipe has ZERO spices. Not what I’m expecting when I think of carrot cake. I baked a test dozen that were so bland. For me anyway. For the next two dozen (I was baking for a sale), I added cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and was much happier with the final product.
I always find that the cinnamon and nutmeg add the perfect cozy flavor, but you can absolutely up the spices!
Can you use carrot puree for all or part of the carrot in these muffins? Thanks can’t wait to try them!
I haven’t tried it so I can’t recommend for sure, but I would say 1/2 cup carrot puree might work?
Made these for my kiddos lunch/snacks. Omitted the icing and not missing it at all. These will disappear quick. Super tasty!!
Love that! Perfect snack 🙂
These.Are.Delicious!! Made them for Easter brunch today. Will definitely have these on regular rotation!
So happy to hear that!
These were super tasty but mine were a little too wet. I used whole wheat pastry flour. Could that have been the problem?
Hmm that shouldn’t be an issue! Did you use the spoon-and-level method for measuring the flour? And did you by chance pack the shredded carrots?
Came out fabulous!!
Variations: made a double batch. Went heavy on the carrots, added raisins (golden & regular),coconut, walnuts.
Added 1/2 Vanilla & 1/2 ube extracts for an amazing purple icing.
Perfect! Ube sounds so fun!
I subbed applesauce for mashed banana and maple syrup for brown sugar with a little water (i was out) and they still turned out perfect! So delicious bur not too sweet, these will be a breakfast go to from now on and I love how nutritious they are!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Love these for spring 🙂
I was in the mood for carrot cake, but without all the calories. When your recipe popped up as the first one on my browser, I knew it was a sign to make this. It turned out so well! I subbed cassava flour instead of wheat flour (adjusted it accordingly). It was delicious. Yet another great AK recipe! Thanks!!
Perfect! I’m glad that swap worked out, too!
I loved these!!! I am wondering if you could make this into a cake?
Hi Kelly! I recommend making this recipe if you’re looking for a cake: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/the-best-healthy-carrot-cake/ 🙂
Followed the recipe exactly and it had no flavor and was super stodgy.
Sorry to hear they weren’t a hit for you!
This is the best muffin recipe! I make it all the time. I have subbed the carrots for zucchini or apples and the applesauce for crushed pineapple in the can. I have also added oats. They always turn out to be the most tender muffins that I don’t even need the glaze (which I have done but I sweetened with maple syrup). I have tried a few other recipes, this is the best! Thank you!
Perfect! These are great for customizing 🙂 Glad you love these!!
The muffin recipe is simple and yummy. (only had 1/3 c syrup and turned out fine/sweet enough) Ide skip the glaze – too “creamcheesy” and sour especially using light cream cheese. (There is a reason cream cheese icing is combined with butter) Great on there own though and can easily try a diff topping which I will do if I make them again. Appreciate this healthier recipe. Thanks!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Tastes so good. I haven’t made a bad tasting baked good yet from this site. Every recipe is delicious and muffin so soft and light. I used 1 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup almond meal, they turned out delicious
I’m so glad! Such a great muffin 🙂
Absolutely delicious. A crowd pleaser for sure
So happy to hear that!
This is likely a good recipe which I plan to try but I saw your video first on Facebook for a healthy carrot cake made with rolled oats that I wanted to follow but no exact measurements were included. So frustrating. Under eggs (plural) doesn’t say how many, under baking powder? Or soda? Or rolled oats? I couldn’t find amounts easily but did find the website in the comments & it still wasn’t easy to find amounts of the ingredients. Please post them first or within your descriptions of applesauce (how much?) is it too much to ask to get the list of ingredients so we know if we have them? Thanks.
Hi! The video is not meant to show you the recipe amounts – that’s what this recipe post is for. The video will help you see what ingredients are involved, and what the steps look like 🙂 Feel free to watch the video and get the full recipe on this post at the bottom with all of the measurements.
I was planning to pack the muffins as snacks for work and I thought the glaze on top would be too messy, so I omitted the almond milk so the cream cheese mixture would stay thicker. I instead layered that mixture in the middle of the muffin as a filling, and it turned out great! Warming up the muffins a bit in the microwave made the cream cheese filling all warm and melty. So good!
Love that idea!! Glad you enjoyed!
These cupcakes came out really good! I did add a tsp of baking powder as well though. They were fluffy and tasty! I did not make the frosting though because I already had some left over but next time I will try it. Easy to follow and make!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
Delicious and will definitely be making these again! I used chopped pecans for the mix in and dropped a little almond extract in the glaze. The muffin portion is super moist. Love the recipe!
Amazing! Love the idea of adding almond extract 🙂
Can you substitute coconut nut sugar for maple syrup
I haven’t tested it so I’m not sure if it will change the texture!
I have been baking gluten free for many years. Any recipe for carrot cake, pumpkin breads or banana breads work well with splitting the required flour amount with half all purpose gluten free flour and half brown rice flour. It yields a tender crumb and has never failed me.
Looking forward to trying it in this recipe! Love your site and your many delicious recipes. Thank you Monique!!!
Great! I hope you love this one!
These were wonderful. I made them into mini muffins making 30 minis. Soft, moist and full of flavor! The only changes I made were as follows … 1/4 cup honey for the 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1 over ripe banana for the 1/3 cup apple sauce, and 1/2 cup craisens. I also used almond milk I made earlier today. The changes I made were because I didn’t have the ingredients in the recipe otherwise I would have made as written. I didn’t make the frosting because they were great without it. Thanks for sharing this recipe. They were yummy and went fast. Need to make another batch shortly!
Perfect! Great idea to make mini muffins!
Wow. I just made these and they are DELICIOUS! Another perfect AK recipe. Love a healthy baked good that can be a treat or breakfast. These came together so easily too!
So happy you loved them!
Used GF all purpose flour and worked great. Thank you!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
These turned out amazing! I ended up making a second batch the same day because they were that good and so easy to make also! New go to recipe❤️ thank you!
So good and not overly sweet!
I made these and they completely stuck to the papers, and I used everything as in the recipe… Don’t know where it went wrong…
So strange! Did you spray the inside of the muffin liners with nonstick cooking spray as I mentioned in Step 1?
my kids loved these!! will be making them again – thanks!
Can I use matchstick carrots and chop finely?
That should work!
question! have you ever added protein powder to the baking? If yes – how much do you add in, or do you use less flour, and sub some protein powder for it? 🙂
I haven’t tested it in this recipe so I’m not 100% sure what the ratios would be! If you try it, I’d suggest reducing the flour.
I made these with plain wheat flour. Though the flavour was really lovely, the texture was dense, heavy and dry. I didn’t overmix, so not sure what happened! Maybe it’s better with gluten free flours.
Hi! If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour I’d suggest using regular all-purpose flour. Wheat flour on its own will make these much denser.
These muffins were so good! Not too sweet but with tons of flavor! I did add more powdered sugar to the cream cheese frosting because I wanted more sweetness as I was gifting half of the muffins. Overall, this is an amazing recipe and I’ll definitely make this again!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
This recipe was perfect! I mixed in raisins, coconut, and walnuts. Curious if it would be good with pineapple too. I think we found our new favorite carrot cake recipe! We used regular flour because that is what we had, but would like to try with whole wheat too.
Love those mix-ins! Glad you enjoyed 🙂