This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins- a SUPER simple vegan breakfast that you’ll find yourself making over and over again because they’re SO GOOD!
Oh hey, hi! Yes, I’m sharing another muffin recipe. Are you sick of muffins yet because I’ve been sharing a lot of them lately but I’m not really at all sorry about it.
I know that I say this pretty much every single time that I post a new muffin recipe BUT these muffins are my new favorite muffins on the blog. I kept testing these under the premise of getting them “just right” but really, I just wanted an excuse to make and eat another batch of them. Once again, not sorry about it.
I mean: LOOK how fluffy are these muffins!?
And I know this picture makes it look like there are raisins in there but there are in fact no raisins. That’s just the skin of the walnuts that you see.
Here’s the one bad thing about these muffins: they’re at their peak right out of the oven while they’re still warm and soft. You can totally eat them after this, they just aren’t *quite* as good. And if you are going to eat them later, I HIGHLY recommend popping them in the microwave briefly (~30 seconds) to lightly warm them up.
Warm muffins are the only way to eat muffins anyways, right?
To keep these a little healthier, we’re ditching white sugar and using maple syrup instead. And to keep these muffins vegan, we’re using nut butter and mashed banana to bind these together instead of an egg. Simple and easy!
Can you make these muffins gluten free?
While it’s on my to-do list to test a gluten free version of this recipe, I have not been able to get around to it yet. However, I’m confident that you can use any gluten free 1-1 flour. I’ve had great luck with THIS Bobs Red Mill gluten free flour and THIS Cup4Cup gluten free flour.
How to make these vegan muffins:
These muffins are ridiculously easy to make and I worked it so that you only have to dirty ONE bowl (instead of mixing the wet and dry ingredients in 2 different bowls). The banana is mashed and then the other wet ingredients are mixed in. Once that is fully combined, we add in the dry ingredients and mix. Then bake and BAM amazing muffins!
That’s it! The ease of this recipe is why I eat muffins FAR to often :)
DO YOU NEED MUFFIN LINERS?
I find muffin liners completely unnecessary and even a waste. The only time that I find them useful, I guess, is if you’re making muffins/ cupcakes to take to a party. Then it can be nice to have some sort of barrier between the muffins and lots of hands that might be touching them. Otherwise, I just spray the pan well and never have any issues with the muffins sticking at all.
Alternatively, you can use THESE silicon liners that are easy and reusable. I have some and they can be run through the dishwasher which I love! There is also THIS silicone muffin tin which looks rather handy!
MORE VEGAN MUFFINS THAT YOU’LL LOVE:
See how to make these Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins here:
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour, I use all purpose but you can also use whole wheat, pastry flour, or a gluten free 1-1 substitute
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup almond milk
- 3 tablespoons nut butter, I used peanut butter this time but have also made these with almond butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 medium banana, mashed
- ½ cup grated carrot, I use a medium grate but you can also finely grate them
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts, or pecans plus more for topping if desired. You can also omit the nuts completely.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 6 cup muffin tin.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Stir in the milk, nut butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and mashed banana. Stir until well combined.
- Gently stir in the grated carrot and nuts.
- Evenly spoon the mixture into the 6 muffin cups.
- Top with a few more chopped nuts if desired and bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool slightly and ENJOY!!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Me and my boyfriend made this today and we both loved it!!!
Made these with my 4-yo last week and I LOVE that he thinks adding veggies to muffins is an amazing idea! Great texture and simple bake. I may add a little more sweetness next time, but I also won’t admit how much butter I like to lather on my muffins ;)
P.S. What’s the best way to store these?
hahah! So glad that you liked it, Elizabeth!! And thank you so much for coming back to let me know! We usually just store them in an air tight container on the counter and eat them within a couple days. If you want them to keep longer, I suggest putting them in the fridge to keep up to about 5 days
How many calories are in them without the walnuts?
https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I copy and print recipes into this online calorie and nutrition calculator. Since I usually adapt recipes, like removing nuts or changing the type of flour, it helps me to see what the calories will be.
Hope this helps you to get the information you want.
Just made . Wonderful
I ended up with extra battery. Had a mini size cupcake pan so discided to try
Bake in over with others. Came out perfect and not dry due to smaller sizing.
Loved this recipe! It looked and as good as it tasted! Will be making many more times.
YAY! So glad that you liked them, Sasha!!
This recipe was so amazing! I was pleasantly surprised at how moist and fluffy they were and especially because they were vegan. Nothing worse than a dry muffin! These were super easy to whip up and all in one bowl too. These had such a wonderful cozy flavors such as: banana, carrots, cinnamon, and maple syrup. I can’t wait to make this recipe again and to try other FWF muffin recipes! FWF has the best recipes ever!
aww thank you so much for the kind words, Becca! Really means a lot to me and I’m so glad that you liked the recipe!
I am not much of a baker and these turned out amazing. So easy and incredibly delicious. A definite keeper, thank you!!
yay! SO SO glad that you liked them!! This is def one of my favorite muffin recipes!
These muffins are delicious! So moist And very easy to make!! I added raisins and walnuts!!
The tastiest carrot muffins i’ve ever had, no sugar = guilt free ;)
What could be the perfect substitute for maple syrup?
Hi Brita your recipe is simple and amazing. Made it couple of times but did not last even for 20 min the time taken for baking?? was off the table within 5 mins. They were light and fluffy. A very good recipe for me and my family as I always hunt for eggless versions ??