These healthier carrot cake muffins are made with nutritious ingredients like whole wheat flour, unsweetened applesauce, and fresh carrots. They are so fluffy and moist, plus, they’re so easy to make! These are perfect for breakfast, especially in the spring.
Why I love these healthy carrot cake muffins
- They taste AMAZING! These healthy carrot cake muffins have less oil and sugar than traditional recipes, but they are still super moist and fluffy thanks to ingredients like grated carrots and unsweetened applesauce. They are also full of spices like cinnamon and ginger, so you get all of the flavor of traditional carrot cake!
- They are made with wholesome ingredients! These carrot cake muffins are made with nutritious ingredients like whole wheat flour, fresh carrots, unsweetened applesauce, nuts, and coconut. They taste light and fluffy, but help keep me full and energized! I love enjoying reheating one of these muffins in the microwave for a simple and delicious breakfast. These are also made with much less oil and sugar than traditional carrot cake!
- These healthy carrot muffins are so easy to make! All you need are two mixing bowls and some basic tools! There is no electric mixer required and the batter comes together in less than 15 minutes. I strongly recommend grating the carrots by hand for the best texture, but if you are in a rush, you can quickly pulse the carrots in a food processor!
Key ingredients for healthy carrot cake muffins
- Whole wheat flour: I love using whole wheat flour because of its added nutrition compared to white flour! It also adds a deeper and more complex flavor to these muffins, which tastes amazing!
- All purpose flour: For the best texture, I like to use a mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. The all purpose flour helps to keep these muffins super fluffy and light. If you would like to use only whole wheat flour for even more nutritious muffins, feel free to replace the all purpose flour and add an extra 2 tablespoons of applesauce. The muffins may be slightly denser, but they will still taste amazing!
- Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger: These classic carrot cake spices help give these muffins the perfect flavor! For best results, use freshly ground spices but pre-ground works great as well.
- Baking soda and baking powder: These leaveners are essential to helping the muffins rise and become fluffy while baking. Always make sure that your baking soda and baking powder isn’t expired!
- Neutral oil: Oil helps keep these muffins super moist! I like to use a neutral oil like vegetable oil, but olive oil works as well.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture to these muffins. However, this recipe only calls for 1/3 cup of brown sugar, which results in lightly sweetened muffins. For sweeter, more cake-like flavor, increase the sugar to 2/3 cups.
- Eggs: For easy mixing and the best texture, use room temperature eggs. However, since this recipe uses oil, not butter, you can also use eggs straight from the fridge if you are in a rush!
- Unsweetened applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce is the secret to these healthy carrot cake muffins! It helps keep these muffins super moist, even with reduced sugar and oil.
Tips for making these healthy carrot cake muffins
- Room temperature eggs: Using room temperature eggs helps these muffins rise higher in the oven, leading to tall, fluffy muffins! If you are in a rush, you can use eggs straight from the fridge or run the eggs under warm water to quickly warm them up.
- Mixing the wet ingredients: When whisking the wet ingredients together, you may find that the mixture is not completely smooth. This is totally okay! The applesauce will not want to mix with the oil. Just make sure that everything is evenly incorporated.
- Mixing the wet and dry ingredients together: Since this recipe uses whole wheat flour, it is important not to over mix the batter! As long as there are no more dry pockets of flour, you are good to go. It is okay if there are small lumps in the batter! I also prefer to fold in the grated carrots and other mix ins instead of whisking.
- Baking: Since this batter has a lot of moisture, it may take longer to bake depending on your oven. I prefer to test the muffins with a toothpick instead of relying on time. An inserted toothpick should come out clean, with no crumbs.
Variations and substitutions for these healthy carrot cake muffins
- Flour: If you would like to use only whole wheat flour for even more nutritious muffins, feel free to replace the all purpose flour and add an extra 2 tablespoons of applesauce. The muffins may be slightly denser, but they will still taste amazing! On the other hand, if you don’t have whole wheat flour, feel free to use only all purpose flour.
- Spices: Feel free to add ground cloves or increase the amount of spices if you prefer a heavily spiced carrot cake.
- Neutral oil: Feel free to use olive oil instead of neutral oil.
- Brown sugar: For sweeter, more cake-like flavor, increase the sugar to 2/3 cups.
- Mix ins: I love adding walnuts, shredded coconut, and raisins to my carrot cake. However, if you prefer a carrot cake with just carrots, feel free to skip these mix ins! If you like making carrot cake with pineapple, try substituting 1/2 cup applesauce with crushed pineapple.
- Cream cheese: For more decadent muffins, try adding some cream cheese frosting on top once the muffins have cooled.
If you liked these healthy carrot cake muffins, you might also like…
- Healthier Carrot Cake
- Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
- Healthy Breakfast Muffins
- Bakery Style Zucchini Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
These muffins are moist, fluffy, and so easy to make! They have the delicious flavor of carrot cake, but in muffin form. These are made with nutritious ingredients and less sugar for a healthier twist on this spring time classic!
Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg optional
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup neutral oil
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
- 2 cups freshly grated carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts optional
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut optional
- 1/4 cup raisins optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil, brown sugar, and eggs. Then add the vanilla extract and applesauce and whisk until incorporated. It is okay if the mixture is not completely smooth.
- Stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Then fold in the grated carrots, walnuts, coconut, and raisins. Be careful not to overmix. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to rest in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy warm or at room temperature!
Notes
If you do not have whole wheat flour, feel free to substitute all purpose flour.
For the fluffiest muffins, use room temperature eggs.
Nutritional information (per muffin): 240 calories, 11 grams sugar, 3 grams fiber, 5 grams protein
Thank you for the recipe. The muffins are very soft and tasty. They are gone fast! Will double next time!
Hi Maggie, I’m so glad you enjoyed the carrot muffins and I truly appreciate your review!
[…] Healthy carrot cake muffins […]
Plan to make this. Sounds Devine
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Hi Norma, I hope you enjoy them!