If you’re looking for a healthier take on the classic flavor of carrot cake, these fluffy vegan carrot muffins are going to be your go-to treat for breakfast and snacks. They’re fast and easy- but they’re not your typical dry, unappealing healthy muffin. These vegan carrot cake muffins are so moist, sweet, and packed with freshly grated carrot.
Why You’ll Love These Vegan Carrot Muffins
Do you know what my favorite kind of cake is? Carrot cake, for sure, all the way. While I could totally eat actual carrot cake for breakfast, these muffins definitely make me feel lighter and more energized than cake would.
Here are a few more reasons why I love these muffins and you will too!
- 1 Bowl Recipe: these muffins can be made with just 1 bowl- so easy!
- Packed with Veggies: but no one will know!
- Fluffy & Moist: with just the right amount of sweetness.
- Ready in 30 Minutes: this recipe is so quick and easy, perfect for when you’re craving a healthy snack.
the Ingredients
The first step in making these fluffy vegan carrot muffins is gathering your ingredients. Luckily, you only need a few items and they are:
- freshly grated carrot
- all purpose flour
- baking soda
- brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- shredded coconut
- vegan butter, or melted coconut oil
- unsweetened applesauce, you can also sub banana
- almond milk, or another dairy-free milk like soy milk or coconut milk
- pure vanilla extract
- spices! (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger)
Vegan Ingredient Substitutions & Notes
Unsweetened Applesauce: I’m using applesauce in this recipe. The applesauce has two purposes: the first is to help cut back on the amount of vegan butter we need to use (to add moisture), and the second is to also help bind the muffins since they are made without eggs! I also use applesauce in my banana blueberry oat muffins.
If you don’t have applesauce on hand, you can substitute the same amount of mashed banana. This will also add some sweetness to the muffins, but please note that bananas will make the muffins more dense.
Helpful Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Vegetable Peeler & Box Grater, for the carrots
- Muffin Pan or Muffin Tin
Step By Step Instructions
These muffins are so incredibly easy to make and are ready, start to finish, in under 30 minutes. Here are the simple steps you’ll need to make them.
🎥 Video Tutorial is Above the Recipe Card!
STEP 1: To make the vegan batter, first, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
STEP 2: We’re only using one bowl in this recipe, so next make a well in the center and add the vegan butter, applesauce, almond milk, and vanilla. You’ll want to stir the wet ingredients and dry ingredients until just combined. The goal is to create a nice, thick batter like in the image above.
STEP 3: Once the batter is mixed, you can fold in the grated carrots, and if you’re using them, add in the raisins and coconut.
Baking the Vegan Carrot Muffins
STEP 4: Go ahead and prep your muffin pan by lining it with paper muffin liners or muffin cups. If you’re not using liners, be sure to spray your pan well with non-stick spray.
STEP 5: Next, spoon 2 or 3 tablespoons of the muffin batter into each cup, so they’re filled about ¾ of the way full with the batter. If you’d like, sprinkle coarse sugar on top of each muffin for a nice crunchy muffin top after baking!
STEP 6: Then you’ll pop them in the preheated oven, and bake them up at 375F for about 18 minutes. The tops should be nice and golden brown when done, but the insides should be moist and fluffy!
Serving
Dairy Free Cream Cheese Glaze
To top off these fluffy vegan carrot muffins, I’m drizzling them with a dairy-free cream cheese glaze. For this glaze, I’m using vegan cream cheese from the brand GoVeggie.
I also recommend using Trader Joe’s vegan cream cheese if it’s accessible to you. I prefer both of these brands because of their mild flavor which pairs well with sweet treats like these muffins.
These easy carrot muffins are delicious on their own or with a drizzle of the vegan cream cheese glaze mentioned above. (The glaze really makes them taste like a carrot cake muffin!)
They’re also SO good with a smear of vegan butter while they’re still warm from the oven.
Storage
These muffins will stay fresh at room temperature for 2-3 days.
After that, I recommend freezing them. This will help them stay moist and fresh! Place them in an airtight container or a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
FAQ
I haven’t tried making these muffins with no oil, so I can’t recommend doing this. I suspect they won’t be as moist, or they won’t be as fluffy without the vegan butter.
You can definitely add in other flavors to these muffins, so long as you’re not adding any additional liquid to the batter. Chopped walnuts or pecans, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, raisins, or even dairy-free white chocolate chips would taste lovely in these muffins.
Yes, absolutely. Be sure to tightly wrap the muffins to prevent freezer burn.
I chose to top with a cream cheese glaze and coarse sugar. You can also sprinkle oats, grated carrot, cinnamon, or shredded coconut on top!
I recommend shredding your carrots yourself since they tend to give the muffins a better texture. If you have a food processor, you can quickly grate your carrots with the grating blade.
Looking for more scrumptious vegan baked goods? Check out these recipes!
Did you make this ‘healthier’ Vegan Carrot muffin Recipe?
I’d love to know! Leave a star rating and comment below!
Fluffy Vegan Carrot Muffins
If you’re looking for a healthier take on the classic flavor of carrot cake, these fluffy vegan carrot muffins are going to be your go-to treat for breakfast and snacks. They’re fast and easy- but they’re not your typical dry, unappealing healthy muffin.
These vegan carrot cake muffins are so moist, sweet, and packed with freshly grated carrot.
Ingredients
Dry
- 1 ¼ cup (165g) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (80g) loosely packed brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 ½ tsp (9g) baking soda
- 2 tsp (6g) ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp (1g) ground ginger
- ¼ tsp (0.5g) nutmeg
- â…“ cup (22g) unsweetened shredded coconut
- â…› tsp salt
Wet
- 1 tbsp (10g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (115g) freshly grated carrot
- ¼ cup (53g) melted vegan butter, or coconut oil
- â…” cup (140g) unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana
- ½ cup (100g) dairy free milk like almond or oat
- ½ cup dark raisins (optional)
Optional Vegan Cream Cheese Glaze
- 2 oz vegan cream cheese, cold (see notes)
- 2 tbsp (28g)maple syrup
- ½ tbsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp (2g) vanilla extract or paste
- 2 tsp (14g) dairy free milk, plus more to thin the glaze as needed
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (including the coconut).
- Make a well in the center and add the vegan butter, applesauce, dairy free milk, and vanilla. Stir until just combined and the mixture forms a thick batter.
- Fold in the grated carrots. Then, add the raisins if using. If the batter is way to thick to spoon into the muffin pan, add 1-2 tbsp of dairy free milk to help thin it out.
- Line your muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each cup ¾ of the way full with the batter (about 2-3 tablespoons).
- Sprinkle coarse sugar on top of each muffin.
- Bake for 18-21 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack before putting the cream cheese glaze on top.
To make the Cream Cheese Glaze:
- In a small bowl, combine the vegan cream cheese, maple syrup, lemon zest, vanilla, and plant milk. Mix until smooth and no lumps remain.
Notes
For the vegan cream cheese:
- I prefer GoVeggie or Trader Joe’s in this recipe for their mild flavor.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 245Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gSodium: 118mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 2gSugar: 31gProtein: 3g
Nutritional info is an estimate.
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