My dog Cookie always comes running when I pull out the vegetable peeler. I swear, she can hear it slice through the air before it even touches a carrot. Then she starts jumping up and down for carrot scraps. She can be very demanding. I’ve created an entitled little carrot beast, and I’m not sorry in the slightest.
Cookie loved the development process for this carrot muffin recipe. It took me five tries to get them just right, so she got a lot of carrot scraps in the process. They’re based on one of my cookbook recipes (so good!!!).
These hearty muffins are packed with grated carrots, walnuts and raisins. They have lots of texture, yet they’re still light and fluffy.
Thanks to the nuts and whole grains, these muffins make a good grab-and-go breakfast! They also freeze and defrost well. I just microwave individual muffins for 30 to 60 seconds, until they’re gently warmed throughout.
Watch How to Make Carrot Muffins
What makes these carrot muffins healthy?
Granted, “healthy” is a subjective term, but here are a few reasons why I consider these muffins to be more nutritionally redeeming than most:
- Unlike standard carrot muffins made with refined all-purpose flour, these are made with white whole wheat flour. That means they’re made entirely with whole grains, but you can’t taste them because white whole wheat flour has such a mild flavor.
- Protein-rich Greek yogurt replaces sour cream.
- Coconut oil or olive oil replace butter (olive oil is composed of more monounsaturated fat, and is considered to be more heart-healthy)
- Real maple syrup replaces refined sugar, so these muffins are naturally sweetened.
- Combined, you end up with hearty muffins that taste like carrot cake. You can eat carrot cake for breakfast with these babies!
These muffins are easily adapted to vegan and gluten-free diets, too! See my recipe notes for details.
Please let me know how these muffins turn out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager for your feedback.
Craving more wholesome muffins? Here are a few more favorite muffin recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Healthy Banana Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Healthy Raspberry Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Zucchini Muffins
If you’re baking for a special occasion, you’ll love my carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (it’s also naturally sweetened and made with whole wheat flour).
PrintHealthy Carrot Muffins
- Author: Cookie and Kate
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 13 mins
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Baked goods
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: American
Healthy carrot muffins made with whole wheat flour, coconut oil and maple syrup! They taste fantastic, too, of course. These muffins make a great, quick breakfast! Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups peeled and grated carrots* (from ¾ pound carrots—about 3 large or up to 6 small/medium)
- ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- ½ cup raisins (I like golden raisins), tossed in 1 teaspoon flour
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt***
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Blend well with a whisk. In a separate, small bowl, toss the raisins with 1 teaspoon flour so they don’t stick together. Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and floured raisins to the other ingredients and stir to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 to 16 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.
Notes
*Carrot grating tips: You can grate the carrots by hand, or for an easier option, use the grating attachment on your food processor.
**A note on oils: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil will lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that. Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
***Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.
Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax “eggs.” Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup vegan yogurt.
Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.
Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a GF blend that works well.
Make it nut free: Skip the walnuts!
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
▸ Nutrition Information
Nisha
This recipe needs more cooking time. The middle was soft. I did the recipe exactly as it says. I even gave it an extra 10 minutes and it was still soft in the middle. I will not try this recipe again. It doesn’t taste good. I needed up with 12 soft middle carrot muffins !!!
Kate
Hi Nisha, I’m sorry to hear that. Some ovens can vary or potentially your carrots were really moist. I appreciate you sharing your feedback.
Nisha
Thank you for the reply Ok , I guess it could be that. I will attempt the recipe again to see if that will make any difference.
Trisha
Bottoms burned. Not much flavor.
Kate
I’m sorry to hear that. Where did you have them placed in your oven?
Emily
Love this recipe. I make little additions/subs of diced fruit- whatever needs eating. So far apples, plums and peaches. All have been delicious!! Also have used cashews because I didn’t have walnuts. So soft and tasty for the whole week, stored in the fridge. Love that it’s so yum but full of nutrition.
Courtney
I am experienced cook/baker and have made many of your recipes. To accommodate my daughters dietary restrictions I substituted gluten free flour and flax egg. (As the notes say are acceptable substitutions). This recipe was a total fail. I have never had such a bad outcome! They took forever to bake; the outside became burned and the inside is still mushy. I am so disappointed I wasted my ingredients and time on this.
Kate
Hi Courtney, It could have been doing the gluten free flour and flax eggs in combination. Gluten free flour doesn’t usually hold up as well without a strong binder. I appreciate your feedback and sorry to hear you didn’t have great results.
Paul Doty
Best Carrot muffin recipe ever, I have made this recipe about 6 times before and I get better results with try.
Keep up the good work
Lindsay
These turned out great! Made them exactly to the recipe. Not very sweet which is great for breakfast or healthier snack. Next time I will make the cream cheese frosting to go on them since my husband loves sweets!
Veronica
I mad these last night and they came out perfect. I use EVO, didn’t have raisins so omitted them. I substituted the Greek yogurt for what I had on hand, the SO Coconut yogurt. I juice vegetables so used the leftover carrot pulp from my juicer. They were so good.
Kate
Great to hear, Veronica!
Samantha
I love this recipe! I’ve made it at least 15 or 20 times – it’s terrific. I usually substitute chopped pecans for raisins, based on preferences in my family, otherwise follow everything just as-is. The wonderfully silken batter becomes wonderfully moist muffins. A very therapeutic exercise to make these on a Saturday morning after a challenging week!
Kate
I love that! Thank you for sharing, Samantha.
Hannah
Absolutely love these muffins and make them very regularly! I make them to the recipe and they always turn out perfectly; the only problem is that half the batch gets eaten by my husband and kids before I can pack them away!
Lily
I love the healthy ingredients. This is my go to carrot muffin recipe and my kids love it as well.
Some modifications that take care of the issues:
-bake at F350 for 45 to 50 min to prevent burning of the bottoms while the middle cooks
-the muffins come out a lot less sweet than kids are used to. You could increase the amount of honey to 3/4 cup. What I do is sprinkle the muffins with powdered sugar
HJ
These came out heavy and bland. Also, very oily.
Kate
Hi HJ, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you ove rmix the batter? If it is over mixed, it can impact results. How long did you bake this for?
Kathy
I had more batter than could fit in 12 muffin cups. Would the carrots being finely shredded add too much volume?
Kate
Possibly, or if your carrots varied in sizes. How did it turn out?
M. Coleman
Came out great first time using Greek yogurt Thanks
Kate
Great to hear, M!
Loretta Rochow
Made these today. They were very good, & moist. I used low fat cottage cheese for yogurt. It worked great. Thanks for the recipe. Loretta
Deb
Fantastic! I don’t know why people say no flavor . Swapped unsweetened applesauce for one of the eggs. Used chopped up dates as I didn’t have raisins. Toasted walnuts first for extra flavor. Turned off oven after 15 minutes and let them sit for 3 extra . Consistency was moist but done , not mushy as stated by some.
I made extra sure my shredded carrot was well coated with the flour before adding wet ingredients.
Stephanie
I made this recipe and my boyfriend and I absolutely loved them! I had to keep the muffins in the oven a little longer, but the taste texture and overall muffin was fantastic! I didn’t have walnuts at home and subbed for almonds, worked great! Saving this recipe and would absolutely make again!
Kate
Great to hear, Stephanie! I appreciate your review.
Sophie MacDonald
I loved this recipe! It stuck a little more than usual so next time i will add more oil to my muffin tray. They were delicious. Loved them so much I had to eat 2 right away! I switch a little bit of the coconut oil for applesauce and it was just perfect. Thank you!!!
Kate
You’re welcome, Sophie!
Fiona
Made these with my two girls (4 and 6). They came out perfect! The girls love them. Thanks for this recipe
Norma
I would like to substitute the coconut oil with apple sauce. Would I use 1/3 cup, same amount as the coconut oil?
Thanks
Kate
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, sorry!
A
The recipe itself was easy and tasty but Do NOT use muffin tin liners/baking cups as it sticks and you lose half your muffin to the wrapper. Next time I will cook them directly in the tin
Alyssa
These muffins are too good!! I made a batch for my fiancé and I & they were gone the next day. I omitted the nuts and added chocolate chips instead. I’m about to make more right now!
Kate
That’s great to hear, Alyssa! Thank you for your review.
Cindy
I made these muffins yesterday. Followed the directions exactly including bake time. These carrot muffins are absolutely amazing. Can’t wait to make more.
Kate
Wonderful to hear, Cindy!
Anu
Hi Kate,
Tried this recipe (w/ the eggs subbed out) and left them in for maybe 3 mins more? Super good and not-too-sweet, which was perfect for us :) The insides were quite moist too!
Kate
I’m happy to hear they still turned out for you, Anu!
Jenn
A welcome alternative to overly sweet carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (although, honestly, they’re good every now and again, too :)
I did find the batter rather thick, but this helped to mound it into 12 muffin cups. Had it been thinner, I would have needed one or two more cups.
I baked them for 14 minutes, and the toothpick came out clean. But when I broke one open, it was not done in the middle. An additional 5 minutes did the trick. Ovens vary.
I didn’t have turbinado sugar on hand, and that would have been a nice addition. But they were plenty tasty without it, as I downed two with my morning coffee and felt only a slight bit of remorse.
Your recipes are my most often used. Thanks for sharing.
Kate
Thank you for sharing how you made these, Jenn!
Teresa
I recently made these and what scared me was some of the reviews so rather than following the recipe exactly as I usually do the first time, I got worried and started tweaking the oven temp. Mine turned out fine except that I did not bake mine at 425 degrees but rather at 425 for 5 muted and then I let them finish cooking at 350 and I baked them for 30 minutes and they are moist and very good. I didn’t have raisins and I think that they would add a nice sweetness to it. I will definitely make these again. Thanks for the recipe!
Kate
You’re welcome, Teresa!
J
Made these as a healthy snack for my daughter’s preschool. They loved it!
Kate
That’s great to hear, J!
Tina Delgado
I followed the recipe and they came out perfectly. I have made several of your recipes and have never been disappointed. Thank you for sharing and keep them coming.
Kate
You’re welcome, Tina! Thank you for your review.