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Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins (GF + Oil Free)

March 2, 2020 By Lisa Kitahara 17 Comments

carrot muffins with tahini on top

These Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins are moist, flavourful and loaded with healthy ingredients! They’re easy to make and are perfect for a on-the-go breakfast or snack. Oil free, Refined Sugar Free & Gluten Free Option

carrot cake muffins on a white plate stacked

It’s March. It’s carrot season ya’ll.

Okay, I actually don’t know when it’s officially carrot season because they’re sold all year around for relatively cheap BUT I do know that march means we’re approaching spring, which means easter is right around the corner, and to me easter means carrots!

ingredients for carrot cake muffins laid out

What You Need for Carrot Muffins

Even though these carrot cake muffins taste like a treat, they’re actually made with healthy ingredients! So yeah, totally have one (or 5) for breakfast.

  • Carrots: (duh)
  • Flax Egg: we’re using the handy flax egg to replace eggs thats typically used in muffins
  • Non dairy milk + apple cider vinegar: this combo makes a butter milk and will help activate the baking soda for that nice fluffy tall muffin
  • Banana: makes these muffins moist without adding any oil
  • Coconut Sugar: or any sugar of your choice
  • Walnuts & Raisins: it ain’t carrot cake without walnuts and raisins people… but if you really want swap it for other nuts, seeds or dried fruit
  • Spelt Flour: you can also use all purpose flour, gluten free all purpose mix or oat flour (see notes)
  • Almond Flour: again helps with the moisture without added oils
  • Tapioca Starch: helps bind these muffins and make the perfect crumb
  • Baking Powder + Baking Soda: for the tallest fluffy carrot muffins!!
  • Flavour: vanilla, ginger, nutmeg, cloves & salt
how to make carrot cake muffins step by step

How to Make Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins

Muffins are a meal prep lovers best friend. Not only do they keep and freeze really well, but they’re also so easy to make! Let show you just how easy:

  1. Mix all wet ingredients together
  2. Add the dry ingredients and fold it into the wet until JUST combined (you will see streaks of flour and thats okay)
  3. Fold in the carrots, raisins and walnuts (this will finish off mixing the dry ingredients)
  4. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through– use the handy toothpick test to check.
top shot of carrot muffins

Tips to Making Vegan Carrot Muffins

  • Fill Muffin Tins to the TOP: Filling them to the top will help achieve that tall muffin!
  • Toss Raisins in Flour: if you have sticky raisins, toss them in 1-2 tsp of flour so you don’t end up with half a batch of muffins packed with raisins.
  • Size of Grated Carrots: I like to use a medium to large size grate because then I can actually get the texture and flavour of the carrots.
  • Weigh Ingredients: as always, I recommend weighing out the ingredients as this ensures the most accurate and perfect muffins!

How to Store Carrot Cake Muffins

  • Room Temperature: once fully cooled, store in air tight container lined with paper towel for up to 3 days.
  • Freezer: to keep them for longer, freeze them individually in an air tight bag or container. To reheat, microwave for 30-60 seconds with a damp paper towel around it until warmed through.
vegan carrot muffins stacked with a bite shot

I hope you try and LOVE these carrot cake muffins as much as I do! You can totes go all out and frost them up with some cashew frosting, coconut whip cream or even a nice coconut butter glaze!! Okay yeah, that definitely needs to happen..

spelt flour almond flour muffins with tahini

More Delicious Vegan Muffins to Try!

  • Vegan Banana Blender Muffins (gluten free, oil free)
  • Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (gf, of)
  • Banana Protein Muffins (gf, of)
  • Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Muffins (gf, of)
  • 1-bowl Chocolate Chip Tahini Muffins (gf, of)
spelt flour almond flour carrot muffins bite shot

If you recreate this Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
Hungry for more? Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest for more deliciousness!

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carrot cake muffins on a white plate stacked

Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins


★★★★★

4.8 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Lisa Kitahara
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 9 muffins 1x
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Description

These Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins are moist, flavourful and loaded with healthy ingredients! They’re easy to make and are perfect for a on-the-go breakfast or snack. Oil free, Refined Sugar Free & Gluten Free Option


Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp flax meal + 5 tbsp water, mixed together for 10 mins
  • 1/2 cup non-dairy milk + 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar , mixed together for 10 mins (125ml)
  • 2/3 cup mashed banana (150g)
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar (100g)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/3 cup spelt flour (160g)*
  • 2/3 cup almond flour (74g)
  • 2 tbsp tapioca starch (15g)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup nuts walnuts (40g)
  • 1/3 cup raisins (50g)
  • 1 cup shredded carrot (155g)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 220 C (425 F). Line or grease 9 muffin tins. 
  2. Into a large bowl, mash the banana until pureed. Add in the ‘butter milk’, flax egg, coconut sugar and vanilla and whisk to combine. 
  3. Add in the spelt flour, almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt and fold all the ingredients together until JUST combined. 
  4. Fold in the carrots, raisins and walnuts using a spatula. 
  5. Divide the muffin batter between the 9 muffin tins (fill them to the top).
  6. Bake for 5 minutes at 220 C (425 F) for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180 C (350 F) and bake for another 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through. 
  7. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 3 minutes. Carefully transfer muffins to a wire rack and let them cool completely. 

Notes

  • *If using oat flour, use 1 1/4 cup oat flour + 1/4 cup tapioca starch + 2/3 cup almond flour
  • Helpful Equipment: large mixing bowl, spatula, whisk, muffin tin, muffin liners
  • Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer). 
  • Category: breakfast
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: vegan, gluten free

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 muffin
  • Calories: 229g
  • Sugar: 18.7g
  • Sodium: 160mg
  • Fat: 8g
  • Saturated Fat: 0.7g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 6.8g
  • Trans Fat: 0
  • Carbohydrates: g37.2
  • Fiber: 4.7g
  • Protein: 5.8g
  • Cholesterol: 0

Keywords: carrot cake muffins, carrot muffins, healthy vegan muffins

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carrot cake muffins pinterest image

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Filed Under: All recipes, Breakfast, Gluten-free, Snacks Tagged With: breakfast, dairy free, eggless, flourless, gluten free, meal prep, oil free, one bowl, recipes, refined sugar free, snacks, soy free, spring, summer, sweet

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janna

    March 4, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    I made these and they are really good!
    They are super fluffy, too! You really don’t notice that there is no oil in them.
    I would definitely make them again 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lisa Kitahara

      March 6, 2020 at 2:04 pm

      Hi Janna!

      Happy to hear you enjoyed these muffins, thank you so much!

      Reply
  2. Leen

    March 12, 2020 at 5:16 pm

    Hey Lisa im planning to make these this weekend, can i use cornstarch instead of tapioca as i dont have it on hand?

    Reply
    • Lisa Kitahara

      March 13, 2020 at 9:43 pm

      Hi Leen!
      I haven’t tried it with corn starch but the texture might be a bit off since corn starch is much goopy-er when combined with wet ingredients. They are very similar though, so you could try sub-ing half corn starch and more flour in place of it. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply
  3. Tiare

    May 18, 2020 at 2:33 am

    Hi! I’d love to make this recipe but only have oat, whole wheat, almond, and coconut flour…will any of these work?

    Reply
    • Lisa Kitahara

      May 20, 2020 at 10:44 am

      If you read the recipe notes, it has options for oat flour and almond flour 🙂

      Reply
  4. Jessi

    July 13, 2020 at 1:48 pm

    I made these last night. They got stuck to the baking cups. I should’ve just greased the pan and baked them there but I wanted to use the baking cups. Do u think you can suggest why this happened? The flavor is amazing though. I’d totally make again!

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • Lisa Kitahara

      July 14, 2020 at 11:31 am

      Hi Jessi! Did you use parchment baking cups? I always use those because they don’t stick. You can find them on amazon!

      Reply
  5. Rebecca Bozeman

    August 13, 2020 at 2:51 pm

    These muffins are over the top delicious! Has all the elements of a moist carrot cake combined with raisins and walnuts. I shredded organic carrots which have so much more flavor than non-organic carrots. Also, used the oatmeal flour combo, which always works for me in Okonomi Kitchen recipes. Heed her warning to let them cool before eating because they still are baking after removing from the oven! I am on day three of eating them and they hold up super well.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Leondra

    August 29, 2020 at 4:01 pm

    These were good, the flavor is great. I left them in my oven for a little longer though. Used arrowroot instead of cornstarch so it was too soft for my liking. But giving them a bit more time in the oven or even toasting them is *chefs kiss*

    Reply
  7. Ria Khurana

    September 2, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    Hey do u think using whole grain spelt flour will work too??

    Reply
    • Lisa Kitahara

      September 7, 2020 at 9:55 pm

      Yes I think it will! You might need a bit more liquid just because whole grains tend to absorb more liquid 🙂

      Reply
  8. natasha

    December 22, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    I cannot find tapioca starch, anything else I can use?

    Reply
    • Lisa Kitahara

      December 25, 2020 at 1:10 pm

      You can try potato starch but use a tad bit less since it tends to be more absorbent and drying 🙂

      Reply
  9. Stephanie

    January 11, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    This is a wonderful recipe! I used the oat/tapioca/almond flour combo and chia-seed eggs rather than flax (2Tbsp chia + 6Tbsp water). I baked them for 15 minutes longer. They are delicious! My husband and mother-in-law LOVED them! I whipped up some vegan cream cheese–vegan butter–coconut sugar topping, and holy moly, it’s hard to have only one a day! Thank you for this recipe 🤩

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Lindsey

    January 19, 2021 at 12:40 am

    Also wanted to add that in ingredients it says to make the “butter milk” with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and then other underneath it calls for another tablespoon of apple cider vinegar? Is this correct or is there only 1 tablespoon for the buttermilk?

    Reply
    • Lisa Kitahara

      January 19, 2021 at 10:17 am

      Hi Lindsey! Just updated the recipe card, thanks for catching that. In terms of the oat flour question, you can see it can be substituted in the notes section 🙂

      Reply

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