Healthy Carrot Muffins. Full of wholesome ingredients like bran, oats, whole grain flour, carrots & sultanas plus as an added bonus they are completely oil-free. Perfect for breakfast, snacks or lunch boxes!
Healthy. Muffins. No I'm not kidding. These Healthy Carrot Muffins really are healthy.
The recipe is based on my very popular Vegan Blueberry Bran Muffins and comes from a reader request. Or should I say many reader requests. Those muffins are so popular and I've been getting messages asking for different flavour combos for ages.
Well, I finally got around to it.
These Healthy Carrot Muffins are stuffed full of wholesome ingredients like whole grain spelt flour, oats, bran, carrots and sultanas. They are also completely oil-free and there is only half a cup of coconut sugar in the whole batch of a dozen.
Not that you would ever know. They are so moist and delicious.
They are what you call 'hearty muffins'. Packed with nutrition, packed with flavour and really filling. Perfect for healthy breakfasts, snacks or lunch boxes.
I like to make 12 at a time because my muffin pan has 12 holes and it would be weird to only half fill it. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it ????
My Favourite Muffin Pan
I treated myself to this USA Pan Muffin Pan (<<affiliate link) a little while ago. It's been a muffin game changer. 
It conducts heat brilliantly and I don't even use muffin liners any more because they just don't stick. They pop right out. I love it. If you are thinking of investing in a new one I'd highly recommend it.
This is why I am loving these Healthy Carrot Muffins:
- They are wholesome and nutritious
- There is not a drop of oil or butter in them
- They are wholegrain & refined sugar free
- They contain vegetables so we can actually feel good about eating them!
- Making them is so easy (grate the carrots in a food processor (<< affiliate link) with the grating disc attachment in seconds).
- They taste great
- They freeze perfectly - If they don't all get eaten immediately, I freeze some for breakfasts or lunch boxes another time. That's about a organized as I get when it come to batch cooking!
These Healthy Carrot Muffins are great eaten as they are but are even better with a generous schmear of my Vegan Butter. And a bit like my vegan zucchini muffins, they are also really good spread with nut butter.
We might still be in the post-Christmas, trying to eat more healthily phase of the year but what kind of life would it be without muffins?
I don't want to find out....So, let's do this!
Healthy Carrot Muffins
Author:
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 172 g / 1½ cups spelt flour
- 58 g / 1 cup wheat bran
- 50 g / ½ cup rolled oats
- 96 g / ½ cup coconut sugar , most other sugar will work too
- 145 g / 1 cup raisins , or sultanas
- 60 g / ½ cup chopped walnuts , OPTIONAL - omit to make nut-free. Pecans are a great substitute for walnuts
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 300 mls / 1¼ cups milk of choice , i used unsweetened milk. Bear in mind that sweetened milk will make the muffins sweeter
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar , or lemon juice
- 110 g / 1 cup grated carrot , if you have a food processor use the grating disc to grate them in seconds
- 125 g / ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400°F and prepare muffin pan. Grease or line with liners.
- Put all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir together to combine well.
- Put all of the wet ingredients into a bowl or jug and stir together.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together to combine but don't overmix.
- Spoon evenly into the muffins pan. I found a heaping ice-cream scoop to be about the right amount for each hole.
- Bake for around 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean then cool on a baking rack.
NOTES
If you did, be a ☆ and let me know what you think by rating it and commenting below. Tag me on Instagram too. I am @avirtualvegan and my hashtag is #avirtualvegan ________________________________________________________ Calories are calculated without walnuts as they are optional.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Lisa Scott says
Very Impressed. I made per recipe except I chose to use 1/2 the amount of raisins and a little less cinnamon and nutmeg. I cooked them @ 375, which is a little more typical for muffins for 15 minutes. They were moist and delicious which was surprising for not having any oil/fat in them. Very Good :)
Renee says
Hi, there is something wrong with the measurements in this recipe. You say that 172g of spelt flour is 1.5 cups, but in your Blueberry Bran Muffinshttps://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-blueberry-bran-muffins you say that 230g of spelt flour is 1.5 cups. As someone who followed the recipe using the grams, and then noticed this mistake afterwards, I felt quite confused and unsure if there was now way too much flour in my mixture or if it's just supposed to be super thick. The wheat bran and applesauce weights differ (despite being same cup sizes) between the recipes too? Please let me know which is the correct weight? Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
The gram measurements are correct. All of my recipes are created using grams and get converted to cups by software. I happened to change the software I use at some point, obviously between these 2 recipes, so they both came up with different cup measures. I just corrected that manually and I have checked both recipes, and remade them both today to double check there were no issues. Both are absolutely fine and turned out great.
You didn't use too much flour. The batter is quite a thick one. Hope that helps!
JULIA says
Thank you for these wonderful muffins. I make healthy muffins for breakfast every week and these have been on my regular rotation for several months (I've made them about 4-6 times), so it's about time I left a review. I haven't managed to get spelt flour so I just make them with whole wheat and they're great. I use 1/4 cup of olive oil and an extra 1/4 cup of carrot (or a banana) to sub for applesauce which I never seem to have around. I also use date sugar for sweetener which makes them even more moist. Both time we've had houseguests who have tried the muffins, they've asked for the recipe. I also love your blueberry bran ones. Thanks so much!!!
Melanie McDonald says
I'm really pleased you are enjoying them Julia and thanks so much for the review!
Tara says
I think these are maybe baked at too high of a temp. most muffins are usually 375 degrees? I don't know. the outside was hard compared to the inside. Overall a bit bland but since there's no oil, mine were only 80 calories each so not bad. I would make them again and probably lower the oven temp.
Dani says
delicious muffins. I used regular all purpose flour and substituted pumpkin seeds for flaxseeds (only because that's all I had in the cupboard) and they turned out moist and delicious.
I used muffin liners and it was a mistake. The liners completely stuck to the muffins. My bad. Otherwise delicious recipe. I would make them again.
Dave W. says
Delicious! I made them without the nuts and because my wife is diabetic, I used 3 oz of sucralose for the sugar. Using an ice cream scoop + 1/2 tbsp of the batter, the recipe made exactly 14 muffins. Will make them again. Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
You're welcome Dave. I'm glad you were able to adapt them to meet your wife's needs!
Kate Whorton says
Delicious! Perfect for on the go breakfast
Laurie B. says
Thank you so much for this great recipe! FAT FREE! That is terrific, and the muffins are very moist without it. My omnivore husband (who likes sweets) gave them a thumbs up, and both of my sisters asked for the recipe. That means it is a big hit. :) I made a few substitutions based on what I had (or didn't have) on hand: craisins replaced raisins, pecans instead of walnuts, and Chinese 5-Spice instead of cinnamon. I was out of cinnamon (!!!), but have an almost full jar of 5-Spice, which made an excellent substitution. I am sure we will enjoy this recipe on a regular basis.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Laurie, for making them and for the lovely review. So happy they were such a hit!
Parth Rathod says
These muffins are so delicious
thank you
Edward Smith says
Thanks for the Carrot Muffin recipe. Looks good, I will make this.
Also, I made your Down Home Vegan Burger. Pretty good. I gave it 4 out of 5, I found it still does not have enough texture. Do you have any suggestions?
I am looking for the same texture you get in store bought veggie burgers. Firm, chunky. I know some of them add a lot of oil which I do not want. Also, I am in Canada and I buy a veggie burger at a fast food place called A and W and again, their burgers have texture and the mouth feel is very similar to a regular burger. Your recipe is my seventh attempt to come close to the right texture. I am almost there!
Most of the previous burger recipes I tried (not yours) were like eating hummus in the shape of a burger. Way to soft. I may redo your recipe again and this time add some chopped mushrooms and/or blanched cauliflower to sort of "beef it up."
I didn't know if there was a direct link to reach Ms Santos if you are all run out of ideas. I think she has a burger recipe book?
Any assistance you can offer is appreciated in my quest to get the Best. Vegan. Burger. EVER!
Thanks.
A Virtual Vegan says
4 out of 5 isn't bad. I'm in Canada too but have never tried an A&W burger. Have you tried the Field Roast burgers? They are available in most stores here in BC. They are by far the best store bought burgers I have tried. Really good firm, chunky, slightly chewy texture. I think you would like them. You should experiment with vital wheat gluten in your homemade burgers. It's what is used to make seitan. That would give you the texture you are after. I bought a bag recently to experiment with so eventually there might be some recipes with it here. You might like this recipe (if you like spicy) https://avirtualvegan.com/mexican-burgers-adobo-sauce/ It has much more texture than the Down Home Burger. You can contact the author of the book via the contact form on her website. It is http://www.veggiesdontbite.com. Hope that helps. Good luck in your quest!