These vegan carrot cake muffins are easy to make and come together without an electric mixer. They are so soft and moist, sweetened with maple syrup and packed with delicious spiced flavour just like my favourite vegan carrot cake. These muffins are perfect for spring or autumn and make a great grab and go snack.
If you’re looking for more carrot cake flavoured breakfasts, try my carrot cake overnight oats, or these delicious carrot cake pancakes.
Muffins are such an easy recipe to make as they come together so quickly! Just like with my vegan banana walnut muffins, these carrot cake muffins make a fantastic snack.
These taste similar to my vegan carrot cake cupcakes, but they lean more towards the healthier side as they are refined sugar free, using only pure maple syrup to sweeten them. They also use wholemeal flour and coconut oil instead of butter.
I also don’t think you need to add a frosting to muffins as they are perfect on their own, but if you wanted to add a little dairy free cream cheese frosting you definitely could – there are no rules here!
Key Ingredients
These easy vegan carrot muffins are made with a few everyday ingredients to ensure they have maximum flavour and result in a soft and moist muffin.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Wholemeal plain flour – also known as whole wheat flour in the US. This adds a little extra texture and nutritional value to our muffins, but you can simply use plain white flour / all purpose flour.
- Baking powder – helps the muffins rise and become light and fluffy.
- Bicarbonate of soda – also known as baking soda in the US.
- Spices – I am using a combination of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger to flavour these muffins and give them that carrot cake taste.
- Dairy free milk – I like to use oat milk or almond milk but soy milk or any plant based milk will work here.
- Maple syrup – to sweeten the muffins, plus keep them moist and tender.
- Coconut oil – we’re using melted coconut oil to again help keep the muffins moist, but any light tasting vegetable oil will work.
- Dairy free yoghurt – I like to use plain unsweetened soy, oat or coconut yoghurt.
- Vanilla extract – for flavour!
- Carrots – of course! You’ll need approximately 2 medium carrots that have been peeled and grated.
- Mix ins – If you’ve ever made any of my carrot cake flavoured recipes before then you know I NEED chopped walnuts in there. I also love a little shredded coconut in these muffins as well as the flavour goes so well.
Equipment and Tools
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- Muffin Pan – I’ve had a range of different muffin pans from cheap to more expensive, but none of them have given me the same results as when I finally invested in a USA pan. I highly recommend it!
Step-By-Step Instructions
Muffins are a fantastic option for beginner bakers as they don’t require any electric mixers or special tools.
Start by combining your dry ingredients, the wholemeal flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and spices, in a large mixing bowl. Mixing them together with a whisk not only combines them so they mix into the batter more evenly, but also helps to aerate them similar to if we were to sift them together.
Next, grab another bowl and mix together the dairy free milk, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, yoghurt and vanilla until combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until a batter forms. You want to mix until just combined, as overmixing muffins can result in them becoming dense.
Finally, add in the carrot, walnuts and coconut and mix through to ensure they are evenly distributed in the batter.
Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan so that each is full almost to the top. Place the tray in a preheated oven for around 20-25 minutes or a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
🤓Tip! While this is optional, to help ensure your muffins rise perfectly, you can bake them in alternating cavities in your muffin pan. Basically this means baking 6 muffins at a time in a 12 cup muffin tray. This allows more space between each muffin so that there is more heat from the oven around each, encouraging them to rise more.
Allow the muffins to cool a little in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. These are amazing served while still warm with a little dairy free butter.
Storage Instructions
Muffins are a great thing to bake as part of meal prepping as they freeze really well and make a great grab and go snack.
Once baked, you can store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If your kitchen is warm or humid, it’s best to refrigerate them, where they can last up to 5 days.
To freeze, wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer-safe container or zip-lock bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To thaw, leave the muffins at room temperature for a few hours (I usually grab one out at breakfast time and it’s defrosted by morning tea), or microwave them on low for 20 – 30 seconds until soft and warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Simply swap the wholemeal flour for a gluten free plain flour blend that includes xanthan gum such as Bob’s Red Mill. The texture may be slightly softer, but they will still be delicious.
You can! Pour the batter into a lined loaf tin and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45–55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Check at the 40-minute mark and cover loosely with foil if the top is browning too quickly.
Yes, while I love the addition of chopped walnuts, you can simply leave them out. You could also add extra shredded coconut or a handful of sultanas or raisins instead.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More muffin recipes:
Vegan Chocolate Muffins
Gluten Free Raspberry Muffins
Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins
Earl Grey Blueberry Muffins
Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups wholemeal plain flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dairy free milk such as oat milk or almond milk
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup coconut oil melted
- ½ cup dairy free plain unsweetened yoghurt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups grated carrots approximately 2 medium carrots
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases or lightly grease.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the wholemeal flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dairy-free milk, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, yoghurt, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Gently stir with a spatula or whisk until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Add the grated carrot, chopped walnuts, and shredded coconut to the batter. Fold everything through until evenly distributed.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cases. They should be filled close to the top.
- Bake for 22–25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
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