Quick and Easy Carrot Muffins

Tender and moist muffins with just the right amount of carrot flavor. These carrot muffins make a perfect dessert, snack, or breakfast treat! They also keep very well and don't easily lose their freshness.

* This post was updated with new photos...again! 🥴

I used to be a major carrot cake hater growing up! I can't really tell you why, but I'm guessing my 10 year old self thought vegetables did NOT belong in cake.

But ohhh boy, was I wrong!

Carrot cake is one of the most moist cakes around. The carrots give it a natural sweetness and beautiful orange color, without tasting overly carroty. The addition of carrots also make this a bit of a healthier alternative to other snacks and desserts!

Carrot cake is also naturally dairy free without any frosting or icing, making it a great option for dairy-free diets! And the lack of milk or butter is not noticeable.

I've done a complete 360 and now I have a supply of carrot muffins in my freezer at almost all times!

Carrot muffins ingredients:

• flour
• salt: helps balance out the sweetness
• ground cinnamon: optional, but adds AMAZING flavor the the muffins!
• baking powder & baking soda: I like using both for extra fluffy and tender muffins
• granulated sugar & brown sugar: for sweetness, of course! You can use all granulated or all brown sugar, but I like the combination. The brown sugar helps yield an ultra moist muffin and the granulated sugar helps prevent having overly moist muffins (too much of a good thing!)
• eggs: for structure as well as liquid (since we're not using any dairy)
• vegetable oil: we need a healthy amount of oil in this recipe to get the most moist muffins! Sooo it's super important to use a neutral flavored oil so you don't end up tasting it! I love using vegetable oil, but you can use canola, peanut, grapeseed, or any other flavorless oil
• vanilla extract: optional, but delicious!
• fresh carrots: optional ... just kidding. It wouldn't be much of a carrot muffin without carrots! You can customize how much you add to your batter. I like to use 1 and ½ cups grated, but you can use up to 2 cups if you like a stronger carrot flavor! You can also choose to grate them using the large side of a box grater or the finer side depending on if you like larger and crunchier bites of carrots or if you like the carrots to kind of melt into the muffin

How to make carrot muffins:

I'd argue muffins are pretty much the easiest treat to make! You just need to mix together your dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients, and combine!

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners or grease well. Set aside.

2. To make the carrot muffin batter, start by combining your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large sized bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together your eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil until incorporated. Fold in your grated carrots.

4. Pour your carrot mixture over your dry ingredients. Mix everything together until just combined and you no longer see dry flour.

5. Divide your batter evenly into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until a light brown on top and a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.

Carrot muffins storage:

These muffins keep moist for days so they don't lose too much freshness as they sit! Keep the muffins stored in an airtight container or plastic bag for longer lasting muffins. The muffins will keep for around 5 days at room temperature or 1 week in the fridge.

To freeze, store your muffins in a freezer safe container or plastic bag. These muffins will keep for about 3 months frozen. You can then defrost the muffins either in the fridge overnight or on your counter for a few hours.

Carrot muffin add-ins:

You can make your carrot muffins plain, or choose from some of these optional add-ins to spice up your carrot muffins!

• nutmeg
• raisins
• chopped nuts (walnuts are classic)
• chopped pineapple
• chopped apples
• mashed bananas
• grated zucchini

If you liked these carrot cake muffins, you may also like some of these other recipes!

• banana bread
• blueberry muffins
• easy banana muffins
• chocolate chunk muffins
• sour cream vanilla cupcakes
• chocolate cupcakes
• funfetti cupcakes

Carrot Muffins Recipe

Tender and moist muffins with just the right amount of carrot flavor. These carrot muffins make a perfect dessert, snack, or breakfast treat! They also keep very well and don't easily lose their freshness.

4.75 from 12 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 & ½ cups (180g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (100g) light or dark brown sugar * see notes
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup (120mL) vegetable oil (canola oil also works well here)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 & ½ cups finely grated carrots ** see notes

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners or grease well. Set aside.

• In a large bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Whisk to combine, and set aside to work on the wet ingredients.
• In a medium bowl, add in your granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs. Whisk until well combined. Add in your oil, vanilla, and grated carrots. Whisk again until everything is incorporated.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Mix everything together until you no longer see any dry ingredients in the batter. Take care not to over mix!
• Divide the carrot muffin batter evenly into your prepared muffin cups. Bake in the center of your preheated 350°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin, then transfer the muffins to a wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature.

Notes

* You can use either light or dark brown sugar in this recipe. Dark brown sugar will give you a stronger molasses flavor while the light brown sugar will be more mild.

** If you like a stronger carrot flavor, you can add up to 2 cups of grated carrots. For the carrots, you can either grate them using the large side of a box grater or the finer side of the grater. If you like larger, crunchy pieces of carrot, use the large side. If you like finer carrot pieces that almost melt into the muffins, use the smaller side of the grater.

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Enjoy!