Carrot Cake Muffins

These carrot cake muffins are a perfect breakfast before you head off to work and they’re great for brunch. I like to have one with my afternoon cup of coffee. Basically, you’re going to want to eat them all day long—and without that thick slathering of cream cheese frosting, you can do just that. Carrot cake muffins for every meal!

The applesauce and carrots ensure that these muffins are extra moist without a lot of added oil, while the three eggs in the recipe give them a light, fluffy texture rather than being dense like some carrot cakes tend to be. This isn’t just carrot cake sans frosting—it’s truly a muffin inspired by the flavor of carrot cake.

Homemade Carrot Cake Muffins

The perfect texture. Even without a lot of oil, these carrot cake muffins are tender, moist, and fluffy—basically everything you want in a muffin.

Kids love them. I’m not going to pretend that carrot cake muffins are health food but anytime I can sneak some veggies into my kids’ day, whether it’s carrot muffins or zucchini bread, it’s a win. In addition, homemade muffins are lower in sugar and oil than store-bought treats.

Freezer-friendly. Muffins are one of my favorite food prep choices. You can bake a big batch of muffins on the weekend and stash them in the freezer for the school week. (These banana bread muffins and blueberry bran muffins are also great for freezing.)

Customizable. Add your choice of mix-ins or fancy them up with a topping. (Spoiler alert: I link some cream cheese glaze ideas below.)

Ingredient Notes

• Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt: These are normal muffin ingredients. If you like, replace a portion of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. 
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla: These pantry spices and extract give the muffins that signature spiced carrot cake vibe and cozy flavor. You can use freshly grated nutmeg if you’d like.
• Eggs: Eggs add protein and richness. This recipe is made with 3 large eggs. I find that if I let the eggs come to room temperature before I use them, they’ll hold more air when beaten.
• Carrots: Unfortunately, the store-bought grated carrots just aren’t finely grated enough. They don’t break down in the muffins and add too much texture. You’ll need to get out your box grater and DIY it!
• Unsweetened applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce replaces some of the oil usually found in muffins. A snack size container is just perfect (or a half cup).
• Canola or vegetable oil: A small amount of oil gives the carrot muffins a moist, tender crumb.
• Add-ins: Add raisins, currants, toasted walnuts, or pecans if you’d like. In the photos, we made our muffins with raisins and added a cream cheese glaze.

How to Make Carrot Cake Muffins

Prepare. Preheat your oven to 400°F and coat a muffin tin with nonstick spray. (Make sure you get a little bit of spray along the lip of the cups so the tops of the muffins don’t stick to the edges.) You can use paper liners if you prefer.

Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium-sized bowl. If you’re planning on adding nuts or raisins, toss them in with the flour mixture and stir lightly.

Mix the wet ingredients. In a second larger bowl, beat the eggs the fork or whisk until they’re a bit frothy. Stir in the grated carrots, sugar, applesauce, oil, and vanilla extract until combined.

Finish the batter. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Don’t over-mix—it’s better to have a few lumps in the batter than to mix too much and have dense muffins.

Bake. Divide the batter into the muffin tins. Bake the muffins in a preheated oven for about 17 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and bounce back when you lightly tap the centers. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Recipe Variations

• Add a glaze. This cream cheese glaze is fantastic on carrot cake muffins, as is this maple cream cheese glaze or cinnamon cream cheese glaze. Make half a batch.
• Top with powdered sugar. A dusting of powdered sugar is an even simpler way to finish these muffins.
• Sprinkle on coarse sugar. Demerara or another coarse sugar can be sprinkled over the tops of the muffins before baking. They’ll add crunch and a bit of sparkle.
• Soak the raisins. Sometimes baked goods with raisins dry out as the raisins absorb moisture from the cake. To prevent this, you can soak the raisins (or currants) in apple juice, apple cider, or if you really want to go wild, spiced rum. Drain well before adding them.

Storage & Reheating

On the counter: After the muffins have cooled completely, store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Refrigerate: For longer storage or if you added a cream cheese glaze, refrigerate your carrot cake muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They’ll last 4 to 5 days; I recommend letting them sit at room temperature a bit before serving.

Freezing instructions: Freeze carrot cake muffins in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 1 month. For easy snacks, freeze them in individual containers or bags. You can warm them up in the microwave directly from frozen. They thaw quickly.