Here’s one way to get your kids to eat their vegetables: Bake them into muffins (the vegetables, that is, not the kids!) I baked these muffins over the weekend, and my daughter E. didn’t even bat an eye at the shreds of carrot in them, despite the fact that she’s never even had carrot cake, as far as I know. They turned out very dense, slightly sweet, moist and tender and gently spiced. Best of all, since I used white whole wheat flour and only a bit of sugar, they’re healthier than most muffins, even fat-free ones.
Carrot Spice Muffins
Because they're made with whole wheat flour and less sugar, these delicious muffins are much healthier than similar.
Servings 12
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour or a mixture of whole wheat and unbleached flours
- 1/4 cup natural sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1/3 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
- 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 cup soy yogurt see note
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Other:
- 1 1/2 cup shredded carrots about 3
- 1/4 cup raisins
- Optional topping: Vanilla sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray or use muffin liners. (I used silicone muffin pans.)
- Mix together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Add the liquid to the dry and mix just long enough to combine. Add the carrots and raisins and stir to combine.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cups–it will be very thick. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar, if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
People sensitive to soy may try substituting rice milk or other non-dairy milk.
Nutrition Facts
Carrot Spice Muffins
Amount Per Serving (1 muffin)
Calories 132
Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Sodium 244mg11%
Carbohydrates 30g10%
Fiber 3g13%
Protein 3g6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Please share!
Rachel
September 26, 2011 at 1:21 pmThis is a dumb question, but is it safe to assume that this would work as a bread loaf if you don’t have a muffin pan…?
Gwyneth
October 6, 2011 at 6:57 amI doubled the protein in these muffins by adding 3 heaping tblsps of hemp protein in place of the same amt of flour. This recipe is the best. Definitely a keeper!
Gwyneth
October 6, 2011 at 7:02 amAfter reading other comments (after making with the hemp protein), I realized I forgot to add the sugar altogether. Just used 1/3 cup maple syrup. The sugar is definitely not necessary. Yummy!!!
Sola
November 10, 2011 at 12:01 amYum! These look delish! I am the heaviest i have EVER been at the moment but I am terrible with junk food. So I’m going to give these a go. Also I’ve started to do a bit of juicing so I may see if I can incorporate the pulp into this (I hate wasting food!)
FMossman
February 26, 2012 at 11:35 amSusan – do you think there is issue adding two scoops of vegetable protein? Will that change the denseness?
Susan Voisin
February 26, 2012 at 12:51 pmSorry–I’ve never used vegetable protein, so I don’t know for sure, but I would hesitate to mess with the ratio of wet to dry ingredients.
Lena
September 5, 2012 at 2:34 pmI made these Muffins today! But only six since I didn’t have enough carrot, heh.
I omitted the flax seeds because I couldn’t find them in any store (it’s just like chia seeds, impossible to get here!). They turned out quite good, even though a tad chewy, but took 30 mins to bake and – for whatever reason – they had 40 calories more per muffin, even though I used less sugar and no flax seeds.
They also rose nicely in the oven, but “imploded” a bit as soon as I took them out. Dang D:
Could’ve been more carrot-ey, my twin sister didn’t even notice carrots in it. I think I might try again with the doubled amount of carrots or some extra apple, zucchini or carrot chunks.
Oh, and is there any chance you could weigh the ingredients for baking? I’m really having a hard time with this cup thingy.
Lena
September 7, 2012 at 2:21 amOkay, the second muffins didn’t turn into muffins. They were creamy and moist inside with a tough top – but boy, they were delicious!
I changed the ingredients quite a bit and added some caramelized carrots, something I will definitely try again.
Livie Leonard
November 19, 2012 at 9:59 pmI just tried this recipe as a spur of the moment thing in preparation for the office’s Thanksgiving party. I followed the recipe except for replacing the soy yoghurt with soy milk. I can’t say enough how delicious these muffins turned out. It wouldn’t surprise me if the non vegans tomorrow will be munching away on these treats without even realising they are actually having vegan treats.
Laurie
November 30, 2012 at 9:33 amThese are fantastic! I made them this week, increasing the spices, and using regular yogurt. They are lovely. They are healthy enough for breakfast but taste like dessert. A new breakfast staple for sure and fun treat to make for friends. Thanks for the great recipe! I blogged them here.
Emeline
December 17, 2012 at 6:30 amCan I substitute the non-dairy milk for more apple juice?
Kristin B.
January 11, 2013 at 9:46 amFABULOUS recipe!!!
My modifications: used low fat vanilla organic yogurt – no soy yogurt available.
Added toasted chopped walnuts.
Wasn’t sure about the shredded carrot amount because I didn’t know if it meant loosely-packed or compressed, so I compressed the carrots a bit, but not so hard that they were difficult to pop out of the measuring cup.
Added about a half teaspoon of orange oil. Will definitely do that every time I use this recipe.
Topped the muffins before baking with some snowflake-shaped sprinkles.
The batter seemed a little bit dry but I didn’t add liquid and the muffins turned out perfectly. I ended up with a dozen muffins but could easily have had 13 or 14.
These keep beautifully in the refrigerator, tightly sealed in a plastic container. They’re good for more than a week!
I’d recommend baking them 2 days before serving – the flavor has a chance to fully develop & it’s well worth the wait.
Ellen
February 7, 2013 at 2:24 pmThis was delicious!! I did leave out the natural sugar and only used the agave. I also added some pecans and dried cranberries.
Susan
February 21, 2013 at 12:46 pmI made these muffins last week and they were so good! My kids gobbled them up. I didn’t have any soy yogurt, so used almond milk and it worked just fine! I just discovered your site recently and am so excited to try your recipes. Thank you so much!!!
Paige
March 14, 2013 at 8:32 amI was looking for a ‘hearty’ muffin recipe! This is a great one! I used a few substitutions. Used mashed and cooked squash for the apple sauce, vegan sour cream for the soy yogurt, gluten free flour, added chopped walnuts and used currants instead of raisins. Yummy.
Orthohawk
June 17, 2013 at 2:51 pmStill finding new treasures! Question, though: Will these recipes still work/be edible if I replace the non-dairy products with dairy products? I’m Greek Orthodox and really am vegan only during our fasting periods (which total, account for about half the year). Otherwise, I’m pretty lacto-veg (I’ve really just given up on “larval chickens” as I call eggs, lol).
Susan Voisin
June 17, 2013 at 3:06 pmProbably, but since I’ve been vegan for 19 years, I’ve never made any of these recipes with dairy products, so I can’t say for sure. Maybe you could keep little boxes of non-dairy milk on hand to use when making vegan recipes? 😉
Orthohawk
October 9, 2013 at 7:38 pmI tried these recently with coconut milk “yogurt” and they were wonderful. I do like almond milk over cereal even during dairy-permitted periods, and since it comes in unsweetened version, I’ll try that. I’m sure i’ll have to do an adjustment or two some time but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it 🙂
Gabriela
January 19, 2014 at 1:40 amI’m watching this blog from a while but it’s the first time when I try one of the recipes. I’m not a vegan but after I lost a lot of kilograms 3 years ago I try to keep my weight under control and I prefer not to eat many things that would affect it in a bad way. So I always try to find sweets that do not make me fill guilty after I eat them and this muffins looked like a good choice. I have used white and black flour, low-calories almond milk instead of soy yoghurt and a little bit of cardamom instead of ginger and less agave nectar than in the recipe. They were great, very tasty and smelled like gingerbread in the oven. Now I know I can bake muffins which are very appreciated in my home without eggs and butter full of calories. They are a good alternative for breakfast with my morning cofee. Thank you for this recipe!
Michele Marie
February 20, 2014 at 1:13 pmI used coconut yogurt instead of the soy with great results. These are tasty. I don’t usually like carrot cake, but I enjoy these. And bonus – my kids go nuts for them. Thanks!
Kindra
March 12, 2014 at 9:26 pmI just HAD to compliment you! The spices and moisture and flavor of these muffins are stellar! I am not vegan but because of you and blogs like yours, most of my lunches have become mostly that.
Susan
March 6, 2016 at 10:22 amThis a great recipe! I did not have agave, so I took your advice and used 3/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup soy milk. I also used a combination of spelt, whole wheat and white flour. The spices are just perfect. The muffins are moist and so good. Will definitely be making again. Thank you.
Jason
August 2, 2017 at 9:33 amI tried making these yesterday and they were a great success, thank you for the recipe. I haven’t tried cakes without oil or margarine before, but these work great. A little too sweet for me because I wasn’t able to find an apple sauce brand without added sugar, but I will keep looking for a better one for next time. I used coconut yogurt, and muscovado sugar. I’m trying to go ‘whole foods and low fat’ and these help. Thanks.
cindy l robertson
November 16, 2017 at 9:27 pmCan this recipe be used to make a cake? If so, would I double it for a 9×13 cake?
Franny
April 22, 2023 at 4:42 pmExcellent recipe, dear Susan! I followed it exactly (and added chopped walnuts on top). The muffins turned out perfectly – firm yet moist, not too sweet, and very satisfying. Thanks for another keeper fat free vegan recipe! ❤️ Franny