Tender and fluffy healthy carrot cake muffins that are surprisingly delicious for them being healthy. I mean, you honestly wouldn't think they are made with wholesome natural ingredients if I didn't tell you. Would you?
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They look equally beautiful! Not super dense weird-looking ones like we always see in the healthy sections of a supermarket.
And personally, for me, the taste is just amazing. Just knowing that these beauties are made with nutritious dense ingredients and taste delicious is just a win-win situation for me.
I love creating feel-good treats that don't compromise on the taste or the look (hello healthy chocolate chip cookies, oats banana muffins, chocolate peanut butter banana bread, and healthy apple muffins!)
Awesome Wholesome Ingredients
Let me break down the awesome wholesome ingredients for you:
- They have whole-grain spelt flour
- Expect to find lots of carrots in them
- Also some walnuts and apple
- Natural sweetener which is honey. Use maple syrup if you want, of course.
- Less amount of oil than the typical muffins. I'm using coconut oil. Use your favorite oil.
2 Ingredients Frosting
Oh, this is the easiest homemade frosting, ever. It's just cream cheese and honey.
I mean, 2 ingredients?! And hey if you don't want frosting then don't make it. No problem at all.
If you do want to make it, the good thing is you can control the sweetness to your liking, using your favorite sweetener.
Can I Freeze Them?
Yes! They freeze well, just like my amazing layered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, so don't worry.
I like to freeze them without the frosting though. I wrap them individually with some cling film and then place them in a ziploc bag, and into the freezer they go.
Thaw at room temperature and then frost. Let me know what you think.
Video
📖 Recipe
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Video
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1½ cup (195 g) whole-grain spelt flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (80 g) buttermilk , room temperature
- 2 large eggs , room temperature
- ⅓ cup (50 g) melted coconut oil
- ⅓ cup (100 g) honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (110 g) grated carrot
- ½ cup (80 g) grated apple
- ⅓ cup (40 g) walnuts , chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz (220 g) cream cheese , room temperature
- 2 tablespoon (20 g) honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF(175ºC) without the fan. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with muffin papers.
Dry Ingredients
- In a bowl, add spelt flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg powder. Mix well with a spoon and set aside.
Wet Ingredients
- In another bowl, add buttermilk, eggs, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla extract. Whisk with a hand whisk until everything is well combined.
- Pour in the dry ingredients mixture and mix well without overdoing it. This will avoid getting tough muffins. Add grated carrot, apple, and walnuts. Mix well with a spatula.
- Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into a 12-hole muffin pan lined with muffin papers.
Bake
- Bake in the oven at the lower ⅔ rack for 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the muffins completely on a cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add cream cheese and honey to a bowl. Mix well using a spatula. Spoon some frosting on the muffins, followed by some chopped walnuts. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use the spoon and level method. This will prevent using more flour than the recipe calls so that the muffins won't become dense.
- Room temperature ingredients. This will ensure they mix better and the muffins are baked beautifully.
- Don't let the batter sit. We don't want the carrot and apple to start releasing liquid into the batter, which will affect the muffins' consistency, texture, and baking time.
- Don't overbake the muffins. We always use a portable oven thermometer whenever we bake to get an accurate temperature. Overbaking the muffins will make them dry and tough.
Thelma Jones says
Yes, thank you for your quick response 😀
It's so appreciated!
I will make them tonight!😋
Bea & Marco says
You're so welcome! Hope you'll like them as much as we do!
Thelma Jones says
Please advise! In the video you use lemon juice but in the recipe list you use buttermilk for wet ingredient? Which is it? I don't want to make a mistake!
Bea & Marco says
Hi Thelma, thanks so much for checking before making them! Please follow the recipe card, which uses buttermilk. If you saw lemon juice in the video, that would be as part of a quick homemade buttermilk substitute (if don't have buttermilk on hands). So the wet ingredient you want here is ⅓ cup buttermilk. Hope that helps, and enjoy the muffins! 😊
Thelma Jones says
Yes, thank you for your quick response 😀
It's so appreciated!
I will make them tonight!😋
Jordana Scala says
Tried making these this afternoon. I’ve been looking for a muffin recipe that’s a little healthier for my 4 year old son. They were absolute hit! So delicious! I’ll definitely be making these again!
Bea & Marco says
Hi Jordana, thank you so much for sharing this! We’re so happy to hear they were a hit with your son, and that you found the healthier muffin option you were looking for. Thanks again for leaving a comment!
Roselyn Moseley says
These carrot cake muffins went down a treat and even my diabetic neighbour could enjoy one thank you what a fab recipe they turn out exactly as the ones on the video I’m now looking at your other healthy cakes ect thanks for sharing ❤️😘
Bea & Marco says
Oh this makes us to happy to hear! We love that your neighbour could enjoy them too. Can't wait for you (and your neighbour!) to try our other healthy recipes, thank you so much for your kind word and support, Roselyn! 😘😘
cristina says
Could I use this recipe for a cake instead of muffins? What oven time and temperature would it be okay to use?
Bea & Marco says
Hi Cristina, I suggest to check out our carrot cake recipe instead, here's the link https://www.elmundoeats.com/best-carrot-cake-recipe/
C Greene says
Came out fabulous!! Thank you for sharing
Bea says
Yeay! Happy to hear that, thank you!
Sobia says
Hey,
This recipes looks awesome, want to try it on my son’s birthday! So can make the same batter with half quantity of all the ingredients and make 12 mini cupcakes for toddlers? (As the stated one is for full size 16 cupcakes right? )
Bea says
Hi Sobia! Yes I'd think it'll work with half batch. Let me know how it goes, and have fun!
Liz Lumogdang says
Thank you so much Miss Bea for sharing such a healthy and great tasting muffin. I made it for my family for and now for my aunt's big birthday celebration. I am so excited to give it to everyone.
You're such a blessing.
More power to you
Bea says
Hi Liz! I'm happy to know that your family loved it. I have more delish healthy recipes here if you're interested. Thank you so much for your feedback, have a wonderful day ahead! ❤️
Liza Loraine M Lumogdang says
This recipe is really amazing. My family loves it and it's totally healthy. Thank you so much Elmundo
Bea says
Awesome Liza, I'm happy to hear that. Do check out more healthy bake recipes here if you're interested. Thank you!
Bei says
Hi, can i make this recipe with 6inch cake mould? If yes, what temperature and time should i bake with? Tq 🙂
Aggeliki says
Hi!!. Thank you for the great recipe. I did the recipe but replaced the spelt flour with whole wheat flour (didn't have any spelt) but I could definitely taste the bitterness of the WW flour. Can I add to your recipe a couple of tablespoons of orange juice? Orange juice can/may decrease the bitterness a bit.
Bea says
Hi Aggeliki! I haven't tried it but maybe it could work? Or try using orange zest instead, so that not to change the consistency of raw batter? Let me know how it goes and thank you! ❤️
Aggeliki says
Hi again. Thank you for your reply. I did manage to find spelt flour (it is dinkel in Greece). I made the recipe again and the cupcakes turned out great!!! (Don't get me wrong, the previous ones were great too... Just had a bitter aftertaste). The recipe is amazing, not very sweet and well balanced. I recommend it to anyone that wants a delicious/gilt free cupcake. Next on my list: Zucchini brownies.
Tania says
Hi, what if I use low fat milk and don't use lemon juice? Will it be as good? Thank you! 🙂
Aya Heusaff says
Hi! Can I use almond milk instead 🙂
Bea says
Yes you can 🙂
Lindsay Walter says
I love your healthy recipes Bea! They never fail. These muffins are so delicious and I have made them several time now. Thanks a lot.
Lindsay
Bea says
I appreciate your words Lindsay, thank you so much!
Purvi Modi Monga says
Can we use all purpose flour instead of spelt flour? OR wheat flour? Cannot find spelt flour here.
Bea says
You can try using all purpose flour 🙂
Fung Mei Seian says
Hi, can use almond flour or oat flour to replace spelt flour?
Bea says
Hi! I haven't tried it with those so I can't really say they will have the same result. Sorry!
Hira says
I made these muffins today with oat flour instead of spelt flour (didn't have any) and they turned out moist and tasted awesome! Thank u so much Bea for this recipe!
Bea & Marco says
That's good to know that oat flour works great also, thanks for sharing it with us!