These gluten-free Carrot Cake Muffins are the perfect little treat to keep around! They’re light & fluffy, and topped with a delicious dairy-free cream cheese icing. Bonus points that they’re made with veggies, right?
The muffins are so easy to make, and pack in so much flavor. You guys are going to love them!
Ever since sharing my spelt flour carrot cake, I became obsessed with all things carrot. I knew I had to create another dessert recipe that was carrot based, but wanted to make it gluten-free since I always get asked for substitutions.
These muffins came out absolutely perfect, and are a delicious meal prep food to keep around during the week. I love them with my morning coffee, or as an afternoon snack when I need something sweet to power me through my day.
What you’ll need to make gluten-free carrot cake muffins
Wet ingredients:
- grated carrots
- eggs
- coconut sugar– I love to bake with coconut sugar for its rich, caramel-like taste. Light brown sugar would be a good substitute!
- pure maple syrup– I added a touch of maple syrup for a little extra sweetness, but it can be left out if you wanted to cut back on the sugar
- olive oil- olive oil is one of my favorite oils to bake muffins with! You can substitute any other liquid oil if needed
- applesauce– the applesauce adds a touch of sweetness, and really helps give these muffins their moist texture
- vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
- almond flour- fine almond flour is best for this recipe
- oat flour– pre-made oat flour is ideal, but you can blend your own from rolled oats if needed!
- cinnamon
- ginger
- nutmeg
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
You combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl, and bake them in muffin tins until they’re firm to touch!
The simple cream cheese icing on top is made from only 3 ingredients. It’s completely optional, but I love the flavor it adds. I used a dairy-free cream cheese, but you can use your favorite kind!
These muffins are packed with healthy fats and whole-grains, making them a great healthier option for when you’re craving something sweet.
I can’t wait for you guys to try this recipe! Be sure to leave a rating and review if you do 🙂
More baked goods you may like:
Healthy Blueberry Crumble Muffins
Gluten-free S’mores Blondies
Chocolate Chip Tahini Blondies
Gluten-free Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 2 cups grated carrots, about 5-6 carrots
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Cream Cheese Icing
- 1/3 cup dairy-free cream cheese, or sub regular cream cheese
- 2 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F
- In a large bowl. whisk together all of the wet ingredients until smooth.
- Pour in your dry ingredients, and whisk together until fully incorporated, and a thick batter forms.
- Line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter into each muffin liner. The batter will make around 12-14 large muffins.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until its firm to touch and a toothpick comes out clean. My oven needed 27 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk the icing ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. I suggest using a whisk for this to break up the clumps from the cream cheese.
- Dip each muffin top into the icing to cover, or spread it over the top with a small spoon or knife. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
- The muffins with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated, and will be good for up to a week. If you leave some unfrosted, you can store them in an air tight container on the counter for up to 3-4 days.
- To freeze, I suggest leaving them unfrosted. They will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer in a ziplock or airtight container.
perfect texture, which is so hard when doing gluten and dairy free, love the clean ingredients, added chopped walnuts which was lovely and I might add some more spices next time. The flavor was great just a bit mild. My new fave muffin recipe hands down!
Thank you, Heather! I’m so glad you tried these 🙂
I did really love the overall flavor of the recipe and followed it exactly as written but mine turned out just a little too wet. I wondered if maybe it had something to do with the amount of shredded carrots used. Would you be able to post the grams for future tries to make sure that shred size/how much you pack a cup is what it should be? I will definitely try again! Thanks!
Hey Veronica, I will make note of that the next time I make this recipe and try to update the grams. For reference, 2 cups will usually be about 5-6 carrots (regular sized, not the extra thick ones)
I need these babies right now but i ran out of apple sauce. Can I sub it for mashed bananas? Already made this 3x and still can’t get over how yummy they are. Just hands down my favorite carrot cake muffin recipe. Thanks!
Hi Kari! I believe mashed banana should work in the same amount but it may give these a slight banana taste of course 🙂