Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins
on Jan 25, 2022, Updated Mar 18, 2024
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These gluten-free carrot cake muffins have all the flavors you love from your favorite carrot cake but in muffin form. They are sweetened with maple syrup, moist and fluffy, and perfect for on-the-go!
Carrot cake is one of those either you love it or hate it type of desserts. I personally am not a fan of carrot cake, but I couldn’t stop myself from snacking on these muffins! I had SO many carrots that I wanted to use up and wanted to come up with ways to use them with freezer-friendly recipes. I started off by making some cheesy carrot balls, which were a HIT with my boys, but still had some leftover carrots that I wanted to make into a sweet treat. Carrot cake is the first sweet treat that comes to mind when I think of carrots, so I turned them into these mini gluten-free carrot cake muffins. They are sweetened with a little maple syrup and make the perfect breakfast or snack! If you love these little muffins, be sure to also try out these carrot oatmeal cookies!
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need to make these gluten-free carrot cake muffins:
- Carrots: The star ingredient for these carrot cake muffins.
- Oat Flour: I love baking with rolled oats as they are packed with nutrition! Make sure to use certified gluten-free rolled oats to make these muffins gluten-free. You can purchase oat flour as is, or make your own by grinding up rolled oats into a flour.
- Eggs: Used as a binder to help hold the muffins together.
- Greek Yogurt: Used to help the muffins obtain a fluffy texture.
- Milk: I use full-fat whole milk, but any type of milk may be used.
- Maple Syrup: The main source of sweetness for these muffins.
- Vanilla Extract: To enhance the sweetness of the muffins.
- Cinnamon/Nutmeg: Warm spices for added flavor.
- Baking Powder: Leavening agents to help the muffins rise.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Recipe Substitutions & Additions
- Oat Flour: The gluten-free oat flour may be replaced with all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour, but keep in mind that the muffins will no longer be gluten-free.
- Eggs: You may replace the eggs with flax eggs. To make a flax egg, combine 3 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed. Let the mixture sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes until it forms a gel-like texture.
- Greek yogurt: You may replace the Greek yogurt with a dairy-free yogurt, like coconut milk yogurt.
- Milk: You may replace the milk with a dairy-free alternative like coconut milk or oat milk.
Step By Step Instructions
- Whisk the eggs and yogurt together until smooth.
- Add in the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla, and whisk together until combined.
- Grate the carrot using the smallest size hole of a cheese grater. You should have about ½ cup of grated carrots.
- Add in the grated carrots and mix until combined.
- Add in the oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix until incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into a mini muffin pan and bake the muffins at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If using a normal-sized muffin pan, bake a few minutes longer.
Storage Instructions
Let the muffins completely cool and store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the fridge. To freeze, store in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag once cooled for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply microwave the muffins for 20-30 seconds, or until warmed through!
Tips For Success
- This recipe makes 24 mini muffins. You may make regular-sized muffins by adding a few more minutes to the total bake time.
- I used the smallest size hole on my cheese grater to grate the carrots, but you may use a larger size hole if you prefer larger carrot chunks in the muffins.
- I like to use a silicone muffin pan to bake these muffins as they pop out easily without any sticking. If using a regular mini muffin pan, be sure to coat with a cooking spray beforehand.
Other Carrot Recipes You’ll Love
Carrot Fritters
Carrot Oatmeal Cookies
Oven-Baked Zucchini Carrot Tots
Cheesy Carrot Bites
If you tried these Carrot Cake Muffins please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below! I love hearing from you!
Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup grated carrots
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Whisk the eggs and yogurt together until smooth.
- Add in the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla and whisk together until combined.
- Grate the carrot using the smallest size hole of a cheese grater. You should have about ½ cup of grated carrots.
- Add in the grated carrots and mix until combined.
- Add in the oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix until incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into a mini muffin pan and bake the muffins for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If using a normal-sized muffin pan, bake a few minutes longer.
- *For an optional cream cheese frosting, mix together 4 oz of softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of maple pure and ⅛ teaspoon of vanilla extract until smooth.
Notes
- This recipe makes 24 mini muffins. You may make regular-sized muffins by adding a few more minutes to the total bake time.
- I used the smallest size hole on my cheese grater to grate the carrots, but you may use a larger size hole if you prefer larger carrot chunks in the muffins.
- I like to use a silicone muffin pan to bake these muffins as they pop out easily without any sticking. If using a regular mini muffin pan, be sure to coat with a cooking spray beforehand.
when i first gave my son a taste he didn’t want to eat any so i was bummed. well, i ended up trying a couple of days later and he gave it a try and loved them. i ended up substituting banana for the maple syrup and had to bake a few extra minutes but they still came out great! the outside is muffin like but the inside feels moist like a baked oatmeal. just want to make sure that is the correct texture?
Hi Laura! I’m so glad to hear that your little one ended up enjoying these muffins! That moist texture is normal if you are replacing the maple syrup with banana since the banana has a mushier texture and consistency😊
Really good recipe and my little loves it!
I even had some for myself
I made this today for my son who is on the Autism spectrum and generally DOES NOT LIKE cake, cookies or muffins… Surprise! He LOVED them! He actually ate 5! I’m very thankful for this recipe and I can’t wait to make them again. I too, think they are delicious. Also not hard to make at all! If you’re wondering if you should make them – this is your sign todo it.
Hi Justina! I’m so happy to hear that these muffins were a win with your little guy! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, I’m so glad that you found them simple to make!😊
Hi! Can you use regular flour instead of oat flour? That’s all I have in my kitchen and want to make these soon!
Yes you can, but I would use slightly less flour if you are using all-purpose flour since it absorbs liquids a little differently😊
Can this be served to a 9 month old baby? Thank you!
Yes, these can be! If you prefer a fruit-based sweetener, you can try replacing the maple syrup with a little mashed banana😊
Can you provide storage instructions? In the fridge and in the freezer?
Hi Aditi! The storage instructions for each recipe are listed in the blog post if you scroll up a bit titled “storage instructions.” For these specific muffins, they are as follows: “Let the muffins completely cool and store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the fridge. To freeze, store in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag once cooled for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply microwave the muffins for 20-30 seconds, or until warmed through!”
These are delicious and a total hit with my 16m old. She will eat 3-4 in one sitting if I let her. I even love them!
I’m so happy to hear that your little one enjoyed these muffins! Thank you for sharing your great feedback, Taryn!😊
Thank you for your great recipes. Can I subtitude Greek Yoghurt with some thing else?
Hi Maryam! Yes, you can replace it with any type of yogurt (non-dairy alternatives will work as well!)
I have MCAS and I’m basically allergic to everything but your recipe is almost perfect for me. I just cannot have any yogurt. Could I use carrot juice? Or apple sauce?
Hi Tiffany! I haven’t tested this recipe out with apple sauce, but I think that should be the best replacement for the yogurt. I hope that they work out if you give these muffins a try!😊
Easy and delicious. I followed as written except slightly less syrup. These were enjoyed by adults and kids.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing your great feedback, Erica😊
Replaced the maple syrup with 1/4 of banana and these turned out great. Since I baked on a regular size silicone muffin sheet I baked for around 25 minutes.
They also defrost very nicely in the microwave.
Hi Laurie, thank you for sharing your success with the banana replacement! I’m so happy to hear that they turned out great!😊