Healthy Carrot Muffins
Healthy carrot muffins made with whole wheat flour, coconut oil and maple syrup! They taste amazing, too. These muffins make a great, quick breakfast!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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My dog Cookie always comes running when I pull out the vegetable peeler. I swear, she can hear it slice through the air before it even touches a carrot. Then she starts jumping up and down for carrot scraps. She can be very demanding. I’ve created an entitled little carrot beast, and I’m not sorry in the slightest.
Cookie loved the development process for this carrot muffin recipe. It took me five tries to get them just right, so she got a lot of carrot scraps in the process. They’re based on one of my cookbook recipes (so good!!!).
These hearty muffins are packed with grated carrots, walnuts and raisins. They have lots of texture, yet they’re still light and fluffy.
Thanks to the nuts and whole grains, these muffins make a good grab-and-go breakfast! They also freeze and defrost well. I just microwave individual muffins for 30 to 60 seconds, until they’re gently warmed throughout.
Watch How to Make Carrot Muffins
What makes these carrot muffins healthy?
Granted, “healthy” is a subjective term, but here are a few reasons why I consider these muffins to be more nutritionally redeeming than most:
- Unlike standard carrot muffins made with refined all-purpose flour, these are made with white whole wheat flour. That means they’re made entirely with whole grains, but you can’t taste them because white whole wheat flour has such a mild flavor.
- Protein-rich Greek yogurt replaces sour cream.
- Coconut oil or olive oil replace butter (olive oil is composed of more monounsaturated fat, and is considered to be more heart-healthy)
- Real maple syrup replaces refined sugar, so these muffins are naturally sweetened.
- Combined, you end up with hearty muffins that taste like carrot cake. You can eat carrot cake for breakfast with these babies!
These muffins are easily adapted to vegan and gluten-free diets, too! See my recipe notes for details.
Please let me know how these muffins turn out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager for your feedback.
Craving more wholesome muffins? Here are a few more favorite muffin recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Healthy Banana Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Healthy Raspberry Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Zucchini Muffins
If you’re baking for a special occasion, you’ll love my carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (it’s also naturally sweetened and made with whole wheat flour).
Healthy Carrot Muffins
Healthy carrot muffins made with whole wheat flour, coconut oil and maple syrup! They taste fantastic, too, of course. These muffins make a great, quick breakfast! Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups peeled and grated carrots* (from ¾ pound carrots—about 3 large or up to 6 small/medium)
- ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- ½ cup raisins (I like golden raisins), tossed in 1 teaspoon flour
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt***
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Blend well with a whisk. In a separate, small bowl, toss the raisins with 1 teaspoon flour so they don’t stick together. Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and floured raisins to the other ingredients and stir to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 to 16 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.
Notes
*Carrot grating tips: You can grate the carrots by hand, or for an easier option, use the grating attachment on your food processor.
**A note on oils: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil will lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that. Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
***Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.
Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax “eggs.” Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup vegan yogurt.
Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.
Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a GF blend that works well.
Make it nut free: Skip the walnuts!
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
These are just what I was looking for…a healthyish treat to send with my son to daycare. I made these with honey and regular yogurt, using a bit more flour to counterbalance the liquidity of the yogurt, and they turned out great! I made mini-muffins and regular muffins and came out with 24 mini-muffins and 12 muffins. I use Celsius, so I put them in at 160-degrees and watched them carefully. The mini-muffins took about 10 minutes and the big muffins took closer to 20 mins. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I made them vegan with aquafaba eggs and Tofutti-brand sour cream and they came out perfectly. Moist and flavorful and delicious and nutritious all at the same time. Oh, I added some flax and chia seeds for extra crunch and fiber. The hubs and I loved them, and our pups loved the carrot scraps. :)
Hi Kate,
Can i make a cake from this recipe in a standard loaf pan?
Yes, I think that would work well! Bake it at the same temperature, but for longer than specified above. I’m not sure how long it will take.
help! how do I know the difference between a moist muffin and one that’s not done well? Beginner here…
If the muffin is underdone, it will be a little mushy/wet inside. If they’re fluffy in the middle, they’re done!
Thank you soooo much, Kate, for posting this recipe. I am baking for my vegan friend, and I substituted the flaxseed meals for egg and used coconut yogurt in place of regular yogurt. I did this for both the carrot muffins and the apple muffins, and they both turned out so good. I will have to try to make more stuff using your recipes now :)
I have made these muffins and they are amazing. Used honey instead of maple syrup and a little less than specified. they are moist, dense and deliciously healthy. Keep me going for a while!! Thanks Kate
Is the cooking temp really 425? Seems very high.
I do not normally leave comments, so this says a lot! THESE MUFFINS WERE INCREDIBLE! Yes, I realize in the online world that all caps is the equivalent of yelling, and that is exactly what I am doing. FANTASTIC. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I made them for my daughter’s birthday treat, so I fixed up a little cream cheese frosting to go on top. I used a brand that is a mix of cream cheese and greek yogurt that has a natural sweetness about it. I only added a little sugar and eyeballed some vanilla. It was perfect! Just a touch of sweetness made it a dessert for my kids. They loved it, and I had to hide the rest from my husband!
These muffins are absolutely amazing!! I had a bag of carrots and went looking for a recipe. Our home loves healthier and flavourful goodies. I found yours and now I must check out the rest of your recipes! Thanks for sharing!
Merci beaucoup from France! Thanks a lot for sharing this receipt; these muffins are really good, my little boy of 3.5 y.o. helped me and wanted to eat them all. He was so proud that he told everybody at school that these were carrot muffins. I will be glad to share it with a friend who tries to find recipes without any diary products. I will look at your other recipes/website when my little ones will give some time off. Thanks again!
These are delicious! I made mine with regular yogurt and honey instead of maple and they still turned out beautiful.
I love your blog and all the recipes I have tried have become family favs. I especially like the argrula, dried cherry and wild rice salad I get asked to make it all the time!
Made these muffins as part of Mother’s Day brunch. They were a hit! Not too indulgent and so delicious! I served them with cream cheese to mimic carrot cake frosting. Thanks Kate!
I made the carrot muffins today and did a little twist by adding oatmeal ( 1 cup old fashion cooked with l cup greek yogurt and juice and zest of 2 oranges) This ups the carb for a quick breakfast on the go for me. Also I would just add cinnamon next time. (Spice too strong for small grandkids.) Cook time ( in silicon muffin cups ) was 17-20 min. at 375 to keep them moist.
Wow! Amazing and delicious. Love the carrot cupcakes.
I have never baked anything from scratch before in my life so was a little nervous going in, but your recipe was easy to follow and resulted in the yummiest guilt-free muffins EVER!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
I need more stars! :)
I made the carrot muffins over the weekend, they were absolutely delicious! My husband loved the addition of ginger. Looking forward to trying other recipes on your blog!
These are my new favorite muffins. Moist and delicious!
Hi Kate :)
Just baked these and they were superb! I was skeptical about the 100% whole wheat factor and thought they may turn out a bit too dense for a cake. BUT they were absolutely soft, moist and spongey and tasted marvelous!!
I didn’t have maple syrup so I used a bit of sugar and honey. For the second batch; I scattered bran flakes on the top of each muffin before cooking for an added crunch and mixed some oats in the batter just to experiment – they were more dense naturally but the crunch was brilliant :)
Highly recommend this to anyone who loves carrot cake, nope, not just to health freaks.
Thanks Kate and sorry for the long post. Just found your blog and I’m loving it!
PS: Do try scattering bran/cornflakes on the top of each muffin before baking ;)
Thank you, Dani! I appreciate your comment. I never thought to try sprinkle bran flakes on top of muffins!
I came across your recipe when looking for a way to use up shredded bagged carrots I had in the fridge. They were a huge hit with my three year old who has no sweet tooth – moist and not too sweet. I was nervous about trying olive oil though so I used canola. I also didn’t have greek yogurt so used a combination of strained plain yogurt and sour cream. Great recipe – good hint about the flour-coated raisins too! Just be sure to mix dry ingredients really well so you don’t get bites of baking powder/soda.
I just made these muffins, gluten free, and they came out great. I used the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-1 baking flour. I didn’t have any Greek yogurt on hand, so I used regular organic vanilla yogurt instead. They are fluffy (not airy) and moist. My new favorite snack/dessert carrot recipe! Thanks for all the wonderful ideas for healthy food. (I tried your kale pesto last week and it was excellent as well. It’s a great snack with blue corn chips.)
I swapped out maple syrup for honey because that’s what I had in my cupboards; baked at 330 degrees for 20 min and they turned out great. Love them! Thank you Kate.
These Healthy Carrot Muffins were fantastic. Easy to make and everyone loves them. One of the nicest muffin recipes I have ever made.
These sound delicious! Can I use regular whole wheat flour in place of white wheat flour? Is the consistency the same?
Oops… just re-read the recipe and saw that you suggested either white wheat or regular whole wheat flour. Off to bake them now. Looking forward to it! Thx!!
I made the healthy carrot muffin recipe today for my 2 1/2 year old grandson. So easy and so good. I definitely will make them again and try some other of your recipes. Thanks
Hi Kate,
I cooked both the Apple and Carrot Muffins at the weekend.
I used honey for the apple, and then had enough Maple syrup for the carrot. I used the lower temperature for both batches and they turned out well.
I also use grape seed oil as a preference. Discovered I had run out of apple sauce, so doubled the yogurt. They were a great hit with everyone, especially the two year old grandson
Cheers
Margie
Hi Kate, I made these this Monday and my family loved them. I accidentally grated extra carrot, but threw it in for good measure. I added 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon as I love it in baked goods and the end flavor was akin to carrot cake – mmm! I used an extra 1/4tsp. of baking soda to add some height to these goodies. I also didn’t have any golden raisins on hand but had recently purchased currants and used them instead. They worked great. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
I have made these twice and they have been a hit! My 3 year old requested carrot apple muffins and even helped me make them. My husbands grandmother sends us a gallon of Vermont maple syrup, from her trees, every year for Christmas and I’m always happy to find recipes that use it instead of sugar. Thank you for all these yummy recipes.
Easy, delicious recipe! I am gluten sensitive, so I used the gf flour blend from Namaste. I worked perfectly. My only hiccup was the muffins burned slightly. Not sure if it was my pan or my oven, but next time I will try a lower temp for a bit longer. Thanks for a great recipe, and I can’t wait to try more!
I used honey instead of maple sugar cuz I was out. As suggested I lowered the oven temp. I cooked the muffins at 350 for 23 mins. and they came out lightly browned & perfect.
correction: maple syrup. They came out really moist. I also tried your apple muffin recipe, yum. These muffins are a hit with the toddlers (grandchildren).
I made this recipe as directed and they came out incredibly delicious. I will definitely keep the recipe and add it to the repertoire! Thanks!
I love these muffins! Made them without any changes. Will make again, but will add a lot more spice – it was a bit mild for my taste. Great texture and the benefit of being healthy!
Fantastic muffins thank you! Great success with kids and hubby and easy to make too :-)
Made these, but substituted the yogurt with sour cream. That was the only ingredient I didn’t have on hand. So gave it a try with sour cream. They turned out fantastic…..all three kiddos loved them! Thanks!
Hi Kate & Cookie, I made these amazing cookies today and they turned out great. It was my first time baking muffins. The only thing I had to substitute was maple syrup just because I didn’t have it. Instead, I used 2/3 cups brown sugar and 3 tbsp extra coconut oil. I’m definitely coming back to try your other recipes…Thank you so much for your kindness to share them.
Hi, I made these last night but they were quite bland and the whole wheat flour really overpowered the carrot flavour. I know they are supposed to be healthy but did I do something wrong? Are they supposed to be sweet or just very mild?
Hey Erica, that’s odd! Are you sure your whole wheat flour hasn’t gone bad? If it made the muffins taste bitter, it’s probably time for a new bag. Or is it possible that you forgot to add the salt? There’s a lot of flavor in these muffins, so otherwise I’m not sure what could have gone wrong.
It’s a new bag and I did add salt… Hmm I wonder if it’s because it’s ‘stone ground’ whole wheat flour? I’ll try again, maybe this time with more sugar? Also does it matter how finely grated the carrots are?
Do you have nutritional info?
These look amazing. I can easily veganize them. Going to make them soon!
Hi Kate,
I just found your website and recipes and am so excited to try your carrot and apple muffins. I used to send chocolate chip cookies and brownies to my son who attends medical school in New York; sort of a labor of love from mom, but now he tells me he and his girlfriend eat healthier so he doesn’t want me to send the sweets anymore. I felt sad but respect his choices. What a relief to find healthy snacks I can make and send. Thank you so very much! Any chance you can help me establish the nutrition values? Calories, fat, sugar etc
These muffins are delicious but 13 minutes baking time was way too short. Mine needed an extra 10-12 mins at 425.
When you say “whole wheat flour” do you mean plain or self raising?
Plain. I never use self rising flour. :)
Can you make these without the raisins? My family is not a fan.
Yes, they are just an add-in.
Which brand of cookware do you have that is nonstick. We won’t use aluminum. Thanks
Like, skillets and pots? I use cast iron skillets and tri-ply stainless steel pots. My muffin tin is silicone-coated aluminum. You can see all of my kitchen tools here.
well, you can’t substitute some of the whole wheat flour for coconut flour…that didn’t work :-) but it was still tasty! You got to experiment right?! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes. I tried these before and they were delicious.
Yeah, coconut flour is a tricky beast! Glad you enjoyed them. :)
Hi Kate, can you substitute the maple syrup for honey or agave ? Maple syrup is so expensive here..Thanks!
Yes, honey should work! They might just get a little dark around the edges, but should still taste great. Please let me know if you try.
Thanks Kate! I will make this weekend and post photograph on instagram, can´t wait for the book, hubby devoured your Greek Lentil Salad last night ☺☺☺
Yay, thank you! I can’t wait for you to see the book, too. :)
I followed the recipe minus the walnuts and it turned out perfectly.
Glad to hear it! Thanks, Mel.
Thanks for this fab recipe! Used little less golden syrup coz didn’t have maple syrup out honey, chucked in some ground almonds as that what i had to hand and topped up my almost full cup of Greek yogurt with crème fraîche coz that’s all i had too. They rose beautifully and seems like a versatile recipe too.
Toddler loved them! Hubby who doesn’t normally like carrot cake said he really enjoyed them! Will be going in my recipe book :)
That’s great to hear. Thanks, Kenza!
The recipe turned out fantastic!! I frosted with reduced fat cream cheese and lime, sweetened with agave and topped with a walnut. Wonderfully decadent dessert, posted on instagram #cookieandkate
Yay, thanks Carmen!
Hi Kate! I’ve tried this recipe and it was so amazing! Thank you for this awesome recipe!
I’m just wondering if i could use the same recipe for whole cake? Im actually thinking of baking a carrot cake for my son’s first birthday! :) would be great to hear your advice on this!
Hey Lix, yes, you can! Bake in a greased 9″ square baker at 425 degrees Fahrenheit until the center of the cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 26 to 28 minutes.
Hi Kate! I am in love with these muffins! So yummy!! I think I’ve made this recipe about four times and every batch has turned out amazing! Most recently I tried it with apples and almond flour and it tasted really good!
Hooray! Thank you, Grace!
These muffins are delicious and a great way to get some added vegetables and fruit in the diet. Do you ever post nutrition facts for your recipes? I was wondering about how many calories 1 muffin would have in it.
Oh my gosh! My dog comes running when I pull out the veg peeler also. I don’t know how she does it. I have never heard of another dog that loves the veggie peels. Too funny. :)