These Healthy Carrot Muffins are loaded to the brim with flavor while being made with good-for-you ingredients. No dairy, no gluten, and no refined sugars! Additionally, these muffins are vegan and vegetarian.
Try some of our other nutritious treats like these Gluten-Free Zucchini Muffins, Healthy Ice Cream (no bananas!), or Healthy Brownies!
Healthy Carrot Muffins
These are seriously the best healthy muffins ever! They are ridiculously flavorful, deeply spiced, and have a wonderfully moist texture. My three kids ate the entire batch in one day the first time I made them and begged for more.
We’ve gone through about eight bags of carrots the last few weeks making more of these muffins and I think it’s safe to say this recipe is going to get made a lot throughout the years!
Are Carrot Muffins Healthy?
Different people have different ideas of what “healthy” means, but I think these muffins are very nutritious.
Healthy Carrot Muffins don’t use refined sugar. Instead, they get their sweetness from natural sources like pure maple syrup and dates. Natural sugars, found in fruits, milk, and cheese, are different from refined sugars, which come from processed sugar cane or beets.
We use old-fashioned oats instead of flour by blending them into a flour-like consistency. We also add protein-packed eggs, coconut oil, which is good for the body, and lots of carrots! If you want to know more about the benefits of carrots, check out this article.
How To Make Healthy Carrot Muffins
You won’t believe how easy Healthy Carrot Muffins are to make! We literally add everything to a blender and blend it — no other bowls or mixing utensils required!
While quick and simple to make, you do need a good, powerful blender (think Blendtec® or Vitamix®) to break down the oats, dates, and carrots. If you don’t have a powerful blender, I’d recommend a powerful food processor; just be sure to scrape down the sides often.
Let’s Chat Carrots
Use whole carrots and grate them yourself on the large holes of a grater.
Avoid packaged pre-shredded carrots; they are hard, dry, and far less flavorful. When you grate your own carrots you’ll notice how much more moisture they have– which is a must for the recipe to properly work (we’re relying on that moisture!).
Use a grating attachment on a food processor to grate carrots quickly! And, after you’ve made these healthy moist muffins, use leftover carrots to prepare this Carrot Smoothie (it tastes like a milkshake!), Carrot Soup, or Carrot Cake Cupcakes.
Working With Dates
- The softer and fresher the dates, the better these muffins work out!
- Soften dates if needed. Here’s a quick way to revive stale or hard dates. If the dates are too hard, they won’t blend up very well or integrate nicely into the muffins.
- Before blending, make sure to remove any pits from the dates to avoid damaging your blender.
Healthy Carrot Muffins Recipe Tips
- Make sure all ingredients are gluten-free: Even though the ingredients themselves don’t have gluten, double-check the labels to ensure they weren’t made in a place that handles gluten.
- Keep scraping the sides of the blender: While blending, stop occasionally to use a spatula or knife to scrape the edges of the blender. This makes sure everything mixes properly.
- Grease the muffin tin well: It’s better to grease the muffin tin generously instead of using liners because the batter tends to stick to liners.
- Measure the coconut oil after melting: Melt 1/2 cup of coconut oil and then measure it. Pour it over the dates to help them blend easier.
- Scrape out all the batter from the blender: Since the batter is thick and sticky, take your time to scrape it all out into the muffin tins. We want to use every bit of batter for tall muffins!
Storage
Storing Healthy Carrot Muffins
- Cool muffins completely before storing.
- To freeze: Wrap Healthy Carrot Muffins individually in plastic wrap and then place all the wrapped muffins in large freezer bags.
- To thaw: Set out at room temperature or heat frozen muffins in the microwave.
*Freezing and thawing these muffins might make them lose some of their texture and flavor.
More Nutritious Snack Recipes
- Healthy Chocolate Cookies with peanut butter
- Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes with oats and chocolate chips
- Healthy Banana Muffins with Greek yogurt
- Cookies and Cream Energy Bites with Oreo-inspired crumbs throughout
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake with chocolate chips
Quick Tip
Use a good nonstick muffin tin for easy muffin removal. I can’t say enough good things about this muffin pan; these Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins always come out perfectly!
Healthy Carrot Muffins
Equipment
- A good muffin tin and nonstick spray
- Powerful blender (think Blendtec or Vitamix)
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 7-8 whole fresh/soft Medjool dates (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil (measured when melted)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated carrots (Note 2)
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 12 cavities of a muffin pan with nonstick spray (muffin liners won't work well).
- BLEND OATS: Add 2 leveled cups of oats to a large and powerful blender or food processor. Blend until the oats resemble flour -- a fine powder, about 60-90 seconds. If needed, stir and continue blending to break up larger chunks of oats.
- BLEND OTHER INGREDIENTS: Remove the pits and coarsely chop the dates. Measure to get 3/4 cup and then add into the blender on top of the oats. Pour the melted coconut oil on top of the dates. Blend for 60 seconds, stopping the blender to scrape down sides as needed. Add in all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the carrots. Blend until smooth, about 60-90 seconds. Finally, add in the grated carrots and stir through. Then blend once more, about 30 seconds or until broken down and integrated. (Continue to stop the blender and scrape down sides as needed.)
- FINISH BATTER: Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups -- the batter should fill exactly 12 cavities about 3/4 the way full. The batter is thick and sticky (and hard to work with), but scrape every bit of batter out into the pan. Smooth the tops of the muffins with a clean finger.
- BAKE: Bake for 21-25 minutes or until no longer gooey/wet looking on top and the sides are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let stand in the pan for 3-4 minutes before gently removing (use the tines of a fork to gently coax out the muffins). Set muffins on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- ENJOY: Enjoy muffins warm; they are even better on the second day! Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. Best enjoyed within 2-3 days. Freeze leftover muffins.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you use prunes in this instead of the dates?
I don’t think it would be the perfect substitute here just because baking can be so finicky–especially with gluten-free goods! That said, I haven’t ever baked with prunes, so this is just me guessing! Wish I could be of more help.
I ran out of Ezekiel bread this morning and decided to try your Healthy Carrot Muffins recipe for breakfast. The muffins came out delicious. I followed your recipe by making one little change since I didn’t have coconut oil. I used olive oil and like I said: “I loved the results!” Thank you so much for sharing
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks so much Maria! 🙂