These moist Carrot Cake Muffins are made with fresh carrots, ripe bananas, golden raisins and a lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting. Perfect for breakfast or brunch.
Carrot Cake MuffinsÂ
These Carrot Cake Muffins take all the best parts of classic carrot cake and give them a wholesome breakfast twist. They’re sweetened naturally with ripe bananas and monk fruit sweetener, packed with shredded carrots and golden raisins, and finished with a light swirl of cream cheese frosting. Perfect with your morning coffee, for a weekend brunch, or Easter morning. I’ve even tested them with gluten-free flour mix, and they came out just as good. If you want a cake recipe, try my Carrot Cake for dessert.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I love my carrot cake recipe and wanted to make them into muffins instead and they turned out great!
- Moist: These muffins use only a little butter, but the grated carrots and mashed bananas prevent them from being dry.
- Perfect Way to Use Overripe Bananas: Have bananas going bad on your counter? This recipe is a delicious way to put them to good use.
- Dietary Restrictions: Weight Watchers-friendly, vegetarian, gluten-free (if using GF flour)
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What You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients for these easy carrot cake muffins. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour or GF flour, like Cup4Cup, for gluten-free carrot cake muffins.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda cause the bread to rise and make it more tender.
- Salt improves the flavor and texture and balances the sweetness.
- Flavor: Use cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract for flavor.
- Bananas: The riper the bananas are, the sweeter the muffins will be, eliminating the need to add extra sugar.
- Carrots: Grated carrots add moisture, plus fiber and vitamin A.
- Melted Butter for moisture
- Eggs bind everything together.
- Sweetener: Brown monk fruit sweetener has zero net carbs and calories, but you can also use regular brown sugar. These muffins are lightly sweetened, so feel free to add more sugar to suit your tastes.
- Mix-ins: Golden raisins and chopped walnuts add texture.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: 1/3-less fat cream cheese, vanilla extract, and powdered monk fruit (or powdered sugar)
How to Make Carrot Cake Muffins
Combine wet and dry ingredients to make this simple carrot muffin recipe. Just make sure not to overmix the batter to ensure the best texture! See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).
- Add the wet ingredients (mashed bananas, grated carrots, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar) to another bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in the raisins, walnuts, and dry ingredients.
- Bake the Muffins: Pour the batter into a muffin tin sprayed with nonstick cooking spray or filled with liners. Transfer to the oven and bake at 350°F for 20 to 23 minutes. To check that they’re ready, insert a toothpick into the center of one to see if it’s clean. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Make the Frosting: Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and monk fruit to a bowl and whip it with a hand mixture until evenly combined.
- Frost the Muffins: Spread the cream cheese frosting over each muffin. Store any remaining frosting in an airtight container in the fridge to use on fruit or toast.
Tips for the Best Carrot Cake Muffins
- Use overripe bananas–the spottier, the better. They add moisture and natural sweetness.
- Finely grate your carrots so they melt into the muffin without being stringy.
- Let them cool completely before frosting, or the frosting will slide right off!
Variations
- Fruit: Use unsweetened applesauce or drained canned crushed pineapple instead of bananas.
- Want sweeter muffins? Add an extra quarter cup of monk fruit or brown sugar.
- Want less sugar? Skip the frosting.
- Raisins: I like golden raisins best here, but regular ones or currants will work.
- Nuts: Substitute them with pecans and macadamia nuts.
- Nut allergy? Omit the nuts.
- Mix It Up: Swap walnuts or raisins for shredded coconut.
- Make It Mini: Pour the batter into a mini muffin tin and bake for 10-13 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
These carrot cake muffins are great as a simple breakfast with coffee or as part of your Easter or spring brunch spread. Below are some other dishes to serve with them, and you can check out more Easter recipes here.
Storage
- How long do carrot muffins last? Since these muffins have cream cheese frosting, you need to refrigerate them in an airtight container. They will last up to 6 days.
- Can carrot muffins be frozen? Freeze the frosted muffins for up to 3 months and thaw them in the fridge.
- How to Serve: Eat them cold or bring them to room temperature on the counter.
More Quick Bread and Muffin Recipes
For more breakfast and brunch ideas, check out my Baked Breads and Cakes collection, plus these five delicious breads and muffins, for more inspiration!
Yield: 12 servings
Serving Size: 1 muffin
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Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a muffin tin with liners or lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
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Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
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Add the mashed bananas, grated carrots, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar, to a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the raisins, walnuts and the dry ingredients to the bowl and use a spatula to fold until just combined and you see no more streaks of flour.
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Divide the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups, filling up about ⅔ of the way up. Transfer the muffin tin to the oven to bake for 20-23 minutes, until puffed and a toothpick in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
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Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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While the muffins cool, make the frosting. Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and monk fruit to a bowl. Use a hand mixer to whip until evenly combined, about a minute.
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To assemble, pipe or spoon frosting onto each muffin. Any remaining frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and used to drizzle over fruit or spread on toast.
Last Step:
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These muffins are lightly sweetened, but you can add more sugar to your taste.
Serving: 1 muffin, Calories: 168 kcal, Carbohydrates: 30.5 g, Protein: 5 g, Fat: 7.5 g, Saturated Fat: 3.5 g, Cholesterol: 46.5 mg, Sodium: 218 mg, Fiber: 1.5 g, Sugar: 7 g
