Carrot Cake Muffins with Creamy Frosting

Three carrot cake muffins topped with creamy creamed cheese frosting and carrots

If you didn’t think carrot cake could get any better, then behold – a Carrot Cake Muffin recipe! These vegan muffins are seriously delicious and gluten-free, using quick oats and gluten-free flour. We love to sit down and enjoy these muffins with tea or coffee. Or, since these carrot cakes are hand-held, why not eat them on the go?

Plus, how often do you get to eat cake with your hands?

Stealth Vitamins

Who was the visionary that first hid carrots in a cake recipe (or put them in muffins, for that matter)? Carrots are a wonderful source of beta-carotene, fiber, vitamin K, and potassium. In addition, they can also contribute to eye health (although they won’t quite make you “see in the dark” the way the stories say).

A mixing bowl filled with carrot cake batter and grated cake

Finally, we added oats to the carrot cake batter to complement the gluten-free flour. Oats contribute tons of fiber and provide a long-lasting energy supply.

Mixing bowl with Carrot Cake batter and muffin tin filled with batter

Raisin the Bar!

I know some carrot cake recipes don’t use raisins, but we love them in a muffin because they add texture and sweetness. Just pulse them in a food processor a few times to mince. Alternatively, if you don’t have a food processor, mince them by hand with a knife.

Carrots, squash, and raisins, all in a vegan cake? Who knew something so tasty could “sneak” so many fruits and veggies into your diet?

Bowl of vegan cream cheese frosting

And last but not least, we couldn’t call these “carrot cake” muffins without (vegan) cream cheese frosting, right? Make sure you take note of the frosting recipe because you’ll want to slather it on everything! We also candied some carrots to add on top. Cooked in maple syrup and vegan butter, the shaved carrot pieces add a unique sweetness and pop of color!

So, there you have it, beautiful carrot cake muffins that taste just as good as they look – and are both vegan and gluten-free! We hope you try them out.

Tray of carrot cake muffins being frosted with vegan creamed cheese

Did you try this recipe? Let us know what you think with a comment and rating! Every bit of feedback helps make the blog even better!

If you’d like to make some more gluten-free sweet treats, we suggest our Easy Banana Bread, Vegan Chocolate Cake, and Fudgy Black Bean Brownies.

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Three carrot cake muffins topped with creamy creamed cheese frosting and carrots

Carrot Cake Muffins with Creamy Frosting


  • Author: Rachel Steeland
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x

Description

Gluten-free carrot cake muffins topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting and maple candied carrots.


Ingredients

Scale

Carrot Cake Muffins

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

 

Garnish (optional)


Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F / 190C and fill a 12-well muffin pan with paper liners (if not using liners, grease the muffin wells with a little spray oil).
  2. In a medium bowl or jug, add the flaxseed and water and stir till combined. Then add oil, milk and vanilla extract.  Stir till combined and not lumps.  Add grated carrot and stir through then put aside. 
  3. In a large bowl add flour, sugar, walnuts, sultanas, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and stir till well combined.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients and stir till combined.
  5. Evenly fill the lined muffin wells with muffin batter using a ¼ cup measuring device.
  6. Place the muffin pan into the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Allow to cool in the muffin pan.
  7. Prepare the vegan cream cheese frosting while the carrot cake muffins are baking. Add the frosting ingredients into a medium size mixing bowl. Beat frosting ingredients until smooth and creamy using an electric mixer. Store in the fridge until the muffins are ready to frost.
  8. Once the carrot cake muffins are cool, frost with vegan cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes

Keywords: carrot cake muffins, muffin recipe, vegan muffin, gluten free muffin, muffin recipe

Tray of Carrot Cake muffins frosted with vegan cream cheese and garnished with walnuts and carrots

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2 Responses

  1. Love these muffins! They turned out so delicious and I love that they have lots of healthy ingredients.

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