Carrot cake is one of those recipes where some people love it and others strongly dislike it. Well today, these Carrot Cake Muffins deserve to be in a class of their own. They’re soft, fluffy, and perfectly moist with all the wonderful flavors of carrot cake, but in a convenient, easy to share muffin size. And spoiler alert, I’m a carrot cake lover, so I’ll be enjoying these muffins all season long! Have fun adding your favorite mix-ins like sweet raisins and walnuts, or you can keep things simple and save a little bit on your budget. Either way you’re guaranteed to love these delicious carrot cake muffins.
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“I made these this morning and added walnuts as suggested. This recipe is fantastic! Definitely going into my regular baking rotation. Thanks for another winning recipe!”
Christine
Perfectly Spiced Carrot Cake Muffins
I used my zucchini muffins recipe, that I absolutely love, as inspiration for these muffins. I adjusted the measurements and added a few extra spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, to fit the right flavor profile. The results were absolutely ahhmazing! These carrot muffins bake up super soft and moist, with little flecks of sweet carrot throughout, and golden tops that make the whole kitchen smell INCREDIBLE. I purposefully kept the ingredient list simple with lots of pantry staples, so they’re easy to make whenever the craving hits!
Recipe Success Tips
- Finely grate your carrots. I tested these muffins with both medium and finely grated carrots, and the finely grated carrots were definitely the winner. They blend into the batter better and add more moisture. And although its tempting to buy pre-shredded matchstick carrots at the store, they’re not moist enough for these muffins. They also aren’t grated fine enough and won’t mix well with the batter.
- Use baking powder and baking soda. These are both leavening agents to help the muffins rise. I use both due to the extra acidity from the applesauce.
- Don’t overmix the batter! Overmixing will cause the muffins to become dense instead of light and fluffy. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until they are just barely combined and there are no traces of dry flour left in the bowl.
- Oil your muffin pan really well. Even if you’re using a nonstick muffin pan, make sure to oil it well or use cupcake liners to prevent your muffins from sticking to the pan.
- You can easily stretch this batter and get 12 regular size muffins. I wanted larger, bakery style muffins, so I divided the batter into ten muffin wells.
- If you want even more of a classic taste, try adding some chopped walnuts, pecans, or shredded coconut to the batter. And if you really want to take these carrot muffins over the top, add some cream cheese frosting on top! ;)
- Want these a little less sweet? Some readers have reduced the total sugar to ½ cup (¼ cup white and ¼ cup brown sugar) and still loved the results, since the raisins help add natural sweetness. Using unsweetened applesauce is another easy way to lower the overall sweetness while still keeping the muffins nice and moist.
Carrot Cake Muffins
Cost $4.42 recipe / $0.44 serving
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely grated carrots (about 3-4 large carrots, $0.57)
- 2 large eggs ($0.36)
- ½ cup dark brown sugar ($0.24)
- ½ cup granulated sugar ($0.16)
- ⅓ cup sweetened applesauce ($0.18)
- ½ cup cooking oil ($0.32)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.50)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour ($0.25*)
- 1 tsp baking powder ($0.06)
- ½ tsp baking soda ($0.02)
- ½ tsp salt ($0.04)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon ($0.10)
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg ($0.02)
- ½ tsp ground ginger ($0.05)
- ¾ cup golden raisins ($1.49**)
- 1 Tbsp turbinado sugar ($0.06***)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Wash, peel and grate the carrots using the small/fine holes on a box grater. Set the grated carrots to the side.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (eggs, dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla extract) until well combined.
- Add the grated carrots to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger) until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the same bowl as the wet ingredients. Stir together until just combined. Be careful not to overmix at this point.
- Add the raisins to the bowl and fold them into the batter until just combined.
- Divide the batter between ten greased or lined muffin wells. Sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top of each muffin (optional).
- Bake the muffins for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and puffed in the center. Allow the muffins to cool for about 5 minutes, then carefully loosen the edges with a knife and transfer the muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition Information
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Carrot Cake Muffins Step-by-Step Photos
Prep the carrots: Gather all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350°F. Now wash, peel and grate 2 cups of finely grated carrots using the small/fine holes on a box grater (about 3-4 carrots). Set the grated carrots to the side.
Combine the wet ingredients: Whisk 2 eggs, ½ cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup applesauce, ½ cup cooking oil and 1 tsp vanilla extract in a large bowl until combined.
Make the batter: Add the grated carrots to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Stir until evenly combined.
In a different bowl, combine 1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, and ½ tsp ground ginger until evenly mixed.
Add the dry ingredients to the same bowl as the wet ingredients. Stir together until just combined, but be careful not to overmix the batter as this can make the muffins dense.
Add ¾ cup golden raisins to the bowl and fold them into the batter until just combined.
Bake: Evenly divide the batter between ten well-greased or lined muffin wells.
Optional: Divide 1 Tbsp turbinado sugar and sprinkle a little on top of each muffin.
Bake the muffins for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and puffed in the center. Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes, then carefully loosen the edges with a knife and transfer the muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
How To STore Carrot Cake Muffins
Allow the muffins to cool completely at room temperature before storing. You can store leftover carrot cake muffins in an airtight container or a food storage bag in the fridge for 4-5 days. For longer storage, store in a freezer-safe storage bag for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen muffins at room temperature or microwave for about 30 seconds until warm.
Love Carrot Cake Flavors? Try These Recipes:
- My Carrot Cake is a sheet pan cake packed with freshly grated carrots, warm spices, raisins, and the dreamiest homemade cream cheese frosting.
- This Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal has all the cozy carrot cake flavor, with tender oats, sweet raisins, and a delicious cheesecake-inspired topping!
- If you want something super easy to slice and share, these Carrot Cake Bars are a great budget-friendly option!
Made these today and they were amazingly good. I used unsweetened apple sauce, and substituted 1/2 cup of the flour for whole wheat. Made 10 delicious, moist muffins. Next time will add chopped walnuts. Yum!
I’ve made this many times, shared it with my sister who makes it weekly. Its the tastiest carrot muffins.
Variations I have used. Reduced sugar to half 2/4 cups of white sugar, I feel I can go as low as 1/2 cup of sugar as the raisins add the right amount of sweetness.
I always add 3/4 cuts of walnuts, for some nutty crunch. And use 1 more carrot to make up for the lack of applesauce. The extras I freeze as its the perfect size lunch snack for me. (45 seconds in the microwave from frozen on full setting, and they as good as coming straight out of the oven)
I forgot to buy sweetened apple sauce and made these with a 1:1 ratio of sweet potatoes and they were so delicious!
I made these this morning and added walnuts as suggested. This recipe is fantastic! Definitely going into my regular baking rotation. Thanks for another winning recipe!
These are without a doubt the best muffins I’ve ever had in my life, and I’m not even a carrot cake fan.
“These were the best muffins I’ve ever tasted in my whole life!” ~Eliza, age 8 (almost 9)
Muffins are sooo good. I put them well wrapped in the freezer a week ago. How long will it take to unfreeze them and will they still be ok?
I prefer to take them out the night before and let them thaw in the fridge overnight! If you’re in a pinch you can warm them from frozen for 10-15 minutes in a 300F oven.
Do you know what the cook time would be for mini muffins? I’m excited to try this recipe!
I would try 12 minutes to start and check for doneness with a toothpick!
Thank you. I made them regular sized and realized I will never make these mini sized! More like a double recipe every time. My family devoured them. So good!
I just made these and they tasted great, but I have a question about the carrots. As I was measuring the carrots I packed the grated carrots into the cup measure. I wanted to make sure I was getting the right amount, but I think I ended up with too much. I could barely fit the batter into twelve muffins and the muffins didn’t rise.
Again, the muffins still tasted good, but do you know about how much grated carrots to use in grams or ounces for the next time I try this?
I’m not sure, Megan as we don’t usually check the metric weight when we develop the recipes. I would say next time just lightly fill the cup instead of packing it too tightly. :)
Definitely a winner. We love muffins and this one will be on the make again list.
I consider myself a muffin connoisseur. It is hard to impress me. :) This is one of the best muffin recipes I’ve ever tried. 10 out of 10. Unbelievably moist. I will probably play around with reducing the sugar and oil and replacing it with applesauce.
But wow, these are fantastic.
I just made these today. Awesome flavor! Mine took ~25 min. to cook. I used silicon liners, so not sure if that is why it took a little longer. I added chopped pecans as I don’t have raisins. I got 12 muffins and put cream cheese frosting on top. This is a keeper :)
I doubled the recipe to make 24 cupcakes for our Kids Club treats and they cooked in 22 minutes! They are moist & yummy! Left out the raisins, but put Turbinado sugar on top.
Easy recipe to follow. Was able to use my Cuisinart to grate the carrots, less than 5 minutes! Thank you so much for this outstanding recipe!!! Will use it again & again!!!
These are yummy!!!
I’m from the U.K. and we use the metric system, can I use these U.K. cup measurements for this recipe? Or will the measurements be slightly off fur this recipe? Thanks.
The 10ml difference between the two shouldn’t make too much of a difference in the outcome. If you try it, let us know how it goes!