My easy vegan carrot cake muffins offer a delicious twist on classic carrot cake, bringing together the warmth of spices, the sweetness of carrots and raisins, and the crunch of walnuts. This is a must-try vegan carrot muffins recipe!
If you love muffins as much as I do, you’ll also love my vegan cinnamon sugar muffins, vegan pecan pumpkin muffins, and vegan double chocolate muffins.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There’s something irresistible about this recipe that goes beyond just taste. First of all, my vegan carrot muffins are exceptionally moist and tender. I use just the right balance of sweetness and spice. They have everything you love about carrot cake without any dairy or eggs!
But my vegan carrot cake muffins recipe not only tastes amazing, it’s easy to follow and doesn’t require any complicated techniques or ingredients. It’s perfect for both beginners and experienced bakers.
Plus, it’s super versatile. Whether you’re looking to make them gluten-free, nut-free, or with a touch of extra indulgence, my recipe provides flexibility to suit your needs.
You can also easily dress up these bakery style carrot muffins with a dollop of vegan whipped cream or top them with some vegan cream cheese frosting. I've even served them with a scoop of vegan ice cream!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour: Gives my carrot cake vegan muffins their structure. You can substitute with spelt flour or whole wheat flour for a heartier texture or use a 1:1 gluten free flour blend if needed.
- Coconut Sugar: I like using coconut sugar for its caramel-like sweetness. You can replace it with light brown sugar or maple syrup.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Used to make the muffins rise, these two leavening agents are both important.
- Spices: Cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg give these easy vegan carrot muffins warmth. Feel free to adjust the spices or add others like cardamom or ground cloves.
- Salt: I use just a pinch to enhance the overall flavor and balance the sweetness. Regular sea salt or kosher salt works well.
- Coconut Oil: Adds both moisture and richness. You can use vegetable oil or even melted vegan butter if you prefer.
- Almond Milk: I use almond milk to make dairy free carrot muffins but any plant-based milk such as soy, oat, or cashew milk will do the trick.
- White Vinegar: This ingredient is key! The vinegar reacts with baking soda to create a fluffy texture. You can use apple cider vinegar as a substitute.
- Vanilla Extract: I add a splash of vanilla to add some depth to the flavor.
- Grated Carrots: Provides moisture and natural sweetness to make these vegan carrot cake muffins!
- Walnuts & Raisins: These two ingredients add texture and flavor. If you have a nut allergy just omit the walnuts. Feel free to use other types of fruit like dried cranberries.
How To Make Vegan Carrot Muffins
Making carrot cake muffins vegan is really simple. Just follow my instructions and they will turn out perfect!
To begin, I start by preheating my oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) and lining a muffin tin with paper liners. You can also lightly grease the cups to make sure your vegan carrot muffins don’t stick.
Next, I grab a large mixing bowl and sift together the all purpose flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and my spices. Then I give it a good whisk to combine, making sure there are no lumps.
After my dry ingredients are ready, I mix together the melted coconut oil, almond milk, vinegar, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. You want to make sure your wet ingredients are well blended.
Now, I pour the wet mixture into the bowl with my dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to gently stir until everything is just moistened. Then I fold in the grated carrots, chopped walnuts, and raisins.
Once the batter is made, I spoon it into my muffin pan, filling each cup about three-quarters of the way. Then I pop them into the oven to bake for about 22 to 24 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
When done, I let my freshly baked carrot and walnut muffins cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. And then I try not to eat them all at once!
✏️ Recipe Card! Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full vegan carrot muffins recipe and exact ingredient amounts.
Expert Tips For Success
- Use Freshly Grated Carrots: For the best texture, I grate the carrots myself. I avoid using pre-shredded carrots, which tend to be too dry and don’t integrate as well into the batter.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: For a smooth batter and better texture, make sure your melted coconut oil, almond milk, and other wet ingredients are at room temperature. This is important for the emulsification of these eggless carrot cake muffins.
- Don’t Overmix: When combining the wet and dry ingredients, I stir just until everything is combined. Overmixing can lead to dense vegan carrot cake muffins, so it's okay if the batter has a few lumps.
- Test for Doneness: Start checking your muffins 2 minutes before the 24-minute mark. It may take your muffins a little less time or a little more time than mine. Every oven is different.
- Let Them Cool: I always allow the muffins to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. This helps them set and prevents them from crumbling.
Variations
Gluten-Free: Swap the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free flour blend and my recipe instantly turns into gluten free vegan carrot muffins. Just make sure the blend includes xanthan gum to maintain the structure and texture of the muffins.
Oil-Free: To make my recipe oil-free, you can substitute the coconut oil with unsweetened applesauce. This will keep the vegan healthy carrot muffins moist and tender without the added fat.
Nut-Free: I made walnut carrot muffins but if you want a nut-free version, simply omit them. For some crunch, you can add sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds instead.
Citrus Twist: For some bright citrus flavor, zest an orange or lemon and add it to the batter. Citrus will complement the muffins with a fresh and tangy note.
Spice It Up: You can easily play around with the spices by adding a pinch of cardamom for a floral note, increase the cinnamon, or even add some of my homemade pumpkin pie spice.
Chocolate: Add a little decadence and toss in a handful of vegan chocolate chips. The rich chocolate contrasts beautifully with the spices and sweetness.
Frosting: If you love carrot cake, you can turn my muffins into carrot cake cupcakes by topping with your favorite vegan cream cheese frosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the vegan carrot cake muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you want to keep them fresh longer, you can store them in the refrigerator for up to a week. Just be aware that they may become slightly denser when chilled.
Yes, these muffins freeze well. I love making a double batch! Once completely cooled, place them in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When you're ready to enjoy them, let them thaw at room temperature or warm them up in the microwave or oven.
Flat muffins can result from overmixing the batter, which deflates the air bubbles that help the muffins rise. It’s also possible that your baking powder or baking soda wasn’t fresh enough, or the oven temperature was too low, preventing proper rise.
Dry muffins are usually caused by overbaking or using too much flour. Make sure to measure your flour accurately and avoid overmixing the batter. Also, check your muffins a few minutes before the suggested baking time to prevent them from drying out.
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More Vegan Muffins Recipes
⭐️ One Last Thing! If you make my vegan carrot cake muffins, please leave a review and rating to let me know how you liked this recipe! Doing so helps other readers and me too! Your feedback makes a difference.
Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups flour (290 grams)
- ¾ cup coconut sugar (150 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- Pinch of nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrots
- ⅓ cup walnuts
- ⅓ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease them.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk until everything is well combined.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the coconut oil, almond milk, vinegar, and vanilla extract.
- Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. The batter may be a bit lumpy.
- Fold in the grated carrots, walnuts, and raisins.
- Pour the batter into a prepared pan and bake for about 22 to 24 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Use a kitchen scale if possible for accurate measurements. If you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method for dry ingredients to avoid overpacking, especially the flour.
- Every oven is different. You can use a digital oven thermometer to ensure your oven is at the correct temperature.
- This recipe is flexible. Feel free to swap in your favorite add-ins like different nuts, seeds, or dried fruits to make it your own.
Lorena says
You finally posted one of my favorite Kim recipes! Healthy but still yummy.