Healthy Carrot Muffins
Healthy carrot muffins made with whole wheat flour, coconut oil and maple syrup! They taste amazing, too. These muffins make a great, quick breakfast!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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My dog Cookie always comes running when I pull out the vegetable peeler. I swear, she can hear it slice through the air before it even touches a carrot. Then she starts jumping up and down for carrot scraps. She can be very demanding. I’ve created an entitled little carrot beast, and I’m not sorry in the slightest.
Cookie loved the development process for this carrot muffin recipe. It took me five tries to get them just right, so she got a lot of carrot scraps in the process. They’re based on one of my cookbook recipes (so good!!!).
These hearty muffins are packed with grated carrots, walnuts and raisins. They have lots of texture, yet they’re still light and fluffy.
Thanks to the nuts and whole grains, these muffins make a good grab-and-go breakfast! They also freeze and defrost well. I just microwave individual muffins for 30 to 60 seconds, until they’re gently warmed throughout.
Watch How to Make Carrot Muffins
What makes these carrot muffins healthy?
Granted, “healthy” is a subjective term, but here are a few reasons why I consider these muffins to be more nutritionally redeeming than most:
- Unlike standard carrot muffins made with refined all-purpose flour, these are made with white whole wheat flour. That means they’re made entirely with whole grains, but you can’t taste them because white whole wheat flour has such a mild flavor.
- Protein-rich Greek yogurt replaces sour cream.
- Coconut oil or olive oil replace butter (olive oil is composed of more monounsaturated fat, and is considered to be more heart-healthy)
- Real maple syrup replaces refined sugar, so these muffins are naturally sweetened.
- Combined, you end up with hearty muffins that taste like carrot cake. You can eat carrot cake for breakfast with these babies!
These muffins are easily adapted to vegan and gluten-free diets, too! See my recipe notes for details.
Please let me know how these muffins turn out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager for your feedback.
Craving more wholesome muffins? Here are a few more favorite muffin recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Healthy Banana Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Healthy Raspberry Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Zucchini Muffins
If you’re baking for a special occasion, you’ll love my carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (it’s also naturally sweetened and made with whole wheat flour).
Healthy Carrot Muffins
Healthy carrot muffins made with whole wheat flour, coconut oil and maple syrup! They taste fantastic, too, of course. These muffins make a great, quick breakfast! Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups peeled and grated carrots* (from ¾ pound carrots—about 3 large or up to 6 small/medium)
- ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- ½ cup raisins (I like golden raisins), tossed in 1 teaspoon flour
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt***
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Blend well with a whisk. In a separate, small bowl, toss the raisins with 1 teaspoon flour so they don’t stick together. Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and floured raisins to the other ingredients and stir to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 to 16 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.
Notes
*Carrot grating tips: You can grate the carrots by hand, or for an easier option, use the grating attachment on your food processor.
**A note on oils: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil will lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that. Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.
***Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.
Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax “eggs.” Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup vegan yogurt.
Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.
Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a GF blend that works well.
Make it nut free: Skip the walnuts!
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Wonderful recipe, Thanks Kate! Will absolutely be making these again.
Great to hear, Melissa!
I must retract my earlier 2 star review and substitute a 5. And offer my apologies to Kate. Turns out I did indeed have an oven issue – it was only going to 250 then turning off. That is now resolved.
So I just made another batch yesterday. Wonderful! Great texture, very tasty and satisfying. I did still bake them a little longer – 22 minutes, which looked about right. I will certainly make them again.
Thanks for coming back, James! I appreciate it.
I made this exactly to recipe, except I used craisins instead of raisins. Your recipe is AMAZING! So delicious! And I don’t feel even a teeny bit guilty eating them – thank you! The first of yours I’ve tried, I am a cookieandkate convert now!
Thank you, Yolanda!! I appreciate it.
Just pulled them from the oven and they are DELICIOUS! Perhaps it is my oven, but I left them about 17 minutes. I did not use the Turbinado sugar and still found them sweet enough and two large carrots were enough to render 2 cups of gratings. Definitely going in my repertoire!
Thank you, Heather!
I’d love to see you combine this and your pumpkin muffin. Use pumpkin instead of oil– it would add more. Each muffin would be a veggie serving or more! And what about some apple bits as well?
That’s an interesting idea! I will think about it, Mari.
I want to love these so badly as I’ve been looking for a good healthy carrot muffin and I absolutely love your healthy pumpkin muffins. I made them and they came out too dense – they seem undercooked in the middle but close to burning on the outside. Any thoughts on why they would be too moist / undercooked and any fixes? I’m going to try again.
This recipe should say shredded carrots not grated. Look at the photos it’s shredded. If you use your grater attachments you’re going to get a saugy batter and mess up the recipe like I did.
Hi SB! You could go either way. For grated, you need to make sure you use the right side of your box grater if using. The size of the grater, reference in the pictures. I have used this method several times with no issues. I’m sorry you had a poor experience with this recipe! Thank you for sharing.
I made these for a bake sale at an all-day fitness clinic and was very pleased. The texture is great and the muffins are hearty without tasting ‘too healthy’. I confessed to being a compulsive recipe tweaker, and I shredded one Braeburn apple and cooked it for about 10 minutes (to get some of the moisture out) before adding, but reduced the amount of oil by a Tablespoon, and they were perfectly moist. I also added cardamom. I will definitely make these again, but next time I will try 2 apples and increase the amount of spices– just a personal preference though. This is a great, satisfying light breakfast or snack; the protein fills you up and the natural sweetness is just enough, but you don’t have a sugar crash afterwards!
There is nothing wrong to getting creative! Thanks for sharing, Mari.
I first discovered you with your healthy banana bread recipe and I just recently made these carrot muffins and they’re great! I was wondering, what’s your guide in replacing butter with olive oil? Is there a ratio that you use? For example if a recipe calls for 1 tbsp of butter is it safe to replace with X amount of olive oil? I also had the same question about replacing sugar with honey. Any tips?
Thanks!
Hi Vivian! Great question. It honestly really depends. Baking can be tricky and isn’t always 1:1. For my recipes, most times you can substitute the same amount of oil to butter. Check out the note sections for substitutions. And typically honey to maple syrup is the same.
Super yummy I used Costco unsalted mixed nuts, as that was what I had available for nuts. I just love these they will be a household weekly make. Great for probably freezing and grabbing for breakfast on the go.
Love that! Great breakfast on the go option. I appreciate the review!
I must say,this is our family favorite carrot muffin. This is my fifth time make/bake……great idea using maple syrup instead of sugar. : )
Love that, Olympia! Yes, it’s nice to use a natural sweetener. I’m really glad you liked it too!
Your Cranberry/Orange muffins are the season’s biggest hit. Made them with regular flour and GF flour–both are delicious and so right for a great pick-me-up. I’ve used plain Kefir instead of yogurt and this worked well, and have reduced the honey to 1/2 cup while adding various nuts and/or raisins. This is a very forgiving recipe. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing, Barbara!
These were greeeat. I subbed chopped dates and coconut flakes for the raisins and walnuts. Super moist and flavorful!
Thank you for sharing, Tania!
YUM! I’ve yet to try a recipe of yours I didn’t like. Love how healthy AND delicious these are! Will be going into my regular rotation of muffins.
I’m happy to hear both of those things, Maggie! Thanks so much for your review.
I know this recipe isn’t a recent one… but I just came across it yesterday and made it this morning as a loaf. So good! I followed the recipe exactly (using the almond buttermilk substitution since I didn’t have yogurt on hand); to make it a loaf, I baked it at 375 for about 50 minutes, in a greased pan. Loved it! Thank you for a great recipe!
I’m glad you came across it, Charlotte! Thanks so much for your review.
amazing recipe !!!
Thank you, Mirna!
Another awesome healthy muffin recipe! Nice, moist and fluffy! Definitely a keeper! Made it with coconut oil and omitted the nuts since my hubby has diverticulitis. Next go around, (yes, I will be making them again) I’ll try it with olive oil. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome!
This is honestly the best carrot cake muffin I’ve ever had. I make it with just carrots for the kids and add raisins and nuts to half the batch for myself.
I can’t believe how many carrots they are eating in this recipe!
No complaints here
Hi!
I made them but with almond flour and added 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. I had to cook them longer – they are pretty mushy in the middle still and the muffins seem to have sunk after they came out of the oven… does someone have a solution for this flour replacement to make the recipe work?
Almond flour is tricky, unfortunately. I would recommend using a GF flour blend if you need to make it GF.
These didn’t turn out tasty at all, they were not sweet at all and the baking powder was very detectable. Even my 8 year old couldn’t finish it. They look exactly like the ones in the photos but don’t taste good at all
Love the apple muffins….can’t stop eating them….yum
Love it, Karen!
Super disappointing, no taste, not a muffin more of a veggie something. Too much carrot – the yogurt makes it too wet, spices blend into nothing special except the same old
I’m sorry you didn’t love this one, but thanks for the feedback!
Hello
I read your recipes on daily basis. And I wanted to make this one. But we don’t eat eggs at all.. Kindly help me with this. Hown can i make this recipe without ingredients eggs.
Thanks ☺
Thanks for the support! For my recommended substitutions for various dietary needs, I put my recommendations in the notes below the instructions. Check there!
Great recipe. Made three times and everyone loved them. I opted to bake at 375 for 20 min and they turned out moist and delicious. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing, Mark!
Thank you for the recipe. They turned out wonderful and moist. I do use a stainless steel muffin pan to bake them in a non-toxic pan. Maybe this makes them even more healthy.
I’m glad you loved them, Tina! Thanks for the review.
Made them tonight with a heaping amount of carrot and yum yum!!
Great, Sarah!
I made these today and actually used a can of carrots. Kind of crazy, but I found it in my pantry and wanted to use them in a baked good in some way. They were excellent! I baked them at 425 for 13 minutes, then at 350 for 4 additional minutes. I also added some ground flax to help absorb the additional moisture. A hit with my daughter and husband!
Thank you for sharing!
Please help! I’m not sure what I did wrong but these were completely wet and soggy in the middle and stuck to the cake cases. I didn’t put the walnuts or raisins in as my son won’t eat them. I put the mixture in paper cake cases inside a muffin tray. Everything else I followed exactly. I took one out after 15 mins but it was mush. I left them for over 30 mins but still mushy. We LOVE the taste though so would love to get this right. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Shelley, sorry to hear that! Are you sure you baked at the proper temperature? Is your oven functioning well, in general? I’m also wondering how you measured your flour—I recommend spooning the flour into the measuring cups and leveling off the top with a knife.
Hi There this recipe looks great I was just wondering can it be made as a cake instead of muffins?
I don’t know how this would work as a carrot cake, but I do have a version in my book! :)
so delicious I make these muffins every week
a huge thank you for this recipe
Leonarda
From Montréal
Thanks for your review, Lenoarda!
Hi Kate,
Shockingly, I JUST stumbled upon your website and this recipe in particular. Your writing and photos, as well as those little tips on how to adapt the recipe to one’s personal diet, are lovely!
I recreated this recipe today, cutting back on the oil in favor of unsweetened applesauce and omitted the sugar and raisins – turned out beautifully, thanks for sharing it!
Welcome! I’m glad you were able to use this as a base for what you needed, Lisa. Thanks for the review.
I love these so much. I made them for my mom who can’t have sugar or white flour and she loves them. I do too and I don’t like honey but it was amazing. Thanks a lot for the recipe
You’re welcome, Nia!
Doubled the recipe and stuck to the measurements except for an oil reduction, added oats and more carrots: I added 1 cup of oats and used sugar free African craisins which are tart. I reduced the oil to 1/2 cup opposed to 2/3cup. I didn’t have Greek yogurt do used regular low fat yogurt, and 5 cups of carrots and apples combined opposed to 4 cups. Turned out great!!!!!! Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your variation, Ai! Thanks for your review.
Hi Kate,
I can’t wait to make these muffins. Can I swap about the maple syrup and use cane sugar?
Thanks XO
The maple syrup helps with the moisture of these and I don’t know it the ratio would be the same, sorry!
What r the calories in one muffin?I see blank under nutrition information. Thank you!!
Hi Maria, the nurtition information is a plug-in on my blog. Make sure you allow cookies and then it should appear. Let me know if you still have an issue!
Wow Kate!!! I didn’t change a thing to your recipe, and why would I? it sounds like you have played around with this recipe to make it spot on and yes it was. It was spot on. We are trying to make some healthier choices for our daughter and the only let down on this recipe was that we had to tell her “NO, no more, one is enough”, she loved them and is looking forward to her next one tomorrow. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful recipe. I can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thanks Belinda from Australia.
I’m so happy you loved it and that your daughter couldn’t get enough! Thanks for your review.
I just made this right now, the muffins r really tastey, thanks! I used molasses instead of honey. They took about 16 mI’ll nutes at 425 instead of 13. I also rotated them around half way through the bake time, for an even brown. I know my boyfriend and his dad will enjoy them! They eat fast and are called woofers. They won’t have a problem woofing these down. I doubled the recipe and got about 20 muffins!
Thanks for sharing, Kristen!
Hi Kate. I loved the recipe. I think they’re my best muffin recipe. My husband wants me to do less carrot with a little apple. Not sure. I swapped out the walnuts for chopped pecans. My group will appreciate the healthy recipe. Can oat flour be switched for the white whole wheat?
Thanks. Liz
Delicious! Made these today with my daughter and we are both very happy with the results. Perfect lunchbox snack as well
Yes! Great lunch box. Thank you, Charlot.
Hi Kate
I was in our local supermarket in need of a healthy receipe for something to make for my husbands work morning tea.
A quick search and i spotted your receipe for Healthy Carrot Muffins.
They are delicious, moist wholesome goodness.
I have just begun a serious heathy life style change and these will be a regular treat on my dietary calendar.
Cheers Sharon
I’m glad you loved them, Sharon! Thanks for your review.
These are so good! I used organic whole wheat pastry flour, cold pressed coconut oil, and unsweetened cranberries. They had a nice texture and moisture. I actually have shared this link with others recommending them.
Thank you for your review, Melissa!
We all loved the muffins. Will be a staple at our home. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing, Vivian!
I love love love this recipe. I usually skip the raisins and add coconut instead. But whatever I do, I can’t get the muffins to bake just right. When I tried 13 minutes (and golden brown) at 425, the tops weren’t all the way baked through. When I bumped that up to 15 minutes, they still weren’t done and the edges had begun to burn. Now I have to experiment to figure out what’s going to get me a perfectly baked muffin. That said, this combination of ingredients (and the ingredients themselves) are delicious and good for you, which makes this a winner!
Thanks for sharing, Kim!
This is a great recipe! Thank you for including so many notes about modifying the recipe. I used a flax egg substitute and went with buttermilk because I happened to have some on hand, and no yogurt. I’m so happy with how they turned out! My oven isn’t the greatest so I had to bake for 18 mins ish, but they’re awesome. I’m definitely making again after an upcoming carrot harvest
Thanks, Haley!
Can I skip both walnuts and raisins? Will that impact the other ingredients or the number of muffins? Thank you! Juliet
You could skip them. You likely won’t yield as many muffins. It should still work ok.
These are so delicious and easy. I’m looking for some healthy snack s for extra calories (for my hubby) as we switch to a plant based diet and these fit the bill. Thank you.
Thank you for your review, Connie! These make a great snack.
These are my husbands and baby’s favorite recipe. Thanks!! I love all of your recipes. They are the first place I look when I need to make something.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad these are a favorite, Lori.
Hey Kate! I know you posted this recipe ages ago, but I just got a bazillion carrots in my CSA box and thought you would probably have a carrot muffin recipe buried somewhere. :) I was so happy to see you provided a dairy free tip and just wanted to say thank you! My husband is recently dairy free and I am still adjusting to the resulting recipe swaps. You make it so easy, throughout your cookbook and this blog, to accommodate the needs of family and friends. I really appreciate it!
Hi Katie! I’m so glad the blog and this recipe are helpful for you. Enjoy!
Great recipe. I absolutely loved it”. The only change I made was used 3%yogurt instead of Greek yogurt
Thank you for sharing, Asha!
I made these but I didn’t have Greek yogurt so I used sour cream instead. Sprinkled the top with a cinnamon, brown sugar, and oats mixture. They turned out very good❤️
Great to hear, Krissy!
Hi Kate, these muffins are wonderful!! My husband loves em! (that in itself, is says it all!!!!). I wouldn’t say he is a picky picky eater but anything ‘healthy’ seems to scare him off. lol Of course the work healthy was not mentioned. I’m heading to the store to pick up more ingredients so I can keep a stash in the freezer. Love the pic of Cookie reaching for the carrots on the counter. Our dog loves carrots too.
I’m happy you both can enjoy them! Thank you for your comment. Cookie does love carrots!