These vegan carrot applesauce muffins are moist, fluffy, and super yummy! This one-bowl recipe is ultra-easy to make and is ready in 40 minutes. Makes a great healthy breakfast, snack, or even dessert.
These vegan carrot muffins have all the flavors of the classic carrot cake but in muffin form! It is super moist and filling without being overbearingly sweet.
I love making a batch of these and my zucchini applesauce muffins on the weekends, so I will have breakfast ready to go on busy workdays! They are also a great snack to take with you to work or school.
💚Why you will love this recipe
- Healthier version of traditional muffins - This recipe is lower in fat and calories than traditional muffins, and is packed with fiber and nutrients. Plus, it is a delicious way to sneak in fruits and veggies into your diet!
- Moist, sweet and perfectly spiced - Although these carrot applesauce muffins are made healthier, they are still utterly decadent and yummy.
- Transports well - Bring them with you as a quick snack on-the-go, whether it is for work, school, or long car trips. They are equally delicious when enjoyed both cold or warm.
- Freezable - Have I mentioned that these vegan carrot muffins freeze like a gem? Hence, make a larger batch and freeze leftovers so you will have muffins ready to go whenever you are craving one!
🌾What you will need
📃Ingredients notes and substitutions
- Oat flour - If you do not have any on hand, make your own by blending up some oats in a blender until they are finely ground.
- Carrot - Use freshly shredded carrots instead of the pre-shredded ones. Store-bought shredded carrots tend to be much drier, which will ultimately yield dry, sad muffins.
- Applesauce - I recommend going with unsweetened applesauce, or the muffins might turned out to be too sweet. You can either use store-bought or homemade ones.
- Cashew butter - Make sure to use one that is super runny and drippy. You can use other kinds of nut butters like peanut butter or almond butter in place. To make this nut-free, use seed butter like sunflower seed butter or tahini.
🔪How to make
Here is a quick rundown of the steps involved in making applesauce carrot muffins. As usual, the full detailed recipe and instructions will be in the recipe card at the end of this post.
In a large mixing bowl, mix oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir to mix.
Next, add in all wet ingredients and carrots. Mix until everything is well combined.
Spoon muffin batter into a greased or lined 12-hole muffin tin, about ¾ of the way full.
Bake at 220C/430F for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 180C/350F and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted down the middle.
Transfer your carrot applesauce muffins to a cooling rack and let them cool down slightly before enjoying!
✔Helpful tips
- Grating carrots - You can either grate it using your food processor with the grating attachment, or use the finest grating side on your box grater.
- If possible, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out dry ingredients, especially flour and shredded carrot, for the best results. You can easily change the unit to grams in the recipe card by pressing the "metric" button above the ingredients. If using measuring cups, do use the spoon and level method.
- Muffin batter will be on the thicker side. You will be tempted to add a splash of milk or water, but please do not do that! Carrot will release its moisture upon baking, hence your muffin might turned out to be too gooey if the batter is too thin.
- We will be baking these applesauce carrot muffins at a high temperature for the first 10 minutes so that they puff up nicely. However, do remember to lower the temperature afterwards to prevent them from burning.
- Baking time might vary from oven to oven. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick down the middle of a couple of muffins. If the toothpick comes out clean, they are done cooking.
- After taking muffins out of the oven, let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes at most, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool down further. If you let them cool completely in the muffin tin, the bottom of your muffins might turn soggy due to the accumulation of water vapour.
🥜Optional add-ins
Spices - Although this recipe only calls for cinnamon, you can use any other spices that sound good to you. Pumpkin spice, nutmeg, and ginger are some spices that pair well with these vegan carrot muffins.
Dried fruit - Add in a handful of raisins or sultanas if you like your vegan carrot muffins to be extra sweet!
Chopped nuts - Any nuts will work, but I especially love adding walnuts and pecans. You can use about ½ cup or so. Remember to top them with extra chopped nuts before baking!
Chocolate chips - Pretty self-explanatory, who doesn't love chocolate chips?! Add in up to ½ cup.
❄Storing suggestions
Refrigerating - Once muffins have cooled down completely, transfer them to an airtight container. They can be kept in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Freezing - As mentioned above, these muffins are freezable, too! Store them in zip-top bags or a sealed container before keeping them. They will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating - To reheat frozen carrot applesauce muffins, let them thaw overnight in the fridge or on the countertop for a few hours. Then, you can proceed with heating them in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 180C/350F or in the microwave for 30-60 seconds.
❔Commonly asked questions
These vegan carrot muffins are freezer-friendly. Transfer them to a sealed container or zip-top bag, and they can be frozen for 3 months.
Applesauce is excellent both as a substitute for eggs and oil, and they provide moisture to these muffins. Hence, these vegan carrot muffins are perfectly moist yet are healthier and lower in calories when compared to traditional muffins.
If your muffins turned out dry, chances are you had added too much flour. Hence, I highly recommend using a food scale to weigh out the flour instead of measuring cups.
Or, you might have overbaked your muffins. As the oven temperature might vary slightly depending on the model used, I recommend checking on your muffins at the lower end of the suggested baking time, then baking them for longer, if needed.
Insert a toothpick down the middle of several muffins to test for doneness. If the toothpick comes out relatively clean, they are done baking.
🍽More healthy vegan breakfasts
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Carrot Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups oat flour use gluten-free if needed (248g)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ½ teapoon baking soda
- 1 cup shredded carrot (freshly grated)*
- 1 cup applesauce preferably unsweetened
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup cashew butter or other nut/seed butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220C/430F. Prepare a 12-holes muffin tin either by greasing them using some oil, or line them with muffin liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir to mix.1 ¾ cups oat flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teapoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- Next, add in the rest of the ingredients. Stir until everything is well incorporated. The batter will be on the thicker side.1 cup shredded carrot, ½ cup maple syrup, 1 cup applesauce, ¼ cup cashew butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Spoon muffin batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each hole to about ¾ of the way full. You should get about 12 muffins.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 180C/350F and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted down the middle.
- After baking, let muffins sit in the muffin tin for 5 minutes at most, then transfer them to a cooling rack to allow them to cool further. They are ready to be enjoyed.
Notes
- If possible, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out dry ingredients, especially flour and shredded carrot, for the best results. You can easily change the unit to grams in the recipe card by pressing the "metric" button above the ingredients. If using measuring cups, do use the spoon and level method.
- Muffin batter will be on the thicker side. You will be tempted to add a splash of milk or water, but please do not do that! Carrot will release its moisture upon baking, hence your muffin might turn out to be too gooey if the batter is too thin.
- Baking time might vary from oven to oven. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick down the middle of a couple of muffins. If the toothpick comes out clean, they are done cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition info calculated is just a rough estimate and is provided as a courtesy. Bear in mind that value will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it is highly recommended that you calculate it on your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.
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