These Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Muffins are moist and fluffy, fragrant and fruity and perfect for a healthy breakfast!
What better way to start the day than with a sweet, fruity muffin? And how much better if the muffin happens to be healthy and low in sugar? Well, these Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Muffins have got you covered!
These muffins were inspired by my favourite carrot cake recipe: it's easy, versatile and requires just one bowl! Plus, it happens to be undetectably vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free.
These muffins differ slightly as I've halved the amount of maple syrup and added plenty of raisins instead. You could even omit the maple syrup entirely if you prefer, and if raisins aren't your thing, they can be substituted with chopped dates, dried figs, dried mango, dried pineapple or dried papaya.
The batter also includes plenty of warming spices, earthy walnuts and sweet desiccated coconut. I also decided to sprinkle over some coconut flakes before baking for extra fragrant, nutty sweetness.
These muffins make a great dessert, healthy snack or breakfast. They're filling and energising as they contain a nice amount of protein, fibre and natural sweetness.
Though these muffins do taste best when fresh, they work well for batch cooking and meal prep as they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days, and freeze well too. If you have just taken them out of the fridge of freezer, I'd recommend warming them up in an oven toaster if you have one.
For more carrot cake recipes, check out my:
- Carrot Cake Mug Cake
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Tropical Carrot Cake
- Carrot Cake Cookies
- Purple Carrot Cake
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Muffins:
box grater
glass mixing bowl
measuring jug
muffin/cupcake tin
Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 230 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice (or sub a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
- Pinch salt
- 100 g (3.5 oz) grated carrot (one medium-sized carrot)
- 100 g (⅔ cup) raisins or sultanas
- 30 g (¼ cup) walnuts , roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
To decorate:
- Coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, ginger, mixed spice, salt, grated carrot, raisins, walnuts, desiccated coconut and ground almonds
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry
- Transfer the mixture between muffin cases in a muffin tin
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
- Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog - thank you.
Bettina
Can I substitute the almond flour w oat. Can’t have nuts
Rhian Williams
No sorry don't think that would work! You can use ground sunflower seeds though
Sarah
Is there any reason i need the lemon juice? We rlhave an allergy to citrus in the family!
Rhian Williams
It's because it's acidic and reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to create a fluffy batter. You can replace it with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar.
Danielle
These muffins are delicious! I used chopped dates because I didn’t have any raisins and I can confirm that those work beautifully as well. Thanks for this recipe, I’m definitely going to save it and make them again in the future 🙂
Ginger
Seriously the best recipe!!! I have made tones of your recipes which I LOVE but I made these just now and WOW. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us X
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so so happy to hear that!!
Cherish
Yum! Used dates instead of raisins and pecans instead of walnuts. Mildly sweet, just right for me. Would make again.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!