Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins – A little bite of carrot cake heaven – ZERO oil, ZERO refined sugar. Easy to make & delicious!
Don’t you just love it when a recipe comes together ? This Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins recipe comes in response to request from a fellow Tweep, Badger @ Badger Bakes for more healthy baking recipes.
One of the best parts of blogging is the pleasure you get from fellow bakers trying your recipes. When I first started out, my family were my only readers and I honestly didn’t think anyone else would ever read them. Since then, Ted’s Rolls have been a great sucess and I still love to see photos of fellow Tweeps’ freshly baked soft bread rolls.
Although the recipes on my blog are tried and tested in the Kitchen Shed, feedback is invaluable to me because I get to hear how recipes work using different ovens or slow cookers. Also, it’s good to know if my instructions are easy to follow.
Feedback from Badger @Badgers Bakes about my Healthy Blueberry and Orange Muffins was particularly good to hear: Badger doesn’t use oil in cooking and had tried my recipe without oil. The muffins received the seal of approval from Badger and her family, so much so that she has made several batches since. Keen to try the oil free version for myself, I was pleasantly surprised the muffins remain lovely and moist exactly as reported.
I’d had another sugar free idea in mind for a while and was keen to see if it too would work without oil. I wanted to try the flavours of carrot cake (one of my favourite cakes) in a muffin – not least because I’m always looking for an excuse to bake in my Lakeland Mini Loaf Tin. That said, you can of course use a regular muffin tin too. The sweetness in these Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins comes from the eating apples and carrots (both naturally sweet foods) so the sweeter the apple you use, the sweeter your muffins will be. I’ve added cinnamon, sultanas, walnuts and an optional creamy topping sweetened with maple syrup to complete the carrot cake experience – carrot cake heaven !
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 50 g ½ cup porridge oats plus extra for sprinkling
- 100 g ¾ cup white plain flour
- 100 g ¾ cup wholewheat plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- A pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 100 ml 7 tablespoons yoghurt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup honey
- Zest of an orange
- 2 eating apples grated I used Braeburn
- 100 g 1 cup about 2 to 3 carrots
- 50 g ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 75 g ½ cup sultanas
Optional creamy topping:
- 6 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- A splash of milk
- 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
- A little orange zest
Instructions
- Grease and line a 12 hole mini loaf tin or muffin tin and preheat oven to 200℃ / 400℉ /Gas Mark 6
The muffin mixture:
- Mix oats, flours, baking powder, bicarb, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
- Whisk together the eggs, yoghurt and orange zest in a jug, pour onto the dry ingredients and briefly mix together.
- Add the apple, carrots, walnuts and sultanas and mix in until combined.
- Equally divide the mixture between the holes in your mini loaf tin or muffin tin, filling them to about three quarters full.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a cooling rack.
Optional Creamy Topping:
- Whisk the mascarpone and maple syrup together, adding a splash of milk to slacken the cream.
- Spread onto the top of each muffin and sprinkle with chopped walnuts and orange zest.
Notes
Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins freeze well.
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These look lovely. I love carrot cake and these are the perfect size
Thanks Alison, the smaller size does work well especially as I’m trying to eat healthily.
These muffins sound delicious. I love that you added apple for a great texture and flavor!
Thanks Julie, I love grated apple in cakes and breads.
What a great dessert idea! Happy FF 🙂
Thanks Cat, happy Fiesta party. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Looks so delicious & sounds so healthy too. Nice! BTW- I am in love with your mini loaf tin too.
Thanks Josette, the mini loaf tin was a Christmas present last year and I’ve used it so many times.
The healthy carrot cake muffins look great for a brunch treat. Thanks for sharing, Sarah and happy FF!
Thanks Ahila, a pleasure to share & thanks for popping by 🙂
What a fantastic way to enjoy yummy carrot cake whilst staying healthy! Thanks for entering into Treat Petite.
Thanks Kat, only trouble is I can’t stop at one, lol 🙂
Well, I am always up for trying something that is a healthier alternative! Your carrot cake muffins are lovely! Thanks so much for sharing them with us at FF! 😀
Thanks Julianna, so pleased you like my healthy carrot cake muffins and it’s a pleasure to share them with the Fiesta party 🙂
What a great dessert! I like the idea of a healthy carrot cake muffin, as most carrot cake recipe call for quite a lot of sugar and butter.
Thanks Daniela, a lot of carrot cake recipes do have a lot of sugar and butter or oil in. A healthy version means I can enjoy my favourite cake in a smaller portion and with less fat and sugar too.
I love healthy- these sound fantastic! 🙂
Thanks Jhuls, so pleased you like my healthy version of carrot cake.
This time of year calls out for cake but I was trying to remain a little healthy. This is an excellent option for people craving cake like me but trying to be just a little bit good.
So pleased you like the healthy muffin recipe Phil, I can’t do without cake or a sweet treat and this is the perfect solution for me.