There's no better snack that a mini muffin! These healthy carrot muffins are not only adorable, but gluten free, paleo and vegan friendly. They are made with cassava flour, almond butter and lightly sweetened with honey or maple syrup. This is the perfect toddler carrot muffin recipe - mini, free of most allergens and delicious.
I go through phases when it comes to muffins, and lately I've been all about the muffins!
Mostly in miniature form.
I mean, there's nothing cuter than a mini muffin...right? Plus, they're the perfect snack size for little hands and an easy breakfast side that everyone enjoys.
So, I'm claiming these as the best healthy carrot muffins! Here's why:
Healthy Carrot Muffin Recipe
- paleo and vegan - free of most allergens
- easily made nut free - swap the almond butter for sunbutter or tahini to make these nut free carrot muffins
- lightly sweetened - not loaded with sugar like many muffin recipes
- grain free and gluten free - these carrot muffins are made with cassava flour
- egg free
- dairy free - no butter (or oil)
- easy to make - a one bowl carrot muffin recipe
My kids, who aren't often fond of carrot cake flavors, love this vegan carrot muffin recipe. To make them even more appealing, add a few mini chocolate chips (my kids will eat anything if chocolate chips are involved) or sprinkles. Sometimes I add a little coconut cream to the top as well - it makes a great low sugar frosting.
Ingredients
This recipe for carrot muffins requires just a few simple ingredients. Here's what you need:
- cassava flour
- paleo baking powder
- baking soda
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- salt
- almond butter
- shredded carrot
- honey (maple syrup for vegan)
- vanilla extract
- apple cider vinegar
- water
The combination of cassava flour and almond butter makes these mini muffins dense and moist, yet not gummy. The perfect paleo carrot cake muffin texture!
I have only tested these healthy mini carrot muffins with cassava flour, but a gluten free flour blend or all purpose flour should work as well (not paleo though). Just be sure to substitute by weight, which is given in grams.
How to Make Healthy Carrot Muffins From Scratch
The muffin batter is made in one bowl, scooped into a mini muffin pan and baked in the oven for 25-28 minutes. Super simple!
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Next, combine the cassava flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Then stir in the remaining ingredients. Mix the batter until well combined - it IS thick!
Scoop the batter into a miniature silicone muffin pan. Each muffin slot is filled to the brim, which creates a nice dome once the muffins are baked.
Next, place the muffins in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes.
Lastly, remove the muffins from the oven and cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Right out of the oven, these carrot muffins will be quite soft but they will firm as they cool.
Storage
These muffins don't have any preservatives, additives or stabilizers and they are quite moist. Therefore, storing them in the fridge after a day or two is a must!
Store these gluten free vegan carrot muffins in an air-tight container in the fridge, up to one week.
More Mini Muffin Recipes
For more miniature paleo muffin recipes check out these reader favorites:
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Healthy Carrot Muffins (Gluten Free, Paleo, Vegan)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 1 dozen mini muffins 1x
Description
These healthy carrot muffins are gluten free, Vegan and Paleo. They are perfect for breakfast, snack or topped with frosting for dessert.
Ingredients
- ½ cup cassava flour (75g)
- 1 tsp paleo baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup shredded carrot (85g)
- ½ cup unsweetened almond butter
- 2 Tbsp honey (maple syrup for vegan)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. This includes: cassava flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Mix in the wet ingredients. This includes: shredded carrot, almond butter, honey, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and water. Stir batter until well combined.
- Scoop batter into a miniature silicone muffin pan. Each muffin contains about 2 tablespoons of batter, making 12 muffins.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 25-28 minutes.
- Remove muffins from the oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Best stored in fridge up to one week.
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Kristi says
What can I use as a substitute for Cassava Flour?
Katie says
The best substitute would be a gluten free flour blend. Substituting with a single flour (like almond or coconut) won't work.
Janey says
Do you have to use a mini muffin pan or can you use a regular sized muffin pan?
Katie says
You can used a regular sized pan but the baking time will most likely increase. I find the mini muffins to bake a little better than regular sized when I'm doing Vegan-Paleo baking.
Rachel says
Thank you for sharing your recipes. I just found your website, and they look wonderful for my newly grain-free 9 year old (who thinks this is torture!).
Question: the description says nut-free, but almond butter is one of the ingredients... do you think sunbutter would be a decent substitute for the almond butter? Would love to be able to pop a few of these in a lunchbox, but no nuts at school.
Katie says
Hi! Thank you 🙂 Sunbutter or tahini should work in place of the almond butter if you need the muffins to be nut free.
Katie says
My kids and I love these healthy carrot muffins and we hope you all do too!
★★★★★
Jane says
In the picture you show both baking powder and soda - but in the ingredient list just baking powder.
★★★★★
Katie says
Ah! Thank you for catching that! I updated the recipe earlier this year and the updated version uses both baking powder and baking soda (like the photo shows). Thanks again!