These healthy Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins are made with wholesome ingredients like oats, applesauce, carrots and raisins and have no refined sugars! They are dairy-free and can be made in your oven or air fryer. Make them now for breakfast or freeze for meal prepping and quick breakfasts later on!
These Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins are chock full of healthy ingredients like oats, raisins and carrots. They are full of texture but are soft and fluffy. Sweetened and moistened with pure honey and applesauce, there is no need to use granulated sugars or fatteners like milk or butter.
My healthy carrot muffins are naturally vegetarian and dairy-free and can easily be made vegan! You can make these muffins in your air fryer or oven (I have both instructions below)
We love muffins in my house. Muffins are eaten as a breakfast, snack or dessert. We make them jumbo, regular and mini-sized. One batch never lasts long enough. But these muffins freeze wonderfully and defrost quickly so make a double batch now and save them for quick breakfasts and meal prepping later.
These carrot muffins are one of our favorite "fun" breakfasts, along with oat milk pancakes, vanilla pancakes, and a bacon egg and cheese croissant ring!
Craving More Muffin Recipes? Try These Next:
What Makes These Muffins Healthy?
Although "healthy" is subjective, there are many reasons these whole wheat carrot muffins are more wholesome than most traditional muffin recipes.
- They contain no refined sugar! Just pure organic honey or maple syrup is used to sweeten these breakfast muffins.
- Naturally vegetarian and dairy-free! They can be made vegan with easy swaps given below.
- Whole wheat flour is known to be more nutritious than all-purpose flour, so it'll give you more protein and fiber.
- Carrot muffins are packed with healthy vegetables and fruits- carrots, applesauce and raisins add a ton of vitamins and minerals while keeping them low in calories.
- They are very low in fat- just 2 grams per serving!
- Low in calories! One standard size muffin is under 200 calories but full of protein. If you're enjoying these muffins for breakfast, that's a super low cal meal!
Ingredients & Substitutions
To make these healthy carrot muffins you'll need:
- Carrots: grated or shredded carrots both work.
- Raisins: currants are a good substitute!
- Oats: use old fashioned oats or quick oats for the best results.
- Whole wheat flour: you could use all-purpose flour if you desire but the muffins won't be as wholesome.
- Honey: I use pure, local organic honey for the best flavor and nutritional benefits. For vegan muffins, use maple syrup.
- Applesauce: adds moisture and flavor. You can substitute with a few mashed bananas or Greek yogurt.
- Vanilla extract: opt for pure vanilla extract and avoid the imitation stuff! Almond extract and lemon extract are both great substitutes.
- Cinnamon & nutmeg: these warming spices add great flavor. A pumpkin spice blend or a dash of cloves can also be used.
- Eggs: for vegan or egg-free muffins, use flax eggs.
This recipe yields 8 standard size muffins, 18 mini muffins or 6 jumbo muffins. Ingredients can be increased proportionally to make more.
Step-By-Step Directions
STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit and a line an 8-cup muffin tray with muffin liners.
STEP 2: To a large mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking powder. Stir well.
STEP 3: Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and add vanilla extract, applesauce and eggs.
Mix until dry ingredients have just combined with the wet ingredients.
Fold in the carrots and raisins.
STEP 4: Scoop batter into the muffin cavities filling ⅔ full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Serve warm, lightly toasted with some butter or honey, or at room temperature.
To make these muffins in your air fryer, follow these simple instructions:
Follow steps 1 - 3 above. Scoop batter into silicone muffin cups filling them ⅔ full. Transfer to the air fryer and cook at 350°F (177°C) for 12 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center to check for doneness, adding 1 minute at a time until cooked through if necessary. They may need up to 15 minutes.
How To Store
Store in an airtight bag for 2-3 days at room temperature. Any longer than that and you should store them in the freezer. They will last in the freezer for around 6 months.
Variations to Carrot Muffins
- Add nuts: walnuts, almonds, and pecans all taste wonderful in muffins. A cup of nuts would suffice to turn these into nutty carrot muffins.
- Add chocolate: add about a cup of chocolate chips to make chocolate chip carrot muffins. Yum!
- Make them eggless: ditch the eggs and use homemade flax eggs or an egg substitute.
- Make them vegan: in addition to replacing the eggs like mentioned above, use pure maple syrup instead of honey.
Yes! This recipe makes approximately 18 mini muffins. Mini carrot muffins are great for kids and lunch boxes.
If your muffins are turning out dense, you've likely overmixed the batter. Don't use a handheld mixer when making muffins. A good old fork or whisk does the job of mixing muffin batter perfectly.
Yes, muffins are great for making in the air fryer. Muffin tins will fit in most oven style air fryers but if you have a basket air fryer, you'll need to use silicone muffin cups. Check out my instructions above for air frying these healthy carrot muffins.
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup oats
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¾ cup applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cup carrots grated
- ¼ cup raisins
Instructions
Oven Method
- Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit and a line an 8-cup muffin tray with liners.
- To a large mixing bowl, add whole wheat flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking powder. Stir well.
- Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and add vanilla extract, applesauce and eggs. Mix until dry ingredients have just combined with the wet ingredients. Fold in the carrots and raisins.
- Scoop batter into the muffin cavities filling ⅔ full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Air Fryer Method
- Follow steps 1 - 3 above. Scoop batter into silicone muffin cups filling them ⅔ full. Transfer to the air fryer and cook at 350°F (177°C) for 12 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center to check for doneness, adding 1 minute at a time until cooked through if necessary. They may need up to 15 minutes.
Kayla DiMaggio
I can't get enough of these delicious carrot muffins! So easy and yummy!
serena
I love how simple these are to make, and just delicious!
Jeannie
we love these carrot muffins especially the addition of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Vie
Just popped these babies in the oven and can’t wait to try them. They smell so good!
Thanks for the recipe. Be well!
Kristina
Thank you for the feedback! I hope that you enjoyed them. My intention is to say that they have no added overly processed (particularly white) sugar. I've updated my post to clear up the confusion. Let me know how they turned out!
Vie
Thanks so much for the followup!
They came out FABULOUS!! My first batch got gobbled up by my family in record time. So I made another batch...This time I used chopped apple instead of carrot and added dried cranberries. Again a winner! I’ll be making these a regular treat!