Carrot cake is just an excuse to use cinnamon one more time in the spring, right? I love baking with spices. And when pumpkin spice season is over, and chai spice season is over, it feels like its time to push the cinnamon to the back of the spice cabinet until September. But then, spring comes and carrot cake reminds you that its cool to use cinnamon whenever you want. So don’t put the cinnamon away yet! Let make some Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins.
This is the first version of carrot cake I have EVER made. Outside of work, at least. Before I make an official carrot cake, I need to perfect a recipe for vegan cream cheese frosting. So for now, make some Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins.
I love muffins because they are simple to make in just one bowl and I can eat them in the morning or as a snack. Cake is great but if I had a slice for breakfast it would make me feel quite ill. So these Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins are a little more versatile for me and they let me bust out the cinnamon one more time.
Carrot Cake Muffin Ingredient Breakdown
This recipe is really straight forward. But lets talk about a few of the ingredients. First things first: the carrots. Whatever you do, don’t use the shredded carrots you can buy at the grocery store. They are thick and weird and won’t work the same. Bust out that box grater and grate them! Its just a few carrots.
Second, I use whole wheat flour for these Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins. This will likely not surprise you if you’ve been here for a while. I love whole wheat flour and I love baking with whole grains. Baking with whole wheat flour makes these carrot cake muffins heartier and boosts the fiber and protein content. Which I love for a breakfast baked good because it helps keep me fuller for longer. But I don’t only use whole wheat flour for its nutritional benefits. I love the flavor of it. It has a warm and toasty flavor that pairs well with so many flavors, but particularly with spices!
I also use a combo of granulated sugar and molasses. And this is because I don’t buy brown sugar. Brown sugar is made of white granulated sugar and molasses. So I just add molasses to the recipes that I want to add that brown sugar flavor to. If you don’t keep molasses on hand you can sub the white sugar for dark brown sugar and skip the molasses in these Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins.
So, if you’re ready for the warmer weather but not ready to relinquish your cinnamon, make these Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins.
Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt 1/4 tsp if using fine grain salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- Pinch Clove
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Molasses not blackstrap
- 1/3 Cup Canola Oil
- 1/2 Cup Plant Milk I used So Delicious Coconut Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 Pound Carrots, Grated on the the large side of a box grater This is about 2 1/2 Cups grated carrot
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350* F and line a muffin tin with liners.
- In a large bowl combine sugar, molasses, canola oil, plant milk, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
- Into the wet ingredients add cinnamon, nutmeg and clove and whisk well.
- Next add the grated carrots and whisk well to combine.
- Next add the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir with a spatula until just combined.
- Fill the muffin tins 2/3 of the way full with batter.
- Bake the muffins in a 350* oven for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool and enjoy or pack into an airtight container and store at room temp for 3 days OR store in the freezer for up to a month.
I love a good carrot cake with all that spices! Bonus if its dairyfree and vegan 🙂
So tasty! One last hurrah for my warm spices.
These look absolutely amazing! I’d love to try this recipe.
Carrot cake is already one of my favorites, plus these muffins are vegan, light and I can enjoy them without guilt. Thanks for your sharing
Thanks so much!
Nutmeg – I have to remember to use it more in baking! Great for coffee and healthy; I will try your recipe!
Nutmeg is so good in coffee! I always forget to add a little spice to my morning brew.
Anything carrot cake is my absolute favorite. Thank you so much for this recipe.
So tasty! Thank you!
Carrot cake is always such a yummy treat! I love that the muffins are packed with sweet carrots and warm spices!
Thank you! Carrot cake is definitely one of my favorite treats.