Healthy Carrot Muffins Recipe - Pinch of Yum
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Healthy Carrot Muffins

118 reviews / 4.8 average

Favorite Carrot Muffins that are warm, cozy, and wholesome! A naturally sweet snacking muffin flecked with tiny bits of carrots and oats, smeared with some butter and honey.

So you feel best when you eat wholesome foods but you’re also never not craving something warm and yummy from the oven?

A) You are understood here, and B) YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT PLACE.

Today that warm, cozy, wholesome but also buttered-and-honeyed answer is coming in the form of pleasantly dense, lightly springy, and naturally sweet snacking carrot muffins that are flecked with tiny bits of carrots and oats – just textured enough to keep it fun, playful, and happy.

Is it an open invitation for a melty smear of butter or coconut oil with honey? Is it the perfect warm and satisfying match for your morning or afternoon coffee? Is it a day-brightener and a body-booster? It most certainly is.

This recipe is happily flexible with toppings and mix-ins. You can add any number of things and end up with a carrot muffin that is entirely YOU.

(Or, go a totally different direction and try our similarly wholesome and really delicious banana muffins, pumpkin muffins, zucchini muffins, and apple muffins.)

Carrot muffins on a plate with honey and butter.

We have a favorite saying: the little things are the big things. And today a warm, buttered, honey-drizzled carrot muffin is the very important little big thing.

Click here to see the step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!

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A carrot cake muffin sitting on a plate.

Healthy Carrot Muffins


  • Author: Lindsay
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x

Description

Favorite Carrot Muffins that are warm, cozy, and wholesome! A naturally sweet snacking muffin flecked with tiny bits of carrots and oats, smeared with some butter and honey. YES.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 8 medjool dates, pits removed
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup real maple syrup
  • 34 carrots, peeled and shredded (about 2 cups total)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • walnuts or raisins (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grate your carrots.
  2. Mix all ingredients in a blender until a chunky batter comes together.
  3. Pour batter into a greased or lined muffin tin. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the tops gently spring back when you press into them.
  4. Smear warm muffins with butter and/or honey. Attempt not to eat them all. Serve warm or cold ALL DAY LONG. ♡

Notes

If your dates are on the firm side, soak them in hot water for a bit first so they are easier to blend!

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: carrot cake, carrot muffins, healthy muffins, blender muffins, carrot cake muffins

Frequently Asked Questions For These Carrot Muffins

Can you use an oil other than olive oil?

Yep! Any neutral-tasting oil will work.

How do you recommend storing these muffins?

I store mine in the fridge in an airtight container! To eat, we usually pop them in the microwave for 15 seconds or so, or toast them up in the air fryer for a minute or two. Spread with butter and mwah! So good!

Do these freeze well?

Yep! They freeze perfectly. I do it all the time!

What can you substitute for the egg?

I haven’t tried, but would imagine flax eggs would work well for this!

Is there a replacement for the dates? (Applesauce, mashed banana, other dried fruit, more maple syrup?)

Other readers have said that mashed banana worked (though it created a wetter batter), or other dried fruit.


One More Thing!

This recipe is part of our yummy carrot recipes page. Check it out!

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333 Comments

  1. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I need to go count my dates, because I LOVE your apple muffins, and I really want to try these!!

  2. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I made these this morning. I’m a bit disappointed in these muffins. They feel more like a base. My daughter and I think they need something extra for some added flavor – perhaps grated apple or chocolate chips.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Hi there, Stephanie! Thanks for sharing this feedback with us. We haven’t tested out apple or chocolate chips in these muffins yet, but let us know if you end up trying it out – we’d love to hear!

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        I haven’t tried these carrot ones yet but we love your apple ones. I had two very ripe bananas so I used these instead of the apple one time and they were good too

    2. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Made these over the weekend and they are incredible! Super tasty:) question, are the nutritional values per muffin or for the 12 batch?

  3. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Looks delish! Don’t have a vitamix and don’t think my blender could handle this. Do you think the Food processor would work?

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        Just made these and they’re so yummy! I knew they were going to be, just from the taste of the batter (I’m one of those weirdos). Mine were a little soft in the middle, so I’m not sure 18 min was enough. Next time will go for 20 in my oven.

  4. Pinch of Yum Logo

    These muffins look so dang delicious! And what a bonus – they’re healthy. Thanks so much for posting.

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        My grocery store substituted steel cut oats for the rolled oats in my grocery order. Can I use these? Not sure I have enough of any other kind.

        1. Pinch of Yum Logo

          Hi Marissa! We haven’t tested the muffins with steel cut oats, but unfortunately, I think you’d need rolled oats for this recipe.

  5. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Don’t have a blender that could handle this. Can I just hand mix the ingredients? Or blend the oats first?

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Since there are some chunkier ingredients in here, like the dates, you’ll need something to help blend all of the ingredients together into a batter. A food processor could be a good alternative!

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        I may have to try a food processor for the dates. I’ve tried this recipe 3 times this week (and it’s SO GOOD), but the dates continue to be a problem for me. I even let mine soak in boiling water for at least 15 minutes this morning, and my blender could not chop them down completely.

  6. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hello, trying to not take sugar, can I remove maple syrup in the recipe? Thanks so much for sharing!

        1. Pinch of Yum Logo

          You can add protein sweetened protein powder instead. And just add a bit of water to thin the batter. Thats what I did.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Thank you for sharing such healthy option. Could you please clarify whethet grated carrots need to be blended too or gently incorporated with the ready batter?

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        Hi Irene! It’s up to you! I believe for the muffins in the photos, we folded some of the grated carrots into the batter. And for the muffins in the video, we blended all the carrots into the batter.

  7. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Hi! Kind of random, but I have a couple jars of carrot baby food to use up in my pantry (literally just pureed carrots). Is there a way to incorporate them into these?

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      Good question, Hannah! We haven’t tested this out using pureed carrots yet, so we’re not sure if the texture would be the same or not. Let us know if you end up trying it out! 🙂

  8. Pinch of Yum Logo

    these are divine!! I put my daughter to bed last night, had a hankering for something sweet and had whipped them up in 30mins. I then ate 3 with butter slathered all over them. Not good for the jan diet….but very yummy

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        Can I make these with a vegan egg replacement? And if so, would you recommend ‘flax eggs’?

  9. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I just made these with my 2 year old and they are soooooo good!!! SUPER easy , I already had all the ingredients which was perfect and was a fun activity! I added walnuts and will def be adding raisins along with that next time.

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I have a similar question – what quantity of baking dates would I use instead of pitted dates.They seem to be already blended/chopped.

  10. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Thanks for a great recipe! I made them as written but without the nuts and added some chia, hemp and flax for a little boost. Such wonderful taste and texture. My muffins took about a half hour to bake but I did fill the pan quite full!

    1. Pinch of Yum Logo

      I would also like to add that I used my food processor to greet the carrots and to mix the batter and it came out perfectly. So thrilled with this recipe!

  11. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Made them last night and they were okay. But when I ate it today, really delicious. Like all the flavors melded overnight. Thanks for the great recipe!

  12. Pinch of Yum Logo

    I LOVE all your muffin recipes like this one! My husband and daughter love the zucchini ones and the apple and my favorite. Can’t wait to try these.
    My second baby is due in a few weeks and I plan to make several batches to freeze with all their nutritional goodness!

  13. Pinch of Yum Logo

    These have been a hit with my kids! I topped them with a little of the Carrot Cake Coffee Cake streusel.

  14. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Amazing recipe, I will be making this regularly for sure! Had noor dates on hand and they worked fine 🙂

  15. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Love these for my 15 month old son instead of buying the gerber date and carrot bars, and I eat them too! I added raisins and pecans and some unsweetened apple sauce. I ran out of rolled oats and did half steel cut oats but next time I would not do any steel cut. Texture is a little off with those but good flavor!

      1. Pinch of Yum Logo

        Just made these today! So yummy. Added some coconut flakes (unsweetened) & used coconut oil instead. They were a little dry (maybe because of the different oils?), so added some almond milk as well. Came out a bit crumbly… But really really tasty! Any other tips or suggestions to get these to “perfect”?

  16. Pinch of Yum Logo

    Typing as these bake in the oven. Kitchen already smelling like heaven! Thank you for such an easy and wholesome.
    I used date paste, as I didn’t have regular dates on hand, and a food processor to both grate the carrots and blend all the ingredients. Hope they come out delicious