These almond flour carrot muffins are super moist, lightly sweetened with honey and even a little fluffy! These grain-free and gluten-free healthier carrot cake muffins are the perfect Easter treat. The reviewers love them! With a dairy-free option.
First up, if you prefer a grain-containing healthier carrot cake recipe, I have you covered! This 100% whole grain carrot cake is the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. Hands down.
Or actually, it’s tied with this gluten-free carrot cake, which is the same exact recipe as the healthy carrot cake, but with gluten-free flour.
If grains aren’t your thing, these healthier carrot cake muffins are awesome. I feel like a broken record, just because I say this all the time, but I used a combination of almond flour and coconut flour to achieve the perfect texture. I want my grain-free baked goods to taste as close to grain-containing ones as possible and these are pretty darn close!
People often ask if there’s a substitute for coconut flour and there really isn’t. And the only substitute for the almond flour would be almond meal (which is a lot cheaper than almond flour!) or another nut flour.
So now that we’ve got the carrot cake muffins out of the way, we need some healthier cream cheese frosting! This is the same cream cheese frosting recipe that I used in my last post on carrot cake scones.
It uses just a little maple syrup as sweetener. I really thought cream cheese frosting without powdered sugar was impossible but this maple syrup version was just as good! It’s quite thick so if you want to thin it out, just add some milk.
I’m just guessing that if you’re interested in grain-free baking, you’re not into mounds of frosting on top of your muffins or cupcakes. The amount that this cream cheese frosting recipe yields is just enough for a thin slathering on each muffin. If you want to pipe it like I did, you can pipe about twice as much as you see in the pictures.
I recommend frosting the muffins right before serving because once you frost them, they need to be refrigerated. They can sit at room temperature for about 4 hours so if you want to frost them in preparation of a party – no problem!
They just taste better and fluffier if you keep them at room temperature and microwaving cream cheese frosting sounds like a bad idea.
Obviously cream cheese isn’t dairy-free but there are dairy-free cream cheeses out there. If you don’t like the thought of using that, just leave out the frosting or use my vegan cream cheese recipe.
It’s naturally sweetened, doesn’t have any unusual ingredients and is also paleo-friendly! Half the recipe should yield enough for a nice slathering on top of each muffin. You can also find my directions for making these carrot cake cupcakes into an 8″ cake on that post.
Want an Easter dessert that’s a little more unique than these paleo carrot cake muffins? Try these blueberry carrot cake bars with granola from Cotter Crunch! They’re gluten-free and dairy-free and look amazing.
And for something with more of a cake texture (like angel food cake!) be sure to give my paleo blueberry muffins a try!
Almond Flour Carrot Muffins
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 8 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (125 grams) blanched almond flour
- 2 tablespoons (16 grams) coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 large eggs (50 gram each, out of shell), room temperature
- 1/3 cup (75 grams) refined coconut oil, melted (if you use unrefined coconut oil there may be some coconut taste to the muffins)
- 1/3 cup (106 grams) honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (50 grams) grated carrots
- 2 ounces (56 grams) cream cheese
- 4 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- a dash of salt
- additional milk for thinning, if desired
For the carrot muffins:
For the cream cheese frosting: (for paleo / dairy-free, use a half batch of this vegan "cream cheese" frosting)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a muffin tin with 8 muffin liners.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (almond flour through nutmeg). Set this aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, honey, and vanilla.
- Add the dry mix to the wet mix just until combined and then gently fold in the grated carrots.
- Divide the batter evenly among the liners (about 62 grams per liner) and bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Do not frost until completely cool!
- For the cream cheese frosting, mix everything together until thoroughly combined. If it's too thick for your liking, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until it's your desired consistency.
- Spread a thin layer on top of each cupcake or pipe it on. Do note that if you pipe it, you'll have some leftover if you pipe it as lightly as I did in the pictures.
- Unfrosted muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to 2 days or refrigerated for 5 days. Frosted muffins should be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
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629 comments on “Almond Flour Carrot Muffins” — Add one!
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These are amazing! My husband loves carrot cake, and he really loved these. My three-year-old granddaughter loved them, too, and her parents were happy that I was able to get a vegetable in her. My frosting was also runny, so I resorted to adding powdered sugar. But the flavor was awesome. I will use maple syrup in frosting again!
I’m so glad that you and your family enjoyed these! I love that you were able to get your granddaughter to eat some carrots. :) Yay! Thanks for your comment.
These are amazing. I went ahead and made 2 batches the first time I made them, because I’m convinced that anything Texan Erin creates is obviously going to be heavenly. I didn’t even make the icing (next time though!), but my toddler asked for “cupcakes” for days after we had eaten them all.
Aww, what a nice thing to say. Thank you! :) I love that your toddler requested more. :D I hope you’ll enjoy the icing next time. Thanks for your feedback and sorry again for my slow reply!
Hi, I’m about to make these but reading through the comments, in in UK and have ground almonds, would you suggest more liquid/yogurt will be needed to keep it moist? Also 175°c, are you using fan assisted oven here or shall I turn down the temp? Hoping you see this content asap! 🤞
Hi! Ground almonds is almond flour. In some countries, what they call almond flour is really defatted / deoiled almond flour, which is a product we don’t even have in the US. So ground almonds is what you want. :) Always keep the fan off unless a recipe specifically says to turn it on. Sorry for just now seeing this! I took the evening off last night.
Great recipe! I used liquid stevia vs. syrup with the cream cheese and it turned out perfectly. I also used Vitafiber as a sweetener (not a paid endorser). My husband bought a bag of it and I’ve been trying to figure out how to use it!
I’m glad you found a way to use Vitafiber! I’d never heard of that before. Thanks for the tip! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the muffins. :) Thanks for your comment!
Can I sub maple syrup for the honey??
Yup!
I’m trying to turn this into a cake for my babies 1st bday. But im wondering if I can sub out the honey for date paste?
I’ve never used date paste. If it’s meant as a 1:1 sub for maple syrup or honey, it should work here. Sorry that I don’t have a better answer for you!
Hi so I’ve tried the date paste and although it worked out it was very v dense and dry. I made another with maple syrup and that was a good replacement. I subbed it 1.1. My baby loved it thanks
delicious! I spread these out into 12 muffins for 15 minutes and they came out great! Both times I made this I misread how much maple syrup to use, so I had to add more cream cheese, which was non-dairy btw and it came out great!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! And it’s good to know that it works well with less maple and more cream cheese. Less sugar is always a good thing. :) Thanks for your comment!
Can I replace the almond flour with 1 and a half cups of coconut flour?
I’m sorry for just now seeing your question! Hopefully you found the answer in the post. :) The only sub would be another nut flour. Coconut flour is not a sub for almond flour.
These were fantastic. I added raisins like some of the other reviewers as well. So GOOD I will make these regularly. Thanks!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! I still need to try them myself with raisins. Thanks for your feedback and sorry for my very slow reply!
I really like these muffins, it’s delicious and the texture is on point. I was wondering if these could be made into a cake (2 round layers), like would the consistency and texture be dense enough? And if so, how would you convert the recipe?
Thanks!
I’m sorry for just now seeing your question! Hopefully you found the answer in the post. :) I linked to the recipe where I made it as a cake. I doubled the recipe and baked it in two 8″ pans for 17 minutes.
I made one batch according to the recipe and they are absolute heaven – perfectly moist with a very pleasant nutty carrot flavor . To experiment, I made another batch with cassava flour which is quite a bit cheaper than almond flour , and it was absolute trash ! Super dry and bready in a bad way . Oh well garbage in, garbage out, as they say. I will stick with the almond flour and will be making again and again :)
Aww. I’m sorry your cassava flour experiment didn’t work out! Cassava flour is one of the few flours my kid can have and so I use it a lot and still wouldn’t be able to convert this (or any recipe) without a ton of experimenting / wasting. :/ I really recommend using recipes that already call for the specific brand of cassava that you have! Thanks a bunch for your comment and sorry for my slow reply. Things have been crazy around here!
I have rarely left reviews/comments on recipes, however, I made this as a cake for Easter and it was fabulous! I made just one batch of muffins as written except: adding a 1/2 tsp extra cinnamon and a few drops of fresh squeezed ginger root. And added 3-4 TBL each chopped walnuts and raisins. Also, when directions stated to mix the eggs in, I separated the eggs and only mixed in the egg yolks. I whipped the egg whites until firm then folded them in after the carrots/walnuts and raisins were added. I greased and parchment papered two 6 in round cake pans, as I wanted a petite, tall cake. I made a low sugar frosting of about two TBL of almost equal ratios of butter, cream cheese and coconut cream with a tablespoon of maple syrup and a few drops of liquid stevia. The frosting was just lightly sweetened and was just enough for layering and frosting the top of the cake. It would have made a nice sized piece if cake cut into 8 pieces, however, I just wanted a little bit of dessert so I cut the two layered cake into 12 small pieces. This is definitely a do again!!
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! It landed up in spam for some reason and with my son home the last 2 months, I haven’t been diligent with checking that. Thanks so much for your wonderful review! I’m really glad that you liked the carrot cake. Separating the eggs is a great idea! I’ll have to try that. Thanks again for your feedback and sorry again for my ridiculously slow reply!
Hi Erin, I made this recipe. Because I didnt have enough ingredients, I had to substitute part of the almond flour with apricot seed kernels, ground in my spice mill. I also used butter because I didnt have refined coconut oil. Instead of cupcakes, I made it in a 20 inch cake pan. It was so moist and decicious, the kids polished it off even before I could make the frosting, and I only had a small piece. Absolutely yummy and very hard to tell that its paleo!
Oh, wow. I’ve never heard of using apricot seed kernels! How interesting. Thanks for the tip and your feedback! I’m so glad that it came out well, especially with your changes. :)
Can I use almond flour only. I don’t have any coconut flour :(
Sorry for just now seeing your question! Like I said in the post, there’s not really a sub for coconut flour. :( Sorry about that!
Just made these and they are awesome!! added raisins 10/10 :)
Yay! I’m glad to hear that! Thanks for your comment. :)
Hi. I’ve been making this recipe on repeat every week for my son! I had made it a few times with flax eggs- he loved it. I switched to regular eggs and i like it better with regular eggs. Looks nicer, as well :)
Thank you for this recipe. Literally make it every week. Freezes well!
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! It landed in spam for some weird reason. :( I’m surprised your son liked it with flax eggs! I wasn’t able to make these successfully with chia eggs. You’re welcome for the recipe! It’s so nice to hear you make them every week. :) Thanks for your feedback and sorry again for my slow reply.
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 182
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12.8g 16%
Saturated Fat 8.7g 43%
Cholesterol 47mg 16%
Sodium 143mg 6%
Total Carbohydrate 15.1g 5%
Dietary Fiber 1.7g 6%
Total Sugars 12.3g
Protein 3g
Vitamin D 4mcg 22%
Calcium 14mg 1%
Iron 1mg 3%
Potassium 51mg 1%
What is the nutritional information for these muffins?
I don’t have the calories but you could use this recipe analyzer for the nutritional profile.
I made this into a cake and it was SO GOOD! I think I may have done something wrong with the icing though, or the ratios are off. Doubled the recipe, so I did 4oz cream cheese, 8tbs maple syrup, and 3tsp vanilla, and some salt. It ended up incredibly liquidy and never thickened up. Any suggestions on why that may have happened?
I’m glad you liked the recipe! :) You should have used 8 teaspoons of maple syrup, not tablespoons. The recipe calls for 4 teaspoons.
Oops, that was a typo, I meant 8tsp maple syrup, not tbs lol.
I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on this recipe and nobody has mentioned the frosting being runny so if you followed the recipe exactly, I’m not sure what the problem could be. :( You used brick cream cheese, right, and not the spreadable kind for toast?
Made these twice already for gluten-sensitive friends, and they were a big hit! I used the ingredients as written, except I bumped up the cinnamon to two teaspoons and also added a quarter teaspoon of allspice. I made them in the mini-muffin pan, sprayed with non-stick spray, lined with papers, which I sprayed, too, so they came out nicely with nothing stuck to the paper. Baked for maybe 8 minutes (check at 6), and this recipe made 30 minis. No, they’re not the same as carrot cake made with flour, but by golly, they’re really good…practically a health food, haha! I used your icing drizzle on only one of the batches that I made. They’re good either way. Gluten-free and “regular” folks all liked them. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! I just got back from vacation. I’m really glad that everyone enjoyed them! And more spice is always a good thing. ;) And good to know that it makes 30 minis! Thanks for the tip and for your feedback. Sorry again!
Your recipe sound delicious but I need to make them completely nut free. What flour can I use instead of almond flour?
I’m sorry for just now seeing your question! I just returned from vacation. Almond flour is unfortunately only interchangeable with other nut flours so I can’t recommend a sub. Sorry about that!
I have had success substituting oat flour for almond flour. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, however.