These almond flour carrot muffins are super moist, lightly sweetened with honey, and even a little fluffy! They’re the perfect Easter treat, and the reviewers have been loving them for the past 11 years. They’re paleo but have a cream cheese frosting option.
Originally posted in 2014, I’ve updated this recipe with more information and new photos.
Here’s an old one for reference. They were originally called healthier carrot cake cupcakes, which was a dumb name because they just had a tiny bit of frosting on them. But the texture is very cupcake-like!
I changed the name because people kept asking how to make these with only coconut flour – which doesn’t work. More on that below.
So, these are now almond flour muffins with a tiny bit of coconut flour to help improve the texture.
Ingredient notes
Here are some notes on select ingredients. Please scroll to the bottom of the post to find the full recipe card!
- Finely ground blanched almond flour – do not substitute with coconut flour or another flour, as it will drastically change the recipe. Almond meal would work, but then you’ll have little brown specks of skin in your muffins. They won’t taste differently, though.
- Coconut Flour – before I posted this recipe, I had made these muffins with just almond flour several times. But no matter how I changed the recipe, they kept coming out greasy. So I added a little coconut flour, which helps absorb moisture and adds structure. Problem solved and they came out perfectly! Unfortunately, there isn’t a substitute for coconut flour.
- Eggs – I’ve tried egg subs in this recipe, and they just don’t work. Grain-free muffins are definitely way more finicky than regular muffins and omitting 2 eggs from a recipe that only yields 8 muffins just doesn’t work.
- Refined coconut oil – you can use unrefined if you don’t mind coconut flavor. You can use melted butter or another neutral oil instead.
- Grated carrots – pre-shredded carrots are thicker and drier, which would affect the texture of the muffins. So I really recommend shredding them yourself. I usually use this Microplane Medium Ribbon Grater when grating carrots for carrot cake and other treats, and it works great here. The photographer grated them more coarsely than I did in the original photos, and that’s why the muffins in the new photos look a bit different.
Can I just use all coconut flour?
I had one commenter say her muffins came out dry, despite following the recipe – except for using coconut flour in place of almond flour.
That doesn’t work. Coconut flour isn’t interchangeable with any other type of flour.
It’s SO much more absorbent than other flours. Please follow the recipe if you want it to work.
If you want to only use coconut flour, you have to find a recipe already calling for that.
Can I add walnuts, raisins or pineapple?
I’ve tried it out with 1/3 cup of raisins and 1/4 cup walnuts. That worked great.
One commenter said that they had used crushed pineapple, but they didn’t come back to say how much they added or if they made other adjustments.
I don’t see how that’d work. Even if you pat it dry, I just think it’d make the muffins soggy.
Another commented said they added 1/3 cup of fresh chopped pineapple and had good results. I think that’s more likely to work out better than crushed pineapple.
How to make them
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until smooth.
- Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Stir until just combined.
- Gently fold in the grated carrots.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups.
- Bake until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack.
Tips for success
Here are a few key tips to ensure your muffins turn out perfectly every time.
- Use room temperature eggs – this helps them incorporate more evenly into the batter.
- Finely grate the carrots – larger pieces won’t blend as well and can create a dense texture.
- Measure the flours correctly – coconut flour is highly absorbent, so too much or too little can change the texture. Please use a scale!
- Let them cool completely – they will be delicate when warm but firm up as they cool.
Can I make it as a layer cake?
I’ve made this recipe several times as a layer cake, and the result is a bit too dense for my liking. I’ve often had this issue when trying to use a grain-free muffin recipe for a cake.
Grain-free flours, like almond or coconut flour, tend to make muffins denser and more compact. Muffins can handle this because they’re baked in small portions, but a layer cake needs a lighter, more structured crumb to support stacking and layering.
Another reason is that many grain-free recipes rely on ingredients like eggs, nut flours, or coconut products, which hold a lot of moisture. While this works for muffins, a cake made with the same formula could turn out too wet, heavy, or unstable when layered.
Muffins also don’t need as much rise as a cake, so a muffin recipe may not have enough leavening agents (like baking soda or baking powder) to create a tall, fluffy cake. Cakes require more aeration to achieve a tender crumb that can support frosting.
If you want to try, anyway, you can double the recipe and baked it in two 8″ (22 cm) pans for 17 minutes.
How to make ahead, store and freeze
Once baked, the muffins can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two days. If you need to store them for longer, place them in the refrigerator, where they’ll stay fresh for up to four days.
To extend their shelf life, wrap individual muffins in plastic wrap and store them in a freezer-safe bag. They can be kept frozen for up to three months. When ready to eat, simply thaw at room temperature or warm them slightly in the microwave.
Troubleshooting
- Muffins are too dry or dense – check your coconut flour measurement and make sure you didn’t overbake.
- Muffins are too wet – did you use finely ground blanched almond flour? If your almond flour isn’t finely ground, it won’t be as absorbent, resulting in wetter, greasier muffins.
- Muffins didn’t rise – ensure your baking soda is fresh and that you used large eggs.
Other gluten-free Easter desserts
These Birds Nest Cookies are also paleo (and vegan!) and super cute for Easter.
This Gluten-free Carrot Cake is super moist and the best carrot cake I’ve ever had.
This Italian Lemon Almond Flour Cake isn’t exactly healthy, but people love it.
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 oil1, melted
- 1/3 cup (106 grams) honey or maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (50 grams) grated carrots2
- optional - 3 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts for the muffin tops
- 2 ounces (56 grams) cream cheese
- 4 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- a dash of salt
For the carrot muffins:
For the optional 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 or maple syrup, 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 top with chopped walnuts, if using.
- 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. Spread a thin layer on top of each cupcake.
- 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.
Notes
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626 comments on “Almond Flour Carrot Muffins” — Add one!
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Loved the look of this recipe, so tried it but substituted the almond flour with chickpea flour! Not a good idea, cakes were tasty but dry :-( Next time I will stick to the Almond Flour – might add walnuts and dates as family members do not like sultanas… Lesson learned!
I’m happy they were tasty but I definitely don’t recommend subbing chickpea flour for almond flour! So I’m happy you’ll use almond flour next time. And you could also try them without any add-ins. That’s how I made them and they’re wonderful that way and nobody can complain. :)
Oh also, is almond meal the same as almond flour?
You can use either! Almond flour is blanched and almond flour unblanched. In some recipes, it can really make a difference but not here. Almond meal is much, much cheaper and easier to find so feel free to use that. :)
These look great! I am looking for a low sugar and preferably grain free cake for my 2yo’s bday on Saturday. This is a definite contender. I want a cake that is light and fluffy though, I know you have mentioned these are moist, what about light/fluffy/airy?
Thanks!
These aren’t as fluffy as a cake made with all-purpose flour but as far as grain-free goodies go, these definitely have a great texture! Not at all heavy or dense. I hope your son will enjoy them if you try them and that he’ll have a great birthday. :)
My grain free daughter would like carrot cake as a birthday cake. Will this recipe work if baked in a round 9″ cake pan?
Several people have made it in cake form (and a 9″ cake pan sounds to be the right size) but I have no idea how long you’d need to bake it. Maybe 12-16 minutes? It’s just a guess, though! I hope she’ll enjoy it and have a great birthday. :)
Tried the recipe twice (using the grams – I’m from the UK) and it did not work at at all. I think you have your gram values wrong. The batter was very firm, I even added an extra egg and oil (second time around) to try and get the batter more runny but it did not work. The mixture then burnt on top……
Some advice would be nice
Thanks
I’m sorry they’re not working out for you. :( I live in Germany and bake using grams as well and the values are correct (I doubled checked to make sure). If you hadn’t weighed the ingredients, I would have suggested that you added too much flour but since you didn’t use cups, I’m honestly not sure what would have caused that if you followed the recipe exactly and didn’t use any subs at all. You didn’t try leaving out the carrots (maybe in hopes of making spiced cupcakes), did you? Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help!
Just made 2 batches, one with walnuts and one with walnuts and mini choc. Chips. These are delicious, moist and not real dense and heavy like many gluten free items. Will be making more and freezing.
I’ve never tried carrot cake with chocolate chips. I think I’ll have to try that! I’m happy both batches came out well. :) Thanks so much for the feedback!
Thank you so much for the recipie! These are amazing!!!! My family and coworkers really enjoyed these when I made them :)
I’m so happy that you all enjoyed them! Thanks so much for the feedback. :)
I love this recipe and was wondering if I can add some raisins or cranberries to the mixture?
Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem! I’m happy it came out well for you and thanks so much for the feedback. :) And sorry for my slow reply. I just got back from a vacation where the hotel had internet issues.
Hi Erin,
I’ve made these cupcakes three times now and they are absolutely delicious! I find they keep well. I brought them to work and people went crazy over them. This is such a great and simple recipe. Thanks!
Wow. I love that people went crazy over a grain-free recipe. That’s awesome! Thanks so much for the feedback and so happy that you and your colleagues like the cupcakes. :)
I love carrot cake and was looking for a healthy alternative. I stumbled on your website and cannot wait to try these cupcakes this weekend. Great comments from everyone! I will let you know how I make out! Looks delicious!
Hi, Debi! I’m sorry for my slow reply. I was on vacation and wasn’t able to log into my blog for some reason. :( I’m happy you found the recipe and I hope that you enjoyed the cupcakes if you tried them! Sorry again for my slowness.
Hi Erin,
I did try the cupcakes and they were delicious. I am making them for another party this weekend. The icing was a little runny and I put in the frig for a few hours and it thickened right up. They were perfect! Thanks again
I’m happy to hear that! I hope the partygoers will enjoy them, too. :) Thanks for the feedback!
These look amazing! I love carrot cake. I like that the recipe is small. I defiantly don’t need 24 cupcakes sitting around.
Haha. Same here! 24 cupcakes around means about 8 cupcakes per day for three days. Definitely not good. ;) I hope you’ll enjoy the cupcakes if you get a chance to try them!
They were amazing! I love your site. This will be my go to site for my cheat days.
Thanks, Mary! I’m honored that I’m your go to site for your cheat days. :) Thanks for the feedback!
I found the cake is rather oily on the outside. Is it normal? Can I freeze the cupcake?
Sorry for the slow reply, Iris! I didn’t consider the cupcakes to be oily… just really moist. Did you weigh your almond flour? I’m guessing if you were light on the almond flour, that would have caused oiliness. I hope you still enjoyed them! :) And yes, you can freeze them.
I love these cupcakes! I doubled the recipe and they turned out great! I don’t know if I misread the recipe for the icing or not, but it turned out very runny. I had to put in more cream cheese and even then it was still too thin. I put in 8 oz of cream cheese, 16 t of maple syrup, and 2 T of vanilla. I’m wondering if it might have been because the maple syrup was very thin.
I’m happy that you liked the cupcakes! And about the icing – do you by any chance live outside of North America? If you do, the cream cheese there isn’t like the brick kind we have in the US and would explain the runny icing. My maple syrup is also very thin (isn’t it all? ;)) so I don’t think that’d be it. My frosting came out pretty thick and was even a little difficult to get through the piping bag so I’m not sure what would cause it to be very runny. Sorry about that! I hope you could still enjoy them nevertheless. :) Next time, if I were you, I’d just try adding some powdered sugar to the cream cheese and when it’s a consistency and sweetness you like, add a little vanilla. Hope that helps!
Absolutely divine. I added a bit more spice and some citrus flavour (lemon and orange zest). Didn’t last very long ;)
Lemon and orange zest?! Sounds good! I would have never thought of adding that. So happy that you liked the cupcakes. :) Thanks for the feedback!
Have my daughter’s first birthday party in a few days. If I make these ahead of time do you need to store the unfrosted cupcakes in fridge? Or is a sealed container on counter ok for overnight storage? Planning on frosting them a few hours before party.
Thanks!
Alyson
A sealed container on the counter overnight or for 2 days is totally fine. :) I hope you all will enjoy the cupcakes and happy birthday to your daughter!
Thanks for your quick response Erin! Tried a unfrosted one and they are amazing! So soft and fluffy, was worried fridge storage might dry them out. Want them to stay just as they are! Thank for the birthday wishes :D
Yay! That’s great. :) So happy that you liked them! I hope that the party went well. :)
These look delicious!!
Definitely on my to do list to try.
I am new to clean eating but my list is growing fast.
Do you have the nutritional values for these beauties??
Sorry I missed your comment, Ellie! I don’t have the nutritional info. I intentionally don’t include the nutritional info (I focus on making healthier choices rather than low calorie / fat / etc.) but you can copy and paste the recipe here for that info, if you like. I hope you’ll enjoy the cupcakes! :)
I LOVE carrot cake. So I am very happy to see you have a healthier carrot cake recipe!!! I’ve been having a serious carrot cake craving and I knew you would have something awesome to satisfy it. Thanks for the great recipe Erin!!! :-)
Thanks, Heather! I hope you’ll like this version as much as the whole wheat one but it’s hard to beat that version. ;)
Just made these in mini cupcakes and they are perfect in every way! I did add grounded flaxseed and chia seed, they still were great. I did make double the topping though. I used greek creamcheese and its just as good. I will make these for the rest of my life. Thank uuuu so much! Xoxo
Picture of the cupcakes in instagram.username gojanett :)
For the rest of your life? That makes me so happy to hear! :D I love that you made these as mini cupcakes. I have a mini muffin pan but I’m not just patient enough to fill all the molds. ;) Thanks so much for the feedback. I’ll go check out your picture!
Made these for my husband for fathers day. Carrot cake is his fave. They were to die for!!!! I used vanilla bean greek yogurt for icing. Thank you and will make again!!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! I hope your husband did, too. :) And vanilla bean Greek yogurt as icing sounds awesome. Thanks a bunch for the feedback and the rating!
I was wondering before I make these around how many calories per cupcake? (not including frosting)
I intentionally don’t include the nutritional info (I focus on making healthier choices rather than low calorie / fat / etc.) but you can copy and paste the recipe here for that info, if you like. I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
Hey there, today I juiced up some carrots, oranges, beetroot and kale for a drink. What to do with the left over pulp? I found your lovely moist looking recipe and decided to get busy making some muffins with the pulp……… Delicious!! Thank you…have more being cooked now and will pop them into the freezer for the kids lunch bags. Will be sharing this with my PT clients….Thank you.
Hi Vicki! So happy that you liked the muffins. :) And it’s good to know that you can make these with just leftover pulp. Thanks so much for your feedback and for sharing with your PT clients!