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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I just made these for our family celebrating our chocolate lab Badger’s 10th birthday today! He recently fractured his left limb and was diagnosed with bone cancer☹️ So we are glad to celebrate with him and share in his strict but yummy protein, paleo, gf, grain free diet! I used some garbanzo bean flour we all love the taste of and added a little org. Crushed pineapple for added antioxidant, flavor and moisture. Badger will get his topped with natural fresh crushed peanut butter I just ground at the co-op yesterday😍Thank you for the lovely recipe I was so glad to find!
I love that you made these for your dog’s birthday! I hope he isn’t in a lot of pain and that he enjoyed his peanut butter-topped cupcakes and that he had a nice birthday party. :) Thanks a bunch for your nice comment!
These. Are. Amazing!!! I subbed olive oil for coconut oil, and maple syrup for honey. They baked up beautifully – light and fluffy, and yet holding together well, unlike many grain/gluten-free recipes. The flavor is also perfection – the sweetness is light and yet just enough that they are lovely even without frosting. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy that they came out well for you. And thanks so much for the tip on the olive oil! Someone else had just asked about a coconut oil sub. Thanks a bunch for your comment! :)
I’m excited to make these for my friend’s birthday tomorrow! Any suggestions/suitable alternatives for refined coconut oil? I only have unrefined coconut oil on me right now but don’t want there to be an overpowering coconut taste.
I hope they’ll enjoy them! Olive oil should work fine. The last commenter used it with success and I really doubt you’d be able to taste it with all the spices in there. :)
Another successful recipe from you. I won’t even bother making paleo/grain free recipes from anyone else because they never turn out. Thanks for providing weights as measurements. I substituted maple syrup for the honey and it worked great.
Sorry for just now seeing your comment! I’m happy that you appreciate the weights. It’s so much easier, isn’t it? :) Good to know that maple works well here! Thanks a bunch for your kind words. I’ll keep trying to come up with more paleo recipes so you don’t run out of stuff to make. ;)
how many carbs are in the cupcakes with frosting
I don’t have that info but you can copy and paste the recipe here for the nutritional profile, if you’d like. :)
Thank you SO much for sharing this truly delicious and wonderful recipe! I need to eat grain free and I haven’t had a grain free cake since I eliminated it nearly a year ago! I make a carrot cake every year for my husband’s birthday and this year I gave your recipe a try. I had 12 people over for a family party, so it seemed a little risky, but the reviews were so good I felt pretty confident. As it turns out, it was a huge HIT!!! And that says a lot because I have some family members who are not thrilled about gluten/grain free eating. I doubled the recipe and added extra grated carrots (nearly 2 cups) and it was really a thrill to be able to enjoy such a delicious grain free cake. It paired very nicely with vanilla bean ice cream and I used a traditional cream cheese frosting. We will be eating this again before our usual, annual time this year!! Thanks again! :)
Oh my! No cake for a year?! I’m happy that you put that to an end. ;) I’m thrilled that the cupcakes were a hit and that you have cake back in your life! And I need to try these with ice cream. I have no idea why I haven’t ever tried it with carrot cake! Thanks a bunch for your thoughtful comment. :)
I made these today, using all of the ingredients this time ;). I added 1/4 tsp of cardamom, more carrots and a little chipotle pepper, plus I used sugar free syrup. My first batch did not rise, these did, hubby things they need more sweetness but I am fine with less sweet, these are a great treat!
Haha. It’s always good to use all the ingredients. ;) And with chipotle pepper?! That’s an interesting addition! I’m happy that they came out well. :) Thanks for your comment!
I just made these…totally forgot the coconut oil, but they are not bad, a little dryer than I want them to be but with enough whipped cream, it won’t even matter!
I hope you’ll try them again with the coconut oil! They’ll be a whole lot better than not bad. ;)
Actually, they are very good and I will definitely make them again. I had one for breakfast with bacon (no whipped cream), it was a great meal.
These cupcakes are AMAZING! They taste just like the real deal! I used ghee instead of coconut oil and added a handful of chopped pecans and OMG I’m in heaven! Having trouble with the icing, but hoping it will work out. It’s too thin right now. Have it in the fridge going it will thicken as it cools.
That’s great to know that ghee works well! Thanks for the tip. :) I hope the frosting firmed up in the fridge. Chilling it should have definitely helped. Thanks a bunch for your comment!
These are tasty! I sub’d maple syrup for the honey and wasn’t sure how much they would rise so made only 6 instead of 8. They turned out perfect!
Awesome! It’s great to know that maple works just as well. :) Thanks so much for your feedback!
Wow! Just made this for my son’s half birthday. We added a hint of cardamom in all, and a couple of dark chocolate chips in the cupcake for the kid who hates carrot cake. Everyone, even the kid who hates carrot cake, thought these were delicious!
Haha. I love that you added chocolate to distract them from the fact that it was carrot cake. :D Adding cardamom is a great idea. I’ll try that next time! Thanks for your comment. :)
Hi there.
I just tried these and mine didn’t work at all… I’m just double checking that I’m not missing anything… There is no water or milk, correct?
Thanks
Hello! The recipe’s definitely correct. If you look at the other reviews, they’re all positive so I’m pretty sure something must have gone wrong. Did you make any subs or any kinds of changes at all to the recipe? What kind of almond flour did you use? If you didn’t make any changes, then perhaps you added too much coconut flour. I mistakingly add too much or too little of ingredients sometimes without even noticing it until later. I hope your next attempt will go better! :)
Can this be made with regular all purpose flour rather than the almond and coconut flour?
It can’t but you can use it in the recipe that I link to in the second paragraph (although it says whole wheat, all-purpose flour works, too!). It’d yield 24 cupcakes. Bake at 350F for 14-18 minutes.
Thank you. For this recipe would I be able to use the maple syrup rather than honey?
No problem! Maple syrup works fine. :)
These were PERFECT! Thanks for the great recipe!
Woohoo! I’m so happy you liked them. Thanks for your comment! :)
Can this be made into a cake?
Yup! Check out the last two paragraphs of the post. :)
These were wonderful!! I can’t believe how good the vegan frosting tastes too!! Yum yum!! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Oh, yay! I think you’re the first to comment on the vegan frosting. I’m so happy it worked well for you! Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)
Do you have the Nutritional Facts on any of your recipes?
I don’t but if you’re interested in one in particular, you can copy and paste the recipe here for the nutritional profile, if you’d like. :)
For three years I think….maybe two, I’ve been dying to try these. I always was missing one ingredient.
I finally made them today!!!
I will up the spice level a bit, maybe add some pepper? But I was so happy with them. Took these tummies to a mom’s night and the dairy free (I went with the vegan icing) and grain free mamas were ecstatic! Thank you so much for your page. I love your baked goodies!
Wow! I’m glad you finally got to try them. :D I’ve been fiddling with this recipe, upping the spices to make a spice cake version. Cardamom’s a nice addition, but I’ll also try some pepper! I’m so happy to hear that the other moms enjoyed them. :) Thanks a ton for your comment and kind words!
Cardamom! Great idea! Guess I HAVE to make them again.
Most definitely! To not make them again would just be wrong. ;)
These are really wonderful! I made them for my sister’s baby shower so I had to triple the batch :). The only thing I noticed, the more the batter sat the more the flours soaked up the liquids which cause them to not raise as much as the first set that went in the oven. So for anyone that may try that, it might be best to make one batch at a time instead of all together :). However, they are still VERY good!! Thanks for the recipe!
That’s an interesting observation! I know that the longer coconut flour sits in a batter, the more liquid it sucks up, but I assumed that the liquid got sucked up, anyway, during baking. If that makes any sense. ;) Thanks for the tip and for your feedback! I’m so happy that you all enjoyed them.
I made these cupcakes last weekend for my Dad’s birthday. Everyone loved them! I love that I can trust your recipes to work out. Never fails!
The vegan cream cheese I had available for the frosting was missing that “zing” so I added a couple drops of lemon and that did the trick. I absolutely love the batter. Can’t wait to try the Paleo Apple Muffins you just posted. too!
Aww, yay! I’m so very happy to hear that your dad and the others enjoyed the cupcakes. :) I hope you’ll enjoy the apple muffins just as much! I’d love to hear how they come out. Thanks for your feedback and your kind words!
Hello from over the pond in Blighty! I just had to post to say how fantastic these little beauties are! I made them yesterday and they have been unceremoniously gobbled up by my husband, daughter and myself ;-) Being gluten and dairy intolerant I have hugely missed my carrot cake and cuppa moments, but no more!!! Thanks again from a very happy (and full!) fan :-)
And hello to you from Germany! :) I’m so happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the cupcakes and that you don’t have to miss carrot cake anymore. Thanks a bunch for your comment!