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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OMG….Erin this recipe is crazy good. I am on path to eliminate white sugar and flour from my cooking and my Mom’s carrot cake was going to be the hardest treat to release until I found you. I replaced honey for Lakanto granulated sweetner and added a couple tablespoons of unsweetened almond milk to adjust for lack of honey in texture. I intended to add peacans and totally forgot and still they were moist, perfect texture and an easy treat for all.
Thank you.
You’re welcome! Thanks for the Lakanto tip. :) I’ll have to try that! I just got some in the mail. Thanks again for your comment!
Hi Erin, quick follow-up…in addition to baking with Lakanto white granules I also prepared the icing with Lakanto powered sweetner. My picky 17yr old daughter is happily packing one of your muffins in her lunch daily. I’m not sure if I am happy she likes them or sad I am sharing them.. both :) Thanks again! I look forward to trying other recipes.
Haha. Well I’m happy that your picky daughter liked them! :) I hope you’ll enjoy the other recipes just as much. And thanks for the tip on the powdered sweetener! I didn’t know that it even existed.
Hi there. I made the muffins and they were awesome! Do yo know how many calories in one muffin? Thank you!
Hi! So happy that you liked them. :) I don’t have that info but you could use this recipe analyzer.
In case others want to try lower sugar, and an alternative to coconut oil or butter.
I subbed honey for 3 tbsp maple syrup (only because I prefer the taste of maple syrup), subbed coconut oil for 3 tbsp coconut yogourt (works with dairy yogourt too, cupcakes end up especially velvety if you use Greek yogurt, even more so if you use Icelandic Skyr yogurt) and doubled the amount of grated carrots. When substituting oil or butter, I tried apple sauce first, and it wasn’t as good as the recipe where I tried yogurt. I had to bake my muffins for 25 min to cook fully in the middle. I also halved the maple syrup in the frosting and the kids still love it!
Can I substitute ghee for the coconut oil?
I’ve never baked with ghee so I have no idea. Sorry about that! I believe some of the other reviewers have tried it with success.
My frosting is brown and lumpy. What did I do wrong?
I’m not sure how it could be brown from the ingredients used. Did you make any subs or changes at all to the recipe?
Maybe the cream cheese was too cool and not softened enough?? when you added the honey or even maple syrup…it may have not integrated well enough.
Or, rather didn’t mix it first and then add the sweetener??
That could explain it! Thanks for the tip. :)
I made these today. They are delicious! I didn’t ice them, left them plain. I added chopped walnuts and I didn’t have any muffin liners, so I sprayed my muffin tin with coconut oil. I will definitely make them again.
I’m happy to hear that you’ll be making them! Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)
I made the recipe exactly as posted. Perfection. Very very delicious.
When I make it again, I will add walnuts and maybe raisins.
PS
The cupcakes were moist and full flavored.
Haha. Thanks! I love that you came back to add that. :D So happy you liked them!
Sounds like a yummy addition! Thanks for your comment. :)
Hi Erin,
I added 1/4 cup of crushed walnuts and a little less than a 1/4 cup of raisins. Oh my gosh, so good very moist. I also made this as a 2 layer 4 x 4 cake (I did not double the recipe). The cake was moist as well not dense.
I have made this recipe as cupcakes no less than 5 times.
Thanks for sharing how much walnuts and raisins you added! And awesome that your cake came out moist as a layer cake. I’m not sure why mine keeps coming out dense, but only in cake form! Thanks again for your comment. I’m thrilled that you’ve been enjoying the recipe so much!
I’d love to make this as a cake, layered if I can make it two tiered, any recommendations other than putting in a round pan and baking longer? Thanks! I’m hoping to make this today! 😬
Hi there! You can double the recipe and bake it in two 8″ pans for 17 minutes. But the texture is denser and not as fluffy as the muffins. Hope you’ll enjoy it!
I need to do oil and egg free temporarily. Could I substitute shortening for the oil and egg substitute (ground chia seeds) for the eggs?
I’ve never used shortening but I think it’d be fine. I unfortunately don’t recommend egg replacers in this recipe. They didn’t work well for me!
I was also going to ask about egg replacers – did you try flax eggs? I’d love to be able to make this vegan – thanks!
I don’t remember what I used but it was probably a chia egg and the result wasn’t very good. Sorry about that!
I made these for an Easter party yesterday and they were to die for! They were very moist and tasted like regular flour carrot cake cupcakes. Kids and adults gobbled them up! I subbed the coconut oil with butter and added only half the ginger – they were perfectly fine. I did add a little bit of powdered sugar to the icing to make it a bit sweeter. I will definitely make these again! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear that you’ll be making them again and that they were gobbled up at the party. That’s always a good sign. ;) Thanks for your feedback!
Thanks so much for this recipe… I’m on a really strict elimination diet at the moment and I was desperate for a piece of cake! With a bit of tweaking I was able to make a delicious loaf cake using this recipe and the very limited number of ingredients I’m currently able to eat.
In place of the almond and coconut flours I used almond meal and rice flour. I used melted butter instead of oil and I reduced the sugar content and lowered the FODMAPs by using 2 tablespoons of Pure Maple Syrup instead of honey. I doubled the ground ginger and grated carrot.
I baked it in a loaf tin at 340°F (170°C)for approx 35-40 minutes. It turned out great! Dense and moist with a lovely flavour and just a hint of sweetness (I ate it without frosting) Yay, got the cake fix I really needed! Cheered me up no end :-)
You’re welcome! I’m happy that you were able to make it work with your diet. :) Did you replace the rice flour for the coconut flour 1 to 1? Is that a sub that typically works for you? Just curious! And that’s great that just a little maple worked well. Thanks for the tips!
Yep, straight 1:1 substitution…. I swapped 2 tablespoons of rice flour for 2 tablespoons of coconut flour.
To be honest I’ve only just started to bake with these alternatives to standard wheat flours but I’ve had excellent results trading rice flour for coconut flour in the two recipes that I’ve tried so far. Unfortunately I can’t eat coconut at all at the moment so I’m not able to make the original recipes as well and compare them with my amended versions. But both recipes that I’ve made cooked beautifully with the rice flour and they taste great! I’ll continue to experiment and will keep you posted.
I’d definitely be interested to hear how that continues to work (or not work) for you because the two usually aren’t interchangeable. But in this recipe, you only need 2 tablespoons so maybe it’s such a small amount that it doesn’t make a huge difference. Thanks again for your comment! :)
Hi,
I don’t have cases, could I do this as one big cake? If so how would I adjust baking time?
Hi there! You can double the recipe and bake it in two 8″ pans for 17 minutes. But the texture is denser and not as fluffy as the muffins.
I was thinking of making this recipe as a bundt cake.. instead of a double layer cake since I want to make this cake with no icing! Do you think it’d be possible to double the recipe and place it in the oven for say 45-50 mins to make one big cake?
I saw a recipe for carrot cake and it gives you the option to make it as a bundt cake or (2) 8″ ones and the baking time is the only thing that was different. Expect that recipe is strictly a coconut flour recipe while yours calls for both almond and coconut flour which I was intrigued by. Let me know if you think this would work nicely as a big cake as I want to make it for easter and dont want to waste any yummy ingredients or have to toss it! thanks!! :)
The problem is that I’ve never tried it so I can’t really recommend it (because like you said, I don’t want you to waste any ingredients!). Sometimes cake recipes convert well to bundt pans, but sometimes they don’t. The volume would be fine. I just worry that it wouldn’t bake up nice and fluffy. Sorry I can’t give you a better answer! If you try it out anyway, I’d love to hear how it comes out. :)
Do you think they will come out ok if I make them mini cupcakes?
Definitely! I’m not sure of the baking time. I’d check starting at 6 minutes, just to be safe. :)
Could you sub the eggs for chia eggs instead to make it vegan? Thanks!
I’m not sure but I think I tried it at some point with chia eggs and it didn’t come out the same. So I wouldn’t recommend it. Sorry about that. :(
My BF loves these. I made them for him dozens for the past couple months. But now he thinks he’s gaining weight from them. Do you know how many calories is in one cupcake? And I didn’t see your post for making it into a cake, I tried it a couple of time cake form, but the top burnt and it took a loooonnnng time. I wasn’t sure what the directions are for that.
Haha. Well they’re not low-calorie. They’re just made with healthier ingredients. :) I don’t know the calories but you could use this recipe analyzer if you’d like for that info. I don’t have a post for how to make this into a cake but just mentioned it in my vegan cream cheese frosting recipe (where you can see what it looks like). I doubled the recipe and baked it in two 8″ pans for 17 minutes.
My littlest is allergies cocnut. I saw you can sub the coconut oil with olive oil. Do you think I could replace the coconut flour with almond?
So sorry for just now seeing your question! Coconut flour isn’t interchangeable with any other flours as it absorbs so much more liquid. :( Sorry about that. Should the recipe be grain-free? If not, I have a gluten-free carrot cake recipe that I just posted, if that’d help!
This is an AMAZING recipe, Erin! My husband and I both really loved these. Thank you for taking the time and effort to produce these delicious recipes.
So sorry for just now seeing your comment! I don’t know how I missed it. I’m happy to hear that you and your husband enjoyed the cupcakes. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
Made these with a couple alterations to make them lower carb. I used that fake honey (which horribly has maltitol) as a first run just to see if it turned out before trying to change the sweetener. So I added about 1/2 tsp of lemon juice to activate the baking soda and doubled the baking soda. I didn’t have carrots so I used 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin instead (which is lower carb anyway). I also added about 2 TBSP olive oil because the batter seemed really dry. They came out so AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. And I’ve tried a lot of low carb recipes that have been anywhere from ok, to barely edible, to just plain G-R-O-S-S. My kids ate regular carrot cake with sugar, flour, the whole thing, and I didn’t feel the least bit deprived. I already know how to make cream cheese frosting with erythritol/xylitol/stevia blend similar to Swerve.
My next batch I used my “Swerve” blend instead of honey, along with 1/2 tsp lemon juice & double baking soda. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the results. I’m going to try it again using olive oil or avocado oil that is not solid at room temp. I’m thinking that will give it a little bit lighter texture that the first go round accomplished. I don’t like using stuff with maltitol, so I will keep working until the texture is right. The flavor is AMAZING. I can’t believe I was eating something low carb that completely satisfied my desire for carrot cake.
I’ve been on low carb for 9 months and I didn’t even eat carrot cake on my own birthday (and every year this is what I request as a birthday present from my oldest daughter). Well next birthday I should be at my goal weight and I WILL eat a piece of regular carrot cake, no matter how many carbs. And in the mean time, this recipe is AMAZING.
I will update after I get it to work with a low carb non-blood-sugar-rising sweetener for anyone who may have landed here in search of “low carb carrot cake” as I did.
THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!!!!!
Wow! Thanks for sharing your experiments with us. People keep asking me how to make my recipes low-carb and I never know so this was interesting. Also, I have no idea why this recipe is showing up when people search for low-carb carrot cake! I don’t know a thing about low-carb baking and don’t mention low-carb anywhere in my post. Sorry to the low-carb bakers! Thanks again for your super helpful comment. :) I’m so happy that you found a low-carb alternative that’s tasty.
So I now have a good working low carb version without that nasty fake honey.
use 1/3 c. liquid oil instead of coconut oil (I used EVO)
in place of honey:
add 1/4 c sugar equivalent powdered is best (mine’s a mix of erythritol/xylitol/stevia that measures cup for cup like sugar-powdered in coffee grinder) and 1/4 cup water with the sweetener to replace the liquid in the honey
double the baking soda & adjust salt to taste
add 1 TBSP lemon juice or vinegar to activate the baking soda
also, I didn’t have carrots & used 1/2 cup canned pumpkin instead. I also used 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice in place of the ginger & nutmeg as another reviewer suggested. I added walnuts too, because I LOVE them in carrot cake.
I’ve now given these to several people, non-low carb included and they all loved them. Now I know that’s several changes to your recipe, but I have tried so many low carb recipes that just weren’t good at all. I can now say that this is by far the ABSOLUTE BEST low carb dessert I have had in the 10 months I have been eating low carb. Doesn’t taste weird, texture is excellent.
One more thing, for low carb cream cheese frosting, that’s the easiest because I’ve been making that for a long time.
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
1 pkg 8 oz cream cheese
1-2 tsp vanilla
1-2 c powdered sugar equivalent to taste (I usually end up w/ 1-1/2 cups)
Of course the butter & cream cheese need to be room temp and creamed as in normal frosting. And it may be a little less smooth if your sweetener isn’t powdered really well.
My mixture of sweetener that has same sweetness as sugar:
4 oz xylitol by weight
3 oz erythritol by weight
1/2 tsp pure stevia powder (mine is now brand)
(powder in coffee grinder)
Oh, wow. I think you should start a low-carb baking blog. You sound like quite the expert. :) That you made all those changes and that they came out well is amazing! I think I fixed your comment the way you asked. But did you really use 1 1/4 cups of your sweetener in place of 1/3 cup of honey? May I ask how you would make this coconut flour cookie recipe low-carb? I thought I’d just use 3/4 cup of a low-carb sweetener but after your comment, I’m not sure. Thank you so much for sharing your low-carb version of these muffins as well as your cream cheese frosting recipe! I (and I’m sure lots of others) really appreciate it. :)
Couldn’t figure out how to reply to your last comment. GOOD CATCh. NO I did NOT use that much sweetener. If you can edit it, I used 1/4 cup of the sweetener blend. I have since discovered that the sweetener blend I use is slightly sweeter than sugar, but 1/3 c honey would be like about 1/2 c sugar in sweetness approximately since 2/3 cup honey is generally as sweet as 1 c sugar. The recipe for my sweetener mix is from https://joyfilledeats.com/sweetener/ with the basic info being 4oz xylitol 3oz erythritol & 1/2 tsp now brand stevia (which is equal to 1/4 c. sugar)-she uses larger amounts but I converted it to a lowest practical ratio.
Sorry for my slow reply! I edited your comment to say 1/4 cup. :) Thanks for clarifying that! And thanks for sharing the recipe for your sweetener. I’ll have to try it!
AS for the coconut flour cookies, yes 3/4 cup of the sweetener would work, but you might want a “brown sugar” version of it to get the flavor right. I have a “brown sugar” version which I created by taking 1 cup of that same sweetener and adding a 1/2-1tsp of molasses or black strap molasses and a few drops of flavoring to taste (maple, rum, caramel) I don’t have the exact amounts. Yes, the molasses adds carbs, but it’s like 4 carbs to a whole cup, so across a recipe that’s not much. Also, if using erythritol only without the powdered stevia or xylitol, use enough liquid stevia glycerite to bring the erythritol to the same sweetness as sugar (it’s only 70% as sweet as sugar alone). The stevia glycerite really gives it a nice moist consistency like real brown sugar, but it’s much more affordable than buying ready made “brown” sugar alcohol mixes. I can’t remember where I read that tip about the stevia glycerite to give credit to the author. Chocolate chips for me are still an issue. I haven’t learned to make chocolate chips in a low carb version yet. I have used the prepackaged sugar free crappy ones from the store that have maltitol and for this reason have only made recipes using chocolate chips maybe 3 times in 2 years.
Once I made a low carb recipe that was coconut flour and no almond flour. Don’t remember what recipe it was (it did NOT turn out) but I remember thinking, this would make a great cookie dough & I’ve had in the back of my mind to find a coconut flour cookie recipe since. Think I’ll give yours a try and use the crappy sugar free chocolate chips. That might be sufficient motivation to make some low carb chocolate chips (sorry just can’t choke down the idea of paying $7 for a bag of Lily’s choc chips).
I do wonder about how the coconut sugar makes those cookies taste. Just found out after extensive blood testing that white sugar & the chemicals used to produce it is literally toxic to my daughter. Coconut sugar was one of the options given as an alternative and we made some brownies with it. They tasted like mocha brownies…which I liked, but she absolutely did NOT. Brownies are her favorite so I am on a quest to be able to make her an acceptable version without white sugar. She objects to sugar alcohols of ALL kinds even though erythritol has no blood sugar impact and is supposed to be easy to digest, so that’s not an option for her. Otherwise it would be easy. That sweetener mix works amazingly well in place of sugar. I made those same carrot cake cupcakes for a family gathering with the cream cheese frosting and despite being low carb, they were devoured (out of about 28 cupcakes we had like 4 left and several people commented the cream cheese frosting tasted like normal cream cheese frosting).
You leave such helpful comments! Thanks so much. I’ll have to check out stevia glycerite! Have you tried the low-carb chocolate chip recipe from All Day I Dream About Food? Maybe you could make a big batch, freeze them and have them on hand for your baking! I hope you find a good solution for your daughter. :) My coconut flour cookies don’t taste at all mocha-like with the coconut sugar! Thanks again for your great feedback.
These were so good! Without frosting, they were delicious “muffins”. With, they would be even better. Thank You!
You’re welcome! I’m happy that you liked them as muffins. :) Thanks for your comment!
do you have a good alternative to coconut oil?
Some commenters have used butter in this recipe with success and I know that olive oil would work.
Thank you for this most scrumptious muffin recipe EVER !!!(even without frosting!) I wanted to make a gluten free recipe for a friend but I will definitely make this recipe again for my family. I was a little worried that the batter was kinda thick but they cooked up moist. I used Bob Mill’s super fine natural almond flour, raw honey and added about 1/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple, handful of coconut and chopped walnuts. Yum! My husband agreed too!!
Yay! I’m so happy that you liked them! And it’s great to know that some added pineapple works well. :) Thanks a bunch for your comment!