Fluffy Carrot Cake Muffins
(Soft, Moist & Bakery-style)
If you love classic carrot cake but want something quicker and easier, these Fluffy Carrot Cake Muffins are going to be your new favorite bake. They’re incredibly soft, perfectly spiced, packed with fresh carrots, and topped with a creamy homemade cream cheese frosting.
These Carrot Cake Muffins are perfect for Easter as you can decorate them according to different holiday seasons. You can add easter eggs on top of the frosting. I added chopped hazelnuts on mine for that extra crunch and flavor.
I guarantee you once you learn how simple and easy it is to make your own carrot cake muffins from scratch you will never want to buy them from the store again.
What You’ll Need:
Oil – Any kind of oil works for this recipe, but I typically use canola oil or light olive oil.
Applesauce – This adds the perfect amount of moisture, I always use unsweetened applesauce or if you only have sweetened applesauce on hand you can reduce the granulated sugar by 2 or 3 tablespoons.
Sugar – The brown sugar adds more moisture and flavor to the carrot cake muffins and give it a nice brown colour.
Carrots – Make sure to shred fresh carrots and avoid buying a bag of pre-shredded carrots, often times they tend to be too dry and thick for this recipe.
Cream cheese – Make sure to use a block of cream cheese. Avoid using cream cheese that’s either whipped or in a tub, it’s typically too thin and will result in a runny frosting.
How to Make the Carrot Cake Muffins:
- Preheat & Prepare: Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper muffins liners.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk granulated sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, oil, eggs and vanilla sugar/extract until smooth.
- Add the carrots: Add the grated carrots to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Adding them at this point will ensure that they are fully incorporated into our batter and prevent you from over mixing it later on.
- Combine: Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Bake: Fill muffin liners about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
Make The Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature this will make it way easier to beat. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer or stand mixer, then add the butter and continue mixing until well combined. If you only have salted butter on hand you can use it as well.
- Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar/extract. Scraping down the sides of your mixing bowl to ensure that all of the frosting is incorporated.
Decorate the Muffins:
- Place the piping tip inside the piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a zip-block plastic bag and snip the corner.
- Spoon frosting into the bag.
- Hold the piping bag straight above the muffin, starting from the center of the muffin working yourself outwards. Which will create beautiful roses.
- Sprinkle with toasted walnuts, pecans, or chocolate easter eggs depending on season.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Does the Carrot Cake Muffins need to be refrigerated? – Yes, to prevent frosting from melting, you can keep the muffins in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
- Can you freeze carrot cake muffins? – Absolutely, I suggest keeping the carrot cake muffins in an airtight container when freezing.
- Can I add nuts or raisins to the dough? Of course, chopped walnuts or pecans would be great for this recipe. If you love raisins, you may add 1/2 cup into the dough.
- Can I use this recipe for a carrot cake instead of muffins?
Absolutely, simply use two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper circles. Pour the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. - Can I substitute the applesauce? – Yes you can, you may substitute it with plain greek yogurt or sour cream. Or 8-ounce can of drained pineapples work great as well.
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Fluffy Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- How to Make the Carrot Cake Muffins:
- Preheat & Prepare: Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper muffins liners.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk granulated sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, oil, eggs and vanilla sugar/extract until smooth.
- Add the carrots: Add the grated carrots to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Adding them at this point will ensure that they are fully incorporated into our batter and prevent you from over mixing it later on.
- Combine: Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Bake: Fill muffin liners about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
- Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature this will make it way easier to beat. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer or stand mixer, then add the butter and continue mixing until well combined. If you only have salted butter on hand you can use it as well.
- Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar/extract. Scraping down the sides of your mixing bowl to ensure that all of the frosting is incorporated.
- Place the piping tip inside the piping bag. If you don't have a piping bag, you can use a zip-block plastic bag and snip the corner.
- Spoon frosting into the bag.
- Hold the piping bag straight above the muffin, starting from the center of the muffin working yourself outwards. Which will create beautiful roses.
- Sprinkle with toasted walnuts, pecans, or chocolate easter eggs depending on season.
Notes
- Does the Carrot Cake Muffins need to be refrigerated? – Yes, to prevent frosting from melting, you can keep the muffins in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
- Can you freeze carrot cake muffins? – Absolutely, I suggest keeping the carrot cake muffins in an airtight container when freezing.
- Can I add nuts or raisins to the dough? Of course, chopped walnuts or pecans would be great for this recipe. If you love raisins, you may add 1/2 cup into the dough.
- Can I use this recipe for a carrot cake instead of muffins?
Absolutely, simply use two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper circles. Pour the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. - Can I substitute the applesauce? – Yes you can, you may substitute it with plain greek yogurt or sour cream. Or 8-ounce can of drained pineapples work great as well.
