Carrot Cake Muffins–a moist and sweet breakfast treat! Topped with cream cheese frosting and walnuts, these easy to make muffins are the best way to start your day.
Give me carrot cake everything, please! For a sweeter take on handheld carrot cake, try my Carrot Cake Cupcakes Recipe next.
Why this Recipe Works
Every spring we stock up on fresh carrots to make all the carrot recipes. From our favorite carrot cake, to carrot banana bread!
Today’s muffins are the perfect way to start your morning!
- Filled with real shredded carrot for incredible color and flavor.
- A perfect blend of spices complements and enhances the carrots’ natural sweetness!
- Freezer friendly muffins mean you can bake these ahead of time and stock up the freezer.
- You’ll love the rich cream cheese frosting and crunchy nuts on top.
If you love carrot cake recipes, be sure to try our carrot cake cookies next!
Ingredient Notes
You’ve got your usual suspects for baking, from the sugar to the flour.
- Oil. Provides moisture to the muffins!
- Shredded carrots. It’s best to use freshly shredded carrots here for the moistest muffins. Store bought shredded carrots tend to be drier with a more muted flavor.
- Walnuts. I add these on top of the baked and frosted muffins. You can omit them for a nut free recipe. We like to toast the walnuts before using!
- Spices. Nutmeg. Ginger. Cloves. Cinnamon. You can also swap this out in a pinch if you want to use our homemade pumpkin pie spice mix.
Easy Instructions
These carrot cake muffins couldn’t be any easier to make!
- Start by combining your oil, sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients. Then, fold in the shredded carrots.
- Scoop the batter into muffin tins. Bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, simply combine all the frosting ingredients in a bowl. Beat until fluffy and smooth.
- Once the muffins are baked and fully cooled, spread the tops with cream cheese frosting. Press a few chopped walnut pieces onto each muffin.
Serve and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Spray a muffin tin with baking spray. You don’t need to use liners for these muffins!
- If your batter is really thick, don’t worry, it should be! Don’t overbeat it.
- Use a large cookie scoop (I like this one) to portion out your muffin batter so they are even. This recipe makes 10-12 muffins!
- Let your muffins cool COMPLETELY before adding the glaze!
- Store muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for best results. You’ll want to keep that cream cheese frosting chilled. If you’re skipping the icing, you can store these at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
Make sure to generously spray the tin cavities with baking spray! I also recommend taking the muffins out of the pan pretty soon after baking. If they cool in the pan they’re more difficult to remove.
You sure can! These keep well in the freezer for 2 -3 months (with or without the glaze).
You can grate carrots for carrot cake muffins using a box grater. Wash and peel the carrots before grating. Place the carrot against the side of the grater and run the carrot downward over a bowl. You can also grate carrots using a food processor with a grating attachment. If using a food processor, be careful not to puree the carrots by accident.
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Carrot Cake Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- 1 cup shredded carrots
For the topping:
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons milk
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray muffin tin with baking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the sugar, oil and eggs together. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Mix until fully combined. Fold in carrots.
- Using a large cookie scoop, fill muffin tin with batter about 2/3 full each. You should get 10-12 muffins.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
- For the frosting, beat the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and milk until smooth and fluffy. Drizzle over each muffin and add a sprinkle of the chopped walnuts. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you love carrot cake, it’s time to meet your new favorite muffin! Carrot Cake Muffins have the perfect amount of sweetness, a hint of spice and a moist crumb. Pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy!
Delicious! I omitted the oil and substituted cinnamon applesauce, equal amount. For the spices, I used a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp of apple pie spice and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Baked 24 min, made 9 cupcakes with liners. Definitely will make again!
As others have said: too moist and sunken. I doubled the rising/raising agents and added one more egg and an additional 1/2 cup of flour. They needed, at minimum, at least 20 – 25 minutes to bake. With these adjustments…PERFECTION!
My muffins flopped! They sunk in the middle and spread out and fell apart. I used GF flour, but it was cup for cup substitute.
But, never fear…I will put the carnage in ramekins and top with whipped cream. My husband will love them!!!! 🙂
I put half a cup of sugar and 2 cups of carrot and also added chopped walnuts in the batter. I also put 2 spoons of pumpkin oil and the rest was sunflower oil. For the topping I put 2 spoons of powdered sugar, 6 oz cream cheese and no milk. As for tin, I always use high-quality muffin cups, I don’t risk it. I can’t express how wonderful and delicious they were, it’s definitely one of my favorites!!
So did mine thank goodness it’s not just me
Anxious to try these! Can these be adjusted to jumbo muffin (tins)?
I made these yesterday for my Garden Club, they were great. I did have trouble getting them out of the muffin tin, but I used an organic flour and I think that made them more fragile, after they sat in the tins fir about an hour they came out fine. Next time I won’t be in such a hurry to remove them from the muffin tons. Thanks, my club loved them.
Having nutritional information provided would be nice.
Did anyone bake this and not add the frosting?
This was the first Carrot cake recipe I baked. I have been baking it for more than a year, and this cupcake has placed me on the map. Best Carrot Cake Muffin recipe.