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.
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Homemade Waffles
- Hashbrown Casserole
- Baked Chocolate Donuts
- Jelly Donuts
- Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
More Muffin Recipes
See all Muffins recipes
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!
I was able to substitute the heavy cream for whipped cream- which are essentially the same products; however, there’s sugar added to the whipped cream. So, I used a little bit less powdered sugar and I added more cream cheese- for my taste preference. This recipe did not disappoint!
I tried your recipe and unfortunately 1 cup graneted sugar is too sweet, I really didn’t like. Sorry about that.
I have made these muffins at least a dozen times since I came across this recipe. Love them..Family and friends always ask me to make them..thanks best muffins ever!
So glad to hear it, they are so tasty 🙂
I was not happy with the result either. I think there was too much sugar and not enough flower. Next time I will try another carrot cake recipe, but I still might make them muffin shaped.
What a great way to serve carrot cake – as a muffin! I love it.
Well, I tried this carrot cake muffins recipe, and I’m sorry to say I was not happy with it. The muffins would not come out of the muffin tin, in spite of the baking spray, and I could never serve the mangled muffins to guests. I ended up throwing them away, rather angry at the waste of time, energy (I’m old) and ingredients. I could not recommend this recipe to anyone. They did taste fine, but not so spectacular that I will try this again.
Sallly
I’m very happy I found your blog! I love to bake, but my family is grown, so I am selective about what I do bake for occasions that come up. I host a group of older musicians every couple of weeks and am expected to serve some kind of refreshment. I found that they seem to really like it when I make muffins and serve them with a pitcher of cold milk, I think because they are not as overboard sweet as cake or cupcakes, and they are easier to eat. So, as I always try to do something a little different yet special, I searched for “carrot cake muffins” and landed here. I can’t wait to make these carrot muffins for this Thursday! And then I see you have a treasure trove of muffin recipes! I will be back to say how they turned out and also delve deeper into your other recipes! Thanks so much for going to the trouble of posting all these recipes!
Sally
I made these yesterday! Delicious recipe! And that icing… omg to die for.
So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Carrot cake is one of my favorites, so I know I would love these!!!
I love carrot cake and this will be easier than making a cake. Thank you for the recipe.
I love carrot cake and this will be easier than making a cake. Thank you for the recipe.
Perfect way to use them carrots before they go bad! Yum 🙂
Love Carrot Cake. Love muffins. This one looks like a win/win to me!
These have been pinned and will have to be re-created ASAP in my house. They’re so pretty and sound so tasty, too!