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Home  ›  Recipes  ›  Course  ›  Breakfast

Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins

See Recipe Review

Posted:

04/05/21

Updated:

09/10/24

By:

Ashley Walterhouse

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins bursting with spice, carrots and crunchy walnuts. Can be made with cashew flour or almond flour! Soft, moist and low added sugar. Grain free, gluten free recipe.

3 stacked paleo carrot cake muffins on two small plates

  • Why You Should Make These Muffins
  • Dry Ingredients
  • Wet Ingredients
  • The Mix Ins
  • Ready in Just 20 Minutes
  • Paleo Friendly Glaze
  • Storing Paleo Muffins
  • Healthy Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins

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Why You Should Make These Muffins

  • They’re easy to make.
  • You don’t need a ton of ingredients.
  • The recipe is grain free and gluten free thanks to almond flour, but can also be made with cashew flour.
  • Sweetened with just a few tablespoons of maple syrup, so they’re lower in sugar.
  • Soft, moist and super flavorful!

Dry Ingredients

  • cashew flour or blanched almond flour
  • tapioca flour
  • baking soda & salt
  • spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice

Wet Ingredients

  • eggs
  • oil
  • mashed banana or applesauce
  • maple syrup
  • coconut sugar (optional)
  • vanilla 
  • apple cider vinegar

The Mix Ins

You’ll need grated carrots and chopped walnuts for the mix-ins to get the carrot cake like texture and flavor in these muffins.

TIP: Use the fine shred side of your box grater to grate carrots.

Or food processor with the grater attachment and S-blade to chop as well.

Ready in Just 20 Minutes

And I love how simple this recipe is! Not fancy equipment needed – just mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons.

The muffins take about 20 minutes in the oven.

Then it’s time for the cooling rack.

shredded carrots and walnuts in glass mixing bowl with whisk next to carrots and bowls

Muffin Pan Tip

If you don’t have spray oil, take a pastry brush and brush oil along the sides of the muffin cups.

Silicone baking cups are a great zero waste option as well! The muffins come right out without needing extra oil.

paleo carrot cake muffin batter unbaked in muffin pan
baked paleo carrot cake muffins on black wire cooling rack next to carrots

Want my Top 5 Muffin Recipes?

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Paleo Friendly Glaze

Use melted coconut butter for a paleo friendly glaze option! You won’t believe how delicious it is – sweet on its own and no need for added sugar.

overhead view of paleo carrot cake muffins on parchment paper on cooling rack

Storing Paleo Muffins

These carrot cake muffins are quite moist and are best enjoyed within a few days. They keep well at room temperature for 3-4 days, or you can store in the fridge for about 5 days.

coconut butter glazed paleo carrot cake muffins on stacked plate

To Freeze

Allow muffins to cool completely before storing in an airtight container and place in the freezer, up to 3 months.

Allow muffins to thaw at room temperature.

Let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a comment and rating below! It helps others learn more about the recipe too. Xx Ashley

4.67 from 6 votes

Healthy Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins

Prep: 10 minutes minutes
Cook: 15 minutes minutes
Total: 25 minutes minutes
Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins bursting with spice, carrots and crunchy walnuts. Made with a blend of cashew flour (or almond flour) and tapioca flour for a super soft grain-free/gluten-free muffin. Lower in sugar too!
3 stacked paleo carrot cake muffins on two small plates
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Author: Ashley Walterhouse
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Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 2.33 cups blanched almond flour or cashew flour
  • 1/3 cup tapioca flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon all spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder*
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, or 1 small banana, pureed*
  • 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, see notes
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons avocado oil, or light olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup finely shredded carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350º F; spray muffin pan with oil and set aside.
  • Mix dry ingredients: In large bowl sift cashew or almond flour (if possible) with tapioca flour. Whisk in baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
  • Mix wet ingredients: In medium bowl whisk together eggs, applesauce (or banana puree) and coconut sugar (if using). Add in maple syrup, oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla. Whisk until combined.
  • Combine: Add wet ingredients into large bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until almost combined then add in shredded carrots and chopped walnuts. Batter will be somewhat thick and very wet.
  • Bake: Evenly disperse batter (I use my medium cookie scoop) into greased muffin pan, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Muffins should rise slightly and have golden edges.
  • Cool: Allow muffins to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before using butter knife to gently remove. Transfer muffins to cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Store muffins in airtight container at room temperature, 2-4 days. Enjoy!

Video

https://dashboard.mediavine.com/videos/kjfvvdmcxznxnlmlprbo
★ Last step! If you make this, please leave a review letting us know how it was!

Recipe Notes:

Tested with both cashew flour and blanched almond flour; either will work. If making your own cashew flour, just make sure you don’t over-process so the flour remains fine and not clumped.
This recipe was originally made without baking powder, but after testing again I find the addition of it does help get a better lift. Feel free to omit if you need to based on dietary needs. Or make your own baking powder if you follow a strict paleo diet.
If using banana, blending into a puree is best.
Feel free to omit coconut sugar f you don’t have much of a sweet tooth. But the maple syrup factors into the liquid ratio so don’t omit that. You can sub agave or honey if needed
nutrition approximate; calculated with blanched almond flour and with added coconut sugar.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 217kcal (11%), Carbohydrates: 13g (4%), Protein: 6g (12%), Fat: 16g (25%), Saturated Fat: 1g (6%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 31mg (10%), Sodium: 241mg (10%), Fiber: 3g (13%), Sugar: 8g (9%)
Like this?Leave a comment below!

This post contains some affiliate links. Should you choose to purchase through said links, I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support in helping keep Fit Mitten Kitchen up and running. 

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About

Ashley Walterhouse

Ashley Walterhouse is the founder of Fit Mitten Kitchen, based in the Greater Lansing Area of Michigan, AKA “the Mitten.” Ashley grew up as a picky eater but later discovered that eating healthy was actually easy and fun. She started FMK in 2015 as a way to share her newfound love of developing healthier recipes for all to enjoy.
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4.67 from 6 votes

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Recipe Rating




25 responses

  1. Karen
    March 22, 2021

    5 stars
    Great recipe! Easy to make, Nice texture and great taste. Swapped nuts for raisins as picky spouse doesn’t like nuts.

    Reply
  2. Danielle Cullimore
    December 19, 2020

    5 stars
    I love this recipe! I sometimes substitute the nuts for seeds and add in powdered goji berries, or green powder or coconut. This is now my foundation recipe for many other variations!

    Reply
  3. Nisa
    February 2, 2020

    5 stars
    Loved these muffins that had just a touch of sweetness when including the coconut sugar. I topped mine with half the walnuts to make them insta-worthy 🙂

    Reply
    1. Cynthia
      May 23, 2020

      Where’s the glaze like in the Pinterest picture?

      Reply
      1. Ashley
        July 8, 2020

        It’s just melted coconut butter 🙂 I will update notes to reflect.

        Reply
  4. tracey okwara
    September 15, 2019

    5 stars
    really good; I added less coconut sugar and did like 2.5 maple and did honey. came out great 😉

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      September 16, 2019

      Thanks so much for sharing Tracey! I appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback and a review!

      Reply
  5. Debbie
    April 22, 2019

    I’m so excited to make these. I have cut out sugar and see that the maple syrup is important. Can I leave out the maple syrup and compensate by adding more of something else? I may use Stevia if I need a sweetener. Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      April 23, 2019

      Hi Debbie, I think you’d be able to add milk in place of the maple syrup with similar results, since it’s such a small amount. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  6. Jaclyn
    April 15, 2019

    Just made these, and my house smells divine! However, when I pulled them out of the oven I realized I forgot to put the eggs in ?? I tried one and the flavor profile is amazing… but they definitely need the eggs to make them fluffy. Can’t wait to try them again!

    Reply
  7. K Bonanno
    March 8, 2019

    These muffins are absolutely delicious, I omitted the sugar but kept the maple syrup as noted and they were perfect! I freeze them so I have a healthy grab and go option…thank you for this awesome recipe! I make them once a month now…:)

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      April 3, 2019

      Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing and I am so happy you like them!

      Reply
  8. Sarah
    March 5, 2019

    Can I substitute the tapioca ?

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      March 5, 2019

      You can! I think arrowroot is a 1:1 sub. You’d probably be good with 3 TBSP coconut flour, or even 1/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  9. Andrea
    February 27, 2019

    5 stars
    Thanks – these came out great! Even the non-paleos enjoyed. I used a little nut milk and reduced the apple sauce as well as added a splash of almond extract (I can’t get enough almond). Do you have the nutrition info? Or did I miss it?

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      February 28, 2019

      Hi Andrea! Thanks so much for your review and feedback – I really appreciate it 🙂 I will add nutrition info in for you when I get a second. I just use myfitnesspal.com to calculate the approx info if you want it sooner.

      Reply
  10. Nicole
    April 29, 2018

    Any idea on calories? Thanks

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      April 30, 2018

      Hi Nicole, I’m currently working on integrating more nutrition information to my recipes. And while I understand it is nice to know the information, I do strive to help people get to where they don’t look too much into the nutrition label and focus more on real food ingredients. The nutrition label is just a tiny part of the big picture and is approximate 🙂

      Reply
      1. Nisa
        February 2, 2020

        3 stars
        I find the nutrition info helpful for my husband who’s a type 1 diabetic. We really enjoy all the treats on your site but need to know the carbs to dose his insulin. Hope you keep including them 🙂

        Reply
  11. Kaitlyn
    March 31, 2018

    Is there something else I could use instead of tapioca flour? I’m just gluten free, not paleo, so would my go-to gluten free flour blend work? Super excited to try this recipe!

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      April 2, 2018

      Hi Kaitlyn, the gluten-free flour blend may work! I haven’t tried it myself but as long as you’re replacing just the tapioca it should turn out alright. Something like a flaxseed “egg” (1 TBS milled flaxseed + 3 TBS water – let sit for a few minutes) may also work as an additional binder. Let me know what you try!

      Reply
      1. Kaitlyn
        April 3, 2018

        So I tried it with subbing the 1/3 cup tapioca flour for 1/3 cup of the gluten free flour I use (Namaste gluten free perfect flour blend) and they turned out great! Thanks for the amazing recipe, I’ll definitely be making these again in the future!

        Reply
  12. megan
    March 29, 2018

    Hi! I’m really excited about trying this recipe but have a nut allergy… do you think coconut flour would substitute well enough?

    Thanks! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Ashley
      March 30, 2018

      Hi Megan! So coconut flour isn’t a 1:1 sub here but if you’re familiar with baking with coconut flour you could give it a try. I would maybe try 1/3 cup to see how the batter is – coconut flour is super absorbent so you definitely don’t need the full amount compared to the cashew flour. Let me know if you give it a try!

      Reply
      1. megan
        April 1, 2018

        Hi! I gave it a go and I think it kind of worked! I went with a little more than a third of a cup of flour and I got nine muffins out of the batter, they smell great! Thanks 🙂

        Reply

Hey there!

I’m Ashley – I started Fit Mitten Kitchen in 2015 to share healthier recipes. Here we balance real food with desserts and healthy snacks making life easy, nutritious and delicious.

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