Healthy Carrot Muffins are the perfect gluten free treat! Packed with veggies + sweetened only with honey/fruit. They’re moist + delicious! This post is sponsored by my friends at Bob’s Red Mill.
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Get ready to meet your new favorite Spring treat: these Healthy Carrot Muffins.
I’m kinda in love with them for a few reasons…
One: they just taste really delicious. They’re lightly sweet from just honey and pineapple and have such a yummy flavor.
Two: they have veggies in them. More veggies = healthier muffins = you can eat more of them… right?
Three: they’re super easy to make and have the perfect muffin texture. Not too dry, not too moist.. slightly cakey, slightly dense… 100% perfect.
This recipe originally came from my friend Kyle’s Mom. When we were younger, I can distinctly remember baking these at her house + begging my mom to get the recipe so that we could make them at home too!
They almost tasted like carrot cake, but weren’t as sweet – I absolutely loved them (and still do). If you want a healthier cake recipe, try this Healthy Carrot Cake!
The original pineapple carrot muffins recipe had a lot of oil, sugar, and white flour. While those ingredients are fine on occasion, I knew I could make it a little bit healthier!
If you need more recipes, check out these 30+Â Healthy Oatmeal Recipes or Healthy Muffin Recipes.
What makes these Carrot Muffins healthy?
These muffins are actually good for you! Unlike many muffins loaded with sugar and fat – these are delicious and wholesome!
- Heart healthy oils – I subbed the oil for a little less coconut oil, which is more nutritious than vegetable oil.
- Sweetened with honey and fruit – the original recipe had white sugar, which I swapped with honey.
- Veggies – It’s got carrots in it so it’s gotta be healthy, right?!
- Gluten Free Oat Flour – I swapped white flour for Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour. This is one of my favorite gluten free flours to bake with. I find that it easily swaps into pretty much any recipe, and amps up the fiber/protein content.
Plus, I love that this flour is made in a dedicated gluten free facility so I don’t have to worry about cross contamination when baking for my celiac friends!
Ingredients for Healthy Carrot Muffins:Â
To make healthy carrot cake muffinsyou’ll need:
- shredded or grated carrots
- crushed pineapple
- eggs
- honey, coconut oil
- GF oat flour
- baking powder, baking soda
- salt, cinnamon, and ground ginger
We love these silicone muffin liners for baking!
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
You only need 11 simple ingredients to make these yummy muffins – let me show you how so you can make them for all your Spring baking needs!
How to make Healthy Carrot Muffins:
Making healthy carrot cake muffins is simple.
- Mix your wet ingredients (oil, eggs, and honey).
- Once those are combined, stir in your grated carrots and crushed pineapple.
- Add in your spices, baking powder/soda + flour.
- The batter should be nice and thick!
- Add the batter to a lined muffin tin + bake.Â
- In under 30 minutes, you’ll have perfectly cooked Healthy Carrot Muffins!
Substitutions for these Carrot Cake Muffins with Pineapple:
These muffins are pretty versatile. Here are some substitutions for you!
Eggs: I haven’t tried making these muffins with an egg substitute so I’m not sure if it will work.
Honey: You can sub honey with maple syrup. I wouldn’t recommend coconut sugar.
Oil: You can use olive oil, avocado oil, vegetable oil, or melted butter in place of coconut oil.
Carrots: Grated carrots are not the same as pre-shredded carrots. We recommend grating whole carrots with a cheese grater!
Pineapple: I haven’t tried making this with fresh pineapple – but I think this would also work as long as you chopped it in VERY fine pieces. For canned pineapple – make sure it is unsweetened and just 100% pure pineapple! Make sure to drain it.
Canned Pineapple: If you don’t have crushed canned pineapple, you could sub applesauce or even mashed bananas, but we don’t recommend it.
Flour: I haven’t tried making these with any other flour, but I think it would work! I love to bake with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and Organic Unbleached All Purpose Flour too! You could also use this DIY Oat Flour.
To make vegan: I have not tried making these vegan. You might be able to sub eggs with flax eggs + add an extra 1/2 tsp baking powder but I do not know if it will work. Try flax eggs at your own risk! Sub honey for maple syrup.
Bread: I haven’t tried making this as a bread or cake but I think it might work. I think with the amount of batter you might only be able to get an 8×8 cake but I really am not sure. If you try it please let me know!
Mini Muffins: These work great as mini-muffins. They’ll need a little less time in the oven – probably around 10-12 minutes total to bake!
Raisins:Â A 1/2 cup of raisins would be a great addition to this and would make these muffins taste like carrot cake!
Cupcakes: You could turn these muffins into cupcakes, or try these Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes.
These healthy carrot cake muffins are so delicious that I honestly think you could put Healthier Cream Cheese Frosting on them and call them a cupcake. They could totally pass off as carrot cake’s less sweet/heavy cousin, but no matter how you make them I think you’ll love them!
I’m definitely going to be bringing these to my Easter brunch to share with family- you should too!
How to Store Skinny Carrot Muffins:
Storing Skinny Carrot Muffins: You can store these muffins covered on your counter for a few days, but I recommend keeping them in the refrigerator for freshness! The muffin will last up to a week in the refrigerator – but will lose their freshness after about 3 days on the counter.
How to freeze Carrot Muffins: I like to freeze muffins in a reusable Ziploc bag or an air-tight container. It’s best not to stack them on one another when freezing because they may stick together. When you’re ready to serve – pop in the microwave or the toaster oven until they’re warmed through.
Carrot Oatmeal Muffin FAQ
Any muffin that is made with clean ingredients has sneaky veggies, and is low in sugar is healthy for you! These healthy carrot cake muffins are all of that!
Absolutely! Cut back on the sugar, use whole grains, add veggies and you’ll have a healthy muffin!
Room temperature ingredients help make muffins fluffy. If you don’t have enough or have too much baking powder or baking soda it will also impact whether your muffins are fluffy or not.
Butter, oil and eggs can help make muffins moist. Adding in chopped fresh fruit can also help make your muffins moist.
The best way to grate carrots for a cake or muffins is with a cheese grater. Peel carrots and grate them on the thick grate side of a cheese grater.
Other healthy muffin recipes you’ll love:
We love healthy muffin recipes so much that we created a free muffin ebook about them! You can get it here.
Healthy Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 2 cups carrots grated
- 20 oz can crushed pineapple drained
- 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and prepare a greased or lined muffin tin. (We like silicone muffin liners)
- In a bowl, whisk together eggs, honey and melted coconut oil until smooth. Stir in grated carrots + pineapple.Â
- Add in oat flour, baking powder, baking soda + spices. Stir until combined. Batter will be slightly thick.Â
- Pour 1/3 cup of batter into greased muffin tin. They should be filled to the top of the liner but not overflowing.
- Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes until muffins are golden brown + toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
Video
Notes
- To make vegan: Sub eggs with flax eggs + extra 1/2 tsp baking powder. Sub honey for maple syrup.
- Sweetener: You can sub honey with maple syrup.
- Flour: I haven’t tried making these with any other flour, but I think it would work! I love to bake with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and their Organic Unbleached All Purpose Flour too!
- Fresh Pineapple: I haven’t tried making this with fresh pineapple – but I think this would also work as long as you chopped it in fine pieces. For canned pineapple – make sure it is unsweetened and just 100% pure pineapple!
Keli M Drew says
This recipe was so easy to throw together while i was cooking dinner and we had fresh warm delicious cartot pineapple muffins for dessert. I highly recommend giving it a try.
esther says
i added salt ~3/4 tsp based on typical recipes and the comment about the muffins tasting bland. i don’t have to be on a low-sodium diet, and i like how it brightens up the flavor of food in general. they look gorgeous and smell great so i can’t wait for them to cool……..hmmmmm, after 25+mins they’re a little undercooked but the flavor is nice!
The Clean Eating Couple says
I definitely would not add that much salt and I’m not sure what you are referring to with people calling these bland. Glad you liked them though!
Pamela says
Loved these! So moist with a hint of sweet- and the spice mixture is on point!
Made a few subs:
-used regular white flour
-instead of canned pineapple I used 15oz can pears drained and one ripe banana
Delicious!!
Lucy says
Did these the other day. So delicious
MARY E YEAGER says
I followed the recipe exactly and have to say the muffins are pretty tasteless. The consistency of them is fine and they look just as portrayed in the recipe but they don’t taste good. Very disappointed as I have always had great luck with your recipes!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi Mary – I’m really sorry to hear this. Did you change any ingredients? These muffins should taste like carrot cake. If you made ingredient substitutions it could result in a different muffin. Especially if you cut down the sugar.
Susan says
Excellent. I also added walnuts and raisins. Absolutely, super moist and very tasty. They are much better tasting using the oat flour. I found this recipe easy to follow and I will be making them again! Thank you for sharing this healthy version.
Erika says
I’m sure these are incredibly delicious and they use clean ingredients but at 20 g of sugar and 250 calories I do not think I could hand that to my child
The Clean Eating Couple says
If you don’t want to make them for your family, no one is forcing you to! The sugar comes from crushed pineapple, carrots, and honey. These muffins are made with all whole food ingredients. A far better option than white sugar, white flour, or vegetable oil which most carrot muffins are made from.
S. says
I just made these and they turned out really really good – thank you! I ground up oats in blender to make oat flour as I did not have any. The muffins turned out nice and moist and sweet from honey – thank you again!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them!
Grace says
These muffins are fantastic! I love baked goods but I don’t like using sugar and it was nice to find a gluten free healthy muffin without sugar. My family has a ton of eating restrictions and this is the only food blog I have found that has recipes that are clean enough for most of them to eat!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much Grace!! I’m so glad you love the recipes -that makes me so happy to hear!
Marina B says
I have only canned sliced pineapple . Will it work if I chop it finely?
Elizabeth Marino says
I haven’t tried it so I can’t be sure – sorry! I think it would probabaly work as long as they’re chopped really finely!
Marty says
Made these with my six year old today. Love that there’s no sugar in them. I also snuck some ground flaxseed in the mix. Thanks for sharing!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them, Marty!!
lois chaput says
could this be made into a 9by 13 in cake?
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi Lois – I haven’t tried this but I think it might work. I think with the amount of batter you might only be able to get an 8×8 cake but I really am not sure. If you try it please let me know!
Tammy says
Made these and they were very good. Used regular flour because that was all I had on hand. Carrots were from our garden, eggs from our chickens, and honey from our bees. Topped them with homemade cream cheese frosting. Yum!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them, Tammy! The cream cheese frosting sounds delicious!
Jessica says
Love these! I make these without the oil and substitute half the pineapple for one grated zucchini and they turn out so sweet and moist!! Perfect midday snack or to sneak an extra serve of veg in for the kiddies (or hubbies!)
The Clean Eating Couple says
I love that idea of sneaking in the veggies!! Totally going to try that – Thanks Jessica!
Tara says
Great recipe! Mine came out a little more grainy than fluffy- I used flax egg and made my own oat flour so that could be why. Nonetheless I still loved them and my mom and sister did as well! Great flavor and perfect breakfast/ snack for the summer! Thank you!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much, Tara! I’m so glad you liked them – this makes me so happy to hear. Glad the modifications came out great 🙂
Wendy Martineau says
These have quickly become my favorite breakfast muffin! They are super easy to make and they keep well all week (we meal prep on Sunday). The carrots make me feel like I am eating healthy and getting my veggies. The pineapple keeps them really moist without making they too sweet. It’s the perfect flavor combination. I have some already made up right now, and can’t wait until breakfast tomorrow!
The Clean Eating Couple says
I’m so glad you like them Wendy!! They’re one of my favorite breakfasts too. So yummy!! They freeze really well (if you have any that last that long!!)
Jo says
I’ll try this recipe for the weekend, and fingers crossed it will go well!
The Clean Eating Couple says
I think you’ll love it, Jo!
Sarah says
Do you drain the juice from the pineapple?
The Clean Eating Couple says
Yes you do! I’ve updated the recipe to make it a little clearer 🙂