Vegan Carrot Muffins

Bakery-style vegan carrot muffins with high muffin tops and a delicious streusel topping. These muffins are easy to make and come together in one bowl. They're perfect for Spring, or any time of the year just like my vegan carrot cake.

Simple ingredients you'll need

The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Notes about the ingredients

All-purpose flour (plain flour) for the fluffiest vegan carrot muffins. For more wholesome muffins, you can use whole wheat or spelt flour.

Brown or coconut sugar. The molasses in brown sugar adds depth of flavor and complements the spices perfectly. Coconut sugar will make the muffins slightly less sweet and lends a lovely caramel undertone.

Grated carrot. I prefer coarsely grating the carrots as it gives the muffins more texture and ensures they aren't too soggy. Finely grated carrot will leak more water so you may need to bake your muffins for longer.

Chopped walnuts are optional but recommended for depth of flavor and texture! Alternatively, you can add raisins.

Ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and a healthy dose of them! This recipe contains a little more spice than others as it's a quick and easy way to add flavor.

Even though this recipe is eggless, you don't need any special egg replacers to make these fluffy, moist and in-tact!

How to make vegan carrot muffins

The batter for these muffins comes together in ONE BOWL, and you don't even need a mixer.

First, add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Make sure the raising agents are mixed in well, otherwise you may get chunks of baking powder in your final muffins (no one likes that)! Then add the rest of the ingredients (including any walnuts/raisins), and stir until just combined. Some lumps are fine, as long as they aren't lumps of dry flour.

Initially, your batter will be very thick but don't worry. After a couple of minutes, the sugar will start to liquify and the carrots will naturally leak water, and your batter will become runnier.

If you want to minimize any dirty dishes, and want to make the crumb topping, divide your cake batter and use the same bowl to mix the crumble!

Optional crumb topping

The crumb topping is optional but it adds a lovely texture to these vegan carrot muffins.

It's easy to make as you just mix all the ingredients in one bowl. It might look like a small amount of crumble, but it's enough to generously top all 12 muffins.

Easy techniques to get higher muffin tops!

These muffins bake beautifully as they are. However, for even higher muffin tops, I've tested a few methods that are easy to do.

The easiest method is to bake your muffins in alternating cavities in your muffin tray. There'll be more space between each muffin, so each muffin gets an extra boost of oven heat which encourages them to rise more. If you have a 12-cup muffin tray, you'll bake 6 muffins at a time in 2 lots.

Also, make sure your oven isn't too cool, and really is 180°C (350°F). If your oven runs cool, your muffins will be smaller and denser. Many ovens aren't accurate, and are cooler or hotter than what they say. If you can, I recommend buying an oven thermometer as it's the most accurate way to see the real temperature of your oven.

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4.99 from 56 votes

Vegan Carrot Muffins

Bakery-style vegan carrot muffins with high muffin tops and a delicious streusel topping. These muffins are easy to make and come together in one bowl.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Servings: 12 large muffins

Author: Anthea

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups (375g) all-purpose plain flour, whole wheat flour or spelt flour, spoon and leveled (note 1, and for gluten-free option)
• ▢ 1 ¼ cup (240g) packed brown sugar, or coconut sugar
• ▢ 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ Pinch of salt, optional

Wet ingredients

• ▢ ~2 ½ cups (250g) coarsely grated carrot, (around 3-4 medium carrots)
• ▢ 1 cup (250g) dairy-free milk
• ▢ ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil
• ▢ ¾ cup (85g) chopped walnuts, or ½ cup (75g) raisins (optional)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, regular vinegar or lemon juice, optional
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

Oat Crumb Topping (optional, note 3)

• ▢ ½ cup (65g) all-purpose plain flour
• ▢ ¼ cup (30g) rolled oats
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (45g) vegan butter, margarine or coconut oil, melted and cooled
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (25g) packed brown sugar, coconut sugar or granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners.

To make the muffins:

• Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix until well combined and evenly distributed. Add all the wet ingredients (including the optional walnuts) and mix until just combined. Initially, your batter may look thick but don't worry. After a couple of minutes, it will loosen as the sugar and carrots will soften.
• Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to divide the batter into your muffin pan. The muffin batter should be close to the top of each cavity (check the reference images above, note 2).

To make the crumb topping (optional):

• Add all ingredients for your crumb topping to a medium bowl (or use the same bowl as your batter). Mix with a spoon or your fingertips until the mixture is combined, flaky and crumbly.
• Generously sprinkle the crumb topping onto your muffins.

Baking and storing the muffins:

• Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick into one and it comes out clean. These muffins are very moist so a few crumbs on your toothpick are fine.
• Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for 15 minutes (or until they aren't too hot) then place them on a cooling rack.
• Enjoy the muffins warm or at room temperature. They're perfect by themselves or with some vegan butter.
• Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. If the crumb topping softens over time, you can reheat the muffins in an oven or airfryer for 10 minutes at 160°C (320°F) or until heated through.

Video

Notes

1. Measuring the flour: If you're using measuring cups, make sure you spoon and level your flour otherwise your muffins will be dry and dense. Fluff up the flour in the bag, use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. If you scoop the flour out of the bag with a measuring cup, it'll add too much flour to the batter. Alternatively, use the grams measurements.
   Gluten-free flour: These muffins work well with King Arthur's gluten-free measure for measure flour. The batter will be much thicker, but still scoopable. I recommend baking them for 25-28 minutes.
   Using whole wheat and spelt flour: These flours are more absorbent so I recommend adding an extra dash of milk to your batter.
2. For the highest muffin tops, I recommend baking 6 muffins at a time in a 12-cup muffin tray. Spacing apart the muffins allows the hot oven air to bake them faster, resulting in higher tops. This means you'll need to bake the muffins in 2 lots.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 muffin without topping | Calories: 335kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Sodium: 185mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 2mg

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