There’s nothing like the smell of cinnamon coming from the oven. No matter what challenges I’m dealing with on a given day, this smell always boosts my spirits.
Everyone in my family likes raw carrots, so I don’t feel the need to sneak this vegetable into a muffin to get my children to eat it. However, this classic muffin is such a delicious treat that I like to occasionally dip into my carrot supply and make a batch. This is a whole wheat version, but you can substitute gluten-free flour with equally delicious results.
Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Muffins
$.33 per serving
Servings 12
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups grated carrots about 3 medium carrots
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12-muffin pan.
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In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and set aside.
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In a large bowl, stir together the wet ingredients (everything except the carrots) until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
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Fold in the carrots.
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Transfer the batter to the muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Carrot Cake Muffins Price Breakdown
This batch of muffins costs $3.97 to make, or $.33 per muffin. These delicious, fragrant carrot cake muffins are the perfect grab-and-go snack for a busy day.
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Abbie says
I’m making these today and am curious about the maple syrup. (Some of my family doesn’t like the taste) Does this make the muffin taste to maplely or is it just a sweet taste?
Annemarie says
It’s just a sweet taste. I don’t think you’ll notice the maple syrup flavor. If you’d prefer, you can substitute white sugar and add an extra tablespoon of liquid. I like to use maple syrup because it’s less processed than white sugar, but the muffins will taste great either way!
Baylee Ellis says
Do you think substituting honey for the syrup would work?
Annemarie says
Yes, Baylee, that will definitely work in any of my baking recipes. Enjoy the muffins!
Liz says
I’ve made these muffins three or four times now and they are hands down the best homemade muffins I’ve ever come across. Carrot flavor is present but still subtle. I’ll eat one in the morning for breakfast or after dinner with a little bit of cream cheese as a dessert. Either way they are amazing! thanks for an awesome recipe.
Annemarie says
Thanks so much, Liz! I’m happy to hear the feedback. I just ate one of these out of the freezer for a snack this morning (okay, maybe it was two). I agree that they’re a yummy treat. 🙂
Kerri says
What are the calories
Annemarie says
Kerri, I don’t do calorie breakdowns for my recipes. I find that eating a variety of real, unprocessed food puts me at a healthy weight. If you’re interested in learning the calorie count for any of my recipes, I believe there are online tools where you can plug in the ingredients and get the nutritional information.
Nicole says
Made these today and they are great! My 2-year-old loves them! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Annemarie says
Thanks for letting me know, Nicole! I’m so glad they were a hit.
debrafromskadd says
These look tasty. I love carrot cake.
Thanks for linking up to Healthy 2Day Wednesday. Hope to see you there again tonight/tomorrow.
Leah M says
Those look super yummy!! Thanks for linking up to Snacktime Saturday!
Margaux at YoungNesters says
Yum! These look great. I definitely want to give this one a try 🙂 I hope you’ll come link-up to our healthy recipe party! http://www.youngnesters.net/2012/09/snacktime-saturday-week-1.html
myhealthyohana says
I love the smell of cinnamon too, so homey and comforting! These look great and so healthy!
Real Food, Real Deals says
Thanks, Maura!
Stephanie says
Yum – and I like that they are sweetened with maple syrup and applesauce!
Real Food, Real Deals says
They’re not too sweet but just sweet enough. That’s my favorite kind of snack.
Canadianbudgetbinder says
This sounds and looks delicious. Thanks for sharing this with us. Mr.CBB
Real Food, Real Deals says
Thank you!
Jill says
Yum! I really enjoy carrot anything– muffins, bread, cookies. These look great!
Real Food, Real Deals says
I haven’t tried carrot cookies before. I’ll have to add that to my to-do list.
Heidi @ lightlycrunchy says
I’m always looking for a healthy idea for the girl’s lunchpails. Thanks for this one. I haven’t done much baking yet with coconut oil – does it always work as a substitute for any oil in baking?
Real Food, Real Deals says
It’s a good substitution for other oils. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of oil, I usually put in 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1/2 cup applesauce or mashed banana. Some coconut oils add a coconut flavor to recipes, and some don’t. I love coconut so it doesn’t bother me, but if you don’t like the taste of coconut you may have to experiment with different brands.
realfoodroad says
If I don’t have coconut oil, what can I substitute? These look really good, and I love carrots baked into anything.
Real Food, Real Deals says
Melted butter or ghee would be another real food fat option in these. Alternately, you could do an additional 1/2 cup of applesauce or 1/2 cup mashed banana.
realfoodroad says
Thanks!