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These gluten free carrot muffins are packed with carrot cake flavor, and made in just one bowl with less sugar and a more satisfying bite.
Even though they taste like gluten free carrot cake, they're made with a lot less sugar and will keep you going all morning long!
“These were amazing, my kids loved them. They turned out SO good! Moist, flavorful, just so so good. I’ve never had a bad recipe from you though!
“Hands down the best GF muffin recipe I’ve tried. They could easily be mistaken for non GF!”
my take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
These moist and tender carrot muffins are perfectly browned all around, and have an extra sprinkling of brown sugar on top of a big dome. They look and taste like they came out of your favorite bakery.
They taste similar to carrot cake, but there is less sugar in these muffins, and their crumb is a bit denser. Muffins are usually made to be heartier and more satisfying than cupcakes. They're usually eaten for breakfast or a snack, so you want them to fill you up.
Even though I have a recipe for gluten free zucchini muffins and gluten free banana muffins, some readers in the comments swear by swapping out the carrots for zucchini or bananas here and making this their go-to muffin recipe!
Expert tips
- Make quick work of grating carrots in a food processor with the grater blade. Avoid pre-shredded carrots, which are thicker and tend to be dry.
- Baking is precise by nature. Measure everything that has a weight measurement provided on a simple digital kitchen scale.
- Temperature matters! If an ingredient is meant to be at room temperature, bring it to room temperature or the batter won't combine properly, and the muffins won't turn out.
- Use one of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends to make this recipe. Other flour blends are gritty, or poorly balanced and won't make muffins that have the taste, texture, or even shaped you expect.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
There isn't any butter in these muffins, since they're made with virgin coconut oil that's softened to warm room temperature. The only dairy in these muffins is the buttermilk.
If you can't have dairy, you can replace the buttermilk with half unsweetened nondairy milk and half nondairy plain yogurt or nondairy sour cream, each by volume.
Egg free
If you can't have eggs, try replacing the eggs in these carrot muffins with one “chia egg” each. For each chia egg, place 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water in a small bowl, mix, and let it sit until it gels. You can also try Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer for each egg.
There are 4 eggs in this recipe, which is a lot of eggs to try to replace. I would recommend reducing the size of the recipe by half, or even reducing it down to 1/4, to test whether the egg replacer will work here.
Coconut free
If you don't like the taste of virgin coconut oil, try using the triple filtered, which has absolutely no coconut aroma. If you can't have coconut, try using shortening in its place.
I don't recommend using butter in place of coconut oil. It causes the muffins to brown too much during baking, and changes the look and taste of the muffins pretty significantly. Avoid using an oil that is liquid at room temperature or the muffins will turn out feeling and tasting oily.
Buttermilk replacements
Even if you can have dairy, you may find that you don't have buttermilk on hand. Adding lemon juice to milk doesn't replace the thick, rich texture of buttermilk. It just adds some tang.
Instead, combine half whole milk and half plain yogurt, each by volume, or try using plain lowfat or whole milk kefir. Either is the perfect buttermilk replacement.
Gluten Free Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 2 tablespoons (18 g) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (200 g) peeled and grated fresh carrots
- 6 ounces raisins, and/or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 9 tablespoons (108 g) virgin coconut oil, at warm room temperature (See Recipe Notes)
- 4 (200 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons (26 g) light brown sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the all purpose flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the grated carrots and mix to combine, breaking up any clumps. Add the raisins or chocolate chips, and toss to coat. (See Recipe Notes)
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the coconut oil, beaten eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla, and mix to combine. The batter will be thick but soft.
- Fill the prepared wells of the muffin tins about completely full with batter. With wet fingers, smooth the tops of the batter in the wells.
- Sprinkle the tops of the batter in the muffin wells evenly with the optional brown sugar.
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed gently (18 to 20 minutes).
- Remove the muffin tin from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
These muffins will stay fresh at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 2 days. For longer storage, they freeze very well for up to 3 months.
Just place the baked and cooled muffins in a single layer on a small, rimmed baking sheet or tray and freeze until solid. Pile the frozen muffins into a freezer-safe bag, and remove as much air as possible.
Defrost at room temperature or in the microwave for 20 seconds to help it thaw. Refreshing the muffins in the toaster oven by sprinkling them lightly with water and toasting or warming them in a 300°F oven for about 5 minutes.
These are the best muffins ever!
I used 40% organic coconut sugar / 20% organic cane sugar & 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder.
I followed the recipe to a tee, I’ll add 50% RMS next batch and let you know.
Stunning muffins, Airfryer 19minutes @ 160° sit for 15mins then onto rack 😋
Looks delicious, I’m looking at using Rice Malt syrup as a sugar substitute, which I usually use, any feedback here please.
Your other recipes have worked, these look😋
Thank you
Deborah
I’m afraid I can’t recommend using a liquid sugar as a substitute for a granulated sugar. It will unbalance the moisture in the muffins, and I can’t promise a successful result. It would require a fair amount of trial and error to rebalance.
I am particularly interested in muffins without almond flour%
This recipe and most recipes on the blog don’t have any almond flour, Eva. If what you mean to say is that you are looking for muffin recipes with almond flour, I have a recipe for almond flour muffins that you may like. Just use the search function to find it and other recipes using almond flour, if that’s what you meant to say.
Love the recipies
Thsnk you
These turned out amazing. I did add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. I left out raisins/chocolate chips and added 1/2 cup coconut instead. I also made these dairy free by using oat milk with a bit of vinegar to substitute the butter milk. Fantastic!!
These were amazing, my kids loved them. I added them a dried berry blend (blueberry, cranberry, cherry, raisin) just bc I didn’t have just raisins, and I soaked them like you suggested. They turned out SO good! Moist, flavorful, just so so good. I’ve never had a bad recipe from you though!
I’m so glad you had such a good experience, Cassie, and I really appreciate the kind words. More than you may know!
What sugar substitute do you recommend for your recipes? I personally don’t like the taste of Swerve and my brothers can’t digest it, but I do like Monkfruit sugar replacement(which is also erithrytol(did I spell that right??)) And my mom recently discovered the health benefits of Xylitol.
I can’t promise that any will work, Shira, as they’re not 1 to 1 replacements. I prefer Lankato brand monkfruit sweetener, but it does tend to be drying so it unbalances the recipe. Xylitol doesn’t work well in baking, in my experience. In any event, you’ll have to experiment. You might do better with a keto blog, where recipes were developed to be made with alternative sweeteners.
Absolutely turned out to be delicious and soft
I have to say I have only had good results when baking with your recipes. Even when I have used a different flour the results were good. Your tips are always helpful. One of the reasons I love your site is that weights are included. Since going gluten free, I find I need to bake by weight for good results. Well worth the investment in a scale. Nicole, Thank you again for all the hard work you do for us. It is appreciated. These muffins look great and as carrot cake is a favorite of my husband, I will definitely be making them soon!
I really appreciate your saying that, Elise. Baking with weights is always a better idea, and I’m so glad you’re on board. It makes all the difference, even if you’ve gotten lucky with baking by volume once or twice. That’s just luck. :) And I’m really grateful you use my tips. That’s what they’re there for!!
Are these heavy and overly moist? My past attempts at zucchini and banana bread resulted in loaves that were too dense, moist, and heavy. Desperate to try again. I have everything on hand except the oil and carrots. About how many carrots, and could you give examples of oil substitutes? Thank you. ❤
Linda, I’m not really sure how to respond, except to say that I would never share a recipe I thought wasn’t delicious! Please read the post carefully before beginning, including the tips for success. I provide all the substitution information I can right in there. There’s no real way to say how many carrots, as they vary so much in size. And when you measure by weight, as you must for success in baking, you’ll know just when to stop.