Carrot Muffins

Filled with fresh carrots, coconut, and cinnamon, these Carrot Muffins are so easy and a perfect breakfast muffin. They are tender with just the perfect amount of spice.

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It’s no secret that we are muffin obsessed! These Carrot Muffins are a great morning along with these Cinnamon Muffins and Banana Muffins.

I’m always looking for ways to switch up our morning muffins. We definitely have our favorites, but I like to throw something different in every once in awhile.

These Carrot Muffins are the perfect way to switch things up. I love that you get a little bit of veggies for breakfast, and my kids love that they taste like a treat!

These muffins are very similar to Morning Glory Muffins – minus the apples. But you could always leave out the coconut and raisins to give the carrots a chance to really shine!

And if you love carrots for breakfast, you should also check out these Carrot Cake Pancakes!

Ingredients

• Flour: I use all-purpose flour. For a healthier muffin, you could use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour.
• Sugar: You will need granulated sugar for this recipe.
• Baking Powder: This will help the muffins to rise.
• Cinnamon: I really like cinnamon, and would add a whole tablespoon if I was just making these for myself. But the 2 teaspoons give the muffins a nice spice level.
• Salt: To balance the flavors.
• Butter: I like to use melted butter in these muffins. Melt the butter, then let it sit for a few minutes so that it is not very hot.
• Sour Cream: The sour cream really helps to make these muffins moist and to stay moist.
• Eggs: I use large eggs. If you have the time, having them at room temperature will help the batter to come together more evenly.
• Vanilla: I like to use real vanilla extract.
• Carrots: You’ll want to use freshly grated carrots. The shredded carrots that you can buy are too dry for this recipe. I just use a cheese grater, but you could also use the grating attachment on a food processor to grate the carrots.
• Coconut: The coconut is totally optional, so if you aren’t a coconut fan, you can leave it out. I like to use sweetened coconut, but unsweetened will work, as well.
• Raisins: The raisins are also optional.
• Pecans: And the pecans are optional, as well. My kids don’t like nuts in muffins, so I will often leave them out, but I personally love the bit of crunch and texture they bring. You could also sub in walnuts or almonds.

How to Make Carrot Muffins

Combine your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl – the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. I like to use a whisk to make sure it is all mixed well.

In another bowl, whisk together the butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in.

Use a spatula to mix this all together. You don’t want to totally mix it – just until it is about 80% mixed.

Add the carrots, coconut, raisins, and nuts.

Now use a rubber spatula to stir it all together, just until there are no more dry patches. The batter will be pretty thick, but you don’t want to overmix.

Divide the batter evenly in a muffin pan. I like to use a large cookie scoop. This makes 18 muffins, so I like to use a 12 cup pan and a 6 cup pan. I like to spray mine with nonstick cooking spray, but you can also use paper liners if desired.

Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Let the cool in the pans for a couple minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips and Tricks

Turn these into Carrot Cake Muffins by adding a cream cheese frosting!

If you don’t want to use melted butter, you can use vegetable oil or coconut oil, or another neutral oil of your choice.

This recipe makes 18 decent sized muffins. If desired, you can fill the cups more and only make 12 bigger muffins, but I like to stretch it to that 18 for a more kid friendly sized muffin.

Storing and Freezing

Because these muffins are so moist, they hold up well for leftovers. I store them at room temperature in an airtight container. They should be good for up to 5 days.

To freeze, I like to place the fully baked and cooled muffins on a baking sheet and place that in the freezer for an hour or two. Then transfer the frozen muffins to a freezer safe ziplock bag or freezer safe container. Then you can remove the muffins from the freezer one at a time, as needed.

More Muffin Recipes

Mango Muffins with Banana
Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Oatmeal Muffins
Classic Bran Muffins
Zucchini Muffins

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