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    Home » Muffins and cupcakes

    Carrot cake muffins

    Published: Jan 29, 2023 by Anna

    Jump to Recipe

    These easy carrot cake muffins, with a soft and moist texture, are made with orange zest and crushed walnuts. They are easy and quick to make at home within 45 minutes.

    Carrot cake muffins glazed with sugar icing on a metal cooling rack, walnuts, and orange slices are lying around.
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients and substitutes
    • Cooking tips
    • Step by step directions
    • Flavor and decoration variations
    • FAQ
    • More muffins recipes
    • Recipe card

    Ingredients and substitutes

    Flour – Use all-purpose flour. 

    Baking powder – It helps the dough to rise and create a fluffy, soft texture.

    Salt and cinnamon – You can also add allspice, ground ginger, and nutmeg as additions, not replacements.

    Fats – I use unsalted butter at room temperature and beat it with sugar as well as vegetable oil (such as canola oil), which adds softness to our easy carrot muffins.

    Sugars – I make my muffins with brown sugar, but you can replace half of it with white granulated sugar if you want. I also use powdered sugar to create the icing.

    Eggs – Eggs should be at room temperature to emulsify with butter.

    Milk – Whole milk should be at room temperature. If you forgot to take it out from the fridge in advance, measure the right amount and heat it in the microwave for a little bit.

    Add-ins – You can either grate your carrots or pulse them in a food processor until they resemble wet sand. I also add some roughly chopped walnuts and the zest of one orange, which you can replace with lemon. You’ll also need orange or lemon juice for the icing.

    Carrot cake muffins glazed with sugar icing on a metal cooling rack, walnuts, and orange slices are lying around. One bite is taken from one of the muffins.

    Cooking tips

    Fold in the carrots using a rubber spatula. The carrot strings will be captured in the paddle attachment (or in your hand mixer attachments) if you add them too early. The best way is to add the carrots, walnuts, and zest at the very end and fold them in using a spatula.

    Don’t overmix the batter. As usual, we need to mix the butter as little as possible (just until a homogenous consistency is achieved) so that we don’t promote gluten development, which will make the muffins' texture tough.

    Step by step directions

    1. Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.

    2. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.

    3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Then, add the oil and beat again until incorporated.

    4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the mixture has emulsified.

    Collage image showing six steps to make carrot cake muffins batter.

    5. Add the dry ingredients in three parts – alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients – while beating on low until a homogenous and silky consistency is reached. 

    6. Then, fold in the carrots, orange zest, and walnuts using a rubber spatula.

    7. Fill the paper liners ⅔ full and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin in the middle of the pan comes out clean.

    Collage image showing four steps to bake carrot cake muffins.

    8. Remove from the oven and let the muffins rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, transfer onto a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature. 

    9. Combine the icing ingredients in a bowl and drizzle on top of the muffins. 

    Flavor and decoration variations

    Cream cheese frosting – You can look up the recipe from my Red velvet cupcakes, or my Best vanilla cupcakes posts.

    Salted caramel – Spicy carrot muffins flavor will go well with Salted caramel. Just drizzle a little bit on top of cooled muffins.

    Vanilla extract – If you want, you can add ½ teaspoon of vanilla to make your muffins even more delicious.

    FAQ

    How to store carrot cake muffins?

    Store completely cooled muffins in an air-tight container, or covered with plastic wrap on a plate at room temperature for up to 4 days. If frosted with cream cheese frosting, they should also be stored for up to 4 days but in the fridge.

    Can you store carrot cake batter in the fridge?

    If you need to bake your muffins in batches, the batter can wait for 25 minutes at room temperature. However, it’s not recommended to store it for a long time.

    Can you freeze carrot cake muffins?

    Yes, you can! Freeze them for up to 2 months.

    A hand is holding a cut in half carrot cake muffin glazed with sugar icing.

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    Recipe card

    Carrot cake muffins glazed with sugar icing on a metal cooling rack, walnuts, and orange slices are lying around.

    Carrot cake muffins

    These easy carrot cake muffins, with a soft and moist texture, are made with orange zest and crushed walnuts. They are easy and quick to make at home within 45 minutes.
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Servings: 12 muffins
    Calories: 222kcal
    Author: Anna

    Equipment

    • Digital kitchen scale
    • Stand mixer or hand mixer and a large mixing bowl
    • Muffin pan
    • Muffin liners

    Ingredients

    • 200 g all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 130 g butter
    • 30 g vegetable oil
    • 200 g brown sugar
    • 2 large eggs at room temperature
    • 160 ml whole milk at room temperature
    • 80 g carrot finely grated
    • 1 orange zest
    • 40 g walnuts roughly chopped

    Icing

    • 60 g powdered sugar
    • 1 tablespoon orange juice

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 180C (355F) and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
    • In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.
    • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer and a bowl), beat the butter and sugar on medium for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Then, add the oil and beat again until incorporated.
    • Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the mixture has emulsified.
    • Add the dry ingredients in three parts – alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients – while beating on low until a homogenous and silky consistency is reached. The pattern should look like this: dry/milk/dry/milk/dry.
    • Then, fold in the carrots, orange zest, and walnuts using a rubber spatula.
    • Fill the paper liners ⅔ full and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin in the middle of the pan comes out clean.
    • Remove from the oven and let the muffins rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, transfer onto a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature.
    • Combine the icing ingredients in a bowl and drizzle on top of the muffins.

    Notes

    Store completely cooled muffins in an air-tight container, or covered with plastic wrap on a plate at room temperature for up to 4 days.
     
    Freeze for up to 2 months.

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Carrot cake muffins
    Serving Size
     
    1 muffin
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    222
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    6
    g
    9
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    1
    g
    6
    %
    Trans Fat
     
    0.02
    g
    Polyunsaturated Fat
     
    3
    g
    Monounsaturated Fat
     
    1
    g
    Cholesterol
     
    30
    mg
    10
    %
    Sodium
     
    301
    mg
    13
    %
    Potassium
     
    145
    mg
    4
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    38
    g
    13
    %
    Fiber
     
    1
    g
    4
    %
    Sugar
     
    24
    g
    27
    %
    Protein
     
    4
    g
    8
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    1222
    IU
    24
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    7
    mg
    8
    %
    Calcium
     
    101
    mg
    10
    %
    Iron
     
    1
    mg
    6
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @sugarpursuit or tag #sugarpursuit!

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    Hey there! My name is Anna, and I am here to share with you my sweet and savory baking recipes and show you how to make beautiful cakes.

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