This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
These moist and delicious, Carrot Cake Muffins are made with fresh carrots, ripe bananas, golden raisins and a lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting. Perfect for breakfast or brunch.
Carrot Cake Muffins
These Carrot Cake Muffins take all the best parts of classic carrot cake and give them a wholesome breakfast twist. They’re sweetened naturally with ripe bananas and monk fruit sweetener, packed with shredded carrots and golden raisins, and finished with a light swirl of cream cheese frosting. Perfect with your morning coffee, for a weekend brunch, or Easter morning. I’ve even tested them with gluten-free flour mix, and they came out just as good. If you want a cake recipe, try my Carrot Cake for dessert.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I love my carrot cake recipe and wanted to make them into muffins instead and they turned out great!
- Eat Anytime: Great for breakfast, snack, or brunch
- Seasonal: Perfect for Easter or spring baking
- Healthy and Light: Lightened up with ripe banana, no butter or oil and less sugar
- Make Ahead: Freezer-friendly for meal prep
- Dietary Restrictions: Weight Watchers-friendly, vegetarian, gluten-free (if using GF flour)
Featured Comment
Best carrot muffin EVER! No need for the cream cheese icing. Thanks so much. It’s a keeper for sure!
What You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients for these easy carrot cake muffins. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour or GF flour, like Cup4Cup, for gluten-free carrot cake muffins.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda cause the bread to rise and make it more tender.
- Salt improves the flavor and texture and balances the sweetness.
- Flavor: Use cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract for flavor.
- Bananas: The riper the bananas are, the sweeter the muffins will be, eliminating the need to add extra sugar.
- Carrots: Grated carrots add moisture, plus fiber and vitamin A.
- Melted Butter for moisture
- Eggs bind everything together.
- Sweetener: Brown monk fruit sweetener has zero net carbs and calories, but you can also use regular brown sugar. These muffins are lightly sweetened, so feel free to add more sugar to suit your tastes.
- Mix-ins: Golden raisins and chopped walnuts add texture.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: 1/3-less fat cream cheese, vanilla extract, and powdered monk fruit (or powdered sugar)
How to Make Carrot Cake Muffins
Combine wet and dry ingredients to make this simple carrot muffin recipe. Just make sure not to overmix the batter to ensure the best texture! See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).
- Add the wet ingredients (mashed bananas, grated carrots, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar) to another bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in the raisins, walnuts, and dry ingredients.
- Bake the Muffins: Pour the batter into a muffin tin sprayed with nonstick cooking spray or filled with liners. Transfer to the oven and bake at 350°F for 20 to 23 minutes. To check that they’re ready, insert a toothpick into the center of one to see if it’s clean. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Make the Frosting: Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and monk fruit to a bowl and whip it with a hand mixture until evenly combined.
- Frost the Muffins: Spread the cream cheese frosting over each muffin. Store any remaining frosting in an airtight container in the fridge to use on fruit or toast.
Tips for the Best Carrot Cake Muffins
- Use overripe bananas–the spottier, the better. They add moisture and natural sweetness.
- Finely grate your carrots so they melt into the muffin without being stringy.
- Let them cool completely before frosting, or the frosting will slide right off!
Variations
- Fruit: Use unsweetened applesauce or drained canned crushed pineapple instead of bananas.
- Want sweeter muffins? Add an extra quarter cup of monk fruit or brown sugar.
- Want less sugar? Skip the frosting.
- Raisins: I like golden raisins best here, but regular ones or currants will work.
- Nuts: Substitute them with pecans and macadamia nuts.
- Nut allergy? Omit the nuts.
- Mix It Up: Swap walnuts or raisins for shredded coconut.
- Make It Mini: Pour the batter into a mini muffin tin and bake for 10-13 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
These carrot cake muffins are great as a simple breakfast with coffee or as part of your Easter or spring brunch spread. Below are some other dishes to serve with them, and you can check out more Easter recipes here.
Storage
- How long do carrot muffins last? Since these muffins have cream cheese frosting, you need to refrigerate them in an airtight container. They will last up to 6 days.
- Can carrot muffins be frozen? Freeze the frosted muffins for up to 3 months and thaw them in the fridge.
- How to Serve: Eat them cold or bring them to room temperature on the counter.
More Quick Bread and Muffin Recipes
For more breakfast and brunch ideas, check out my Baked Breads and Cakes collection, plus these five delicious breads and muffins, for more inspiration!
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
- Zucchini Bread
- Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Banana Bread
Carrot Cake Muffins
These carrot cake muffins are soft, moist, and lightly sweet with all the classic flavors you love—fresh carrots, ripe banana, warm spices, and a light cream cheese swirl on top. Made with less sugar and wholesome ingredients, they’re perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a simple snack.
Yield: servings
Serving Size: 1 muffin
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, or gluten-free flour mix like cup4cup
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup mashed banana, – from 2 very ripe bananas
- ¾ cup grated carrots, – from 1 medium carrot
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, or dairy-free butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown monk fruit sweetener, or brown sugar
- 1/3 cup golden raisins
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- Non stick cooking spray, if not using muffin liners
For the frosting:
- 8 ounces ⅓ less fat cream cheese, left at room temp for an hour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup powdered monk fruit sweetener, or powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a muffin tin with liners or lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add the mashed bananas, grated carrots, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar, to a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the raisins, walnuts and the dry ingredients to the bowl and use a spatula to fold until just combined and you see no more streaks of flour.
- Divide the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups, filling up about ⅔ of the way up. Transfer the muffin tin to the oven to bake for 20-23 minutes, until puffed and a toothpick in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the muffins cool, make the frosting. Add the cream cheese, vanilla, and monk fruit to a bowl. Use a hand mixer to whip until evenly combined, about a minute.
- To assemble, pipe or spoon frosting onto each muffin. Any remaining frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and used to drizzle over fruit or spread on toast.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Notes
These muffins are lightly sweetened, but you can add more sugar to your taste.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 muffin, Calories: 168 kcal, Carbohydrates: 30.5 g, Protein: 5 g, Fat: 7.5 g, Saturated Fat: 3.5 g, Cholesterol: 46.5 mg, Sodium: 218 mg, Fiber: 1.5 g, Sugar: 7 g
Great taste and texture, even without the frosting! I substituted unsweetened coconut for raisins as that is what I had. Note that these are small muffins; mine barely rose above the top of the muffin cups.
OMG 😱
I made your recipe but in a cake pan and replaced raisins with pumpkin seeds
This is the BEST carrot cake ever
Thank you for the recipe ❤️
Glad you enjoyed it!
These are delicious! I’m not a good baker/had a toddler helper, and they turned out perfectly! Already looking forward to making them again.
Love it!
I just made these. Excellent taste, classic carrot cake. I also made the frosting, but used whipped cream cheese by accident. That turned out a little more liquid so I added more powdered sugar. Still completely delicious! This and the zucchini cake are my favorites so far!
I am very happy with this recipe. I had made zucchini tots and had extra carrots so I added them to the muffins. They are sweet enough that I didn’t need to add the frosting. Very delicious and a keeper.
It’s delicious! You have to try it. The icing is not necessary in my opinion. Very good recipe!
My grandson loves these. I know have to make these before every visit, which brings me such joy!,
Outstanding!!! The monk fruit sweetener with allulose was perfect. I’ve made them 3 times so far. Half recipes the first 2 times, then the full recipe and froze half. Very filling and satisfying. My husband is also a fan. Thank you Gina!
So glad you both enjoyed it!
Delicious and perfect carrot cake muffin recipe!
I made with GF flour, swapped one banana for 1/2 cup of apple sauce, and used maple syrup 1/4 cup instead of monkfruit or brown sugar. I added two scoops of unflavored protein powder. I’ve made them 4 times in two weeks, my family keeps asking for them.
We couldn’t stop nibbling on these! I subbed in mashed mango for bananas (family allergy) and I think any fruit or applesauce would also work.
This recipe is so good! I used Splenda Brown Sugar, and I followed all other directions for a perfect muffin and taste of spring. I omitted the frosting to save points, and it was absolutely delicious!
Packed with banana and carrots and raisins and nuts, these make a delicious, heart-healthy muffin for breakfast or coffee break! I used real sugar because monk is not cost-effective for me. I shredded my carrot very finely as suggested, and it melted into the batter. I used whole wheat flour for the extra fibre. It makes lots of icing; probably more that you’ll need to generously top these muffins. I really like these and will make them again!
These muffins are downright yummy. Not too sweet with the right amount of extras, (nuts and raisins). Very easy to prepare. I’ve got my dessert for Easter now. Thanks Gina.
I liked the muffins but I found the banana overpowered the carrot. Could I substitute applesauce for the banana?
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
You can try?
Best carrot muffin EVER! No need for the cream cheese icing. Thanks so much. It’s a keeper for sure!
I am so happy you love them!
I shy away from carrot cake because it’s way over the top, but these muffins are fabulous! I made them last night for a treat, and frosted them this morning, and they’re great either way! Best way to use carrots and bananas ever.
Had these for dinner tonight, but without the frosting. Husband and toddler loved them. Pair with fluffy scrambled eggs, fruit, and baked breakfast potatoes for a yummy brunch-style meal.
Not super sweet, but flavor is good.
Great!
Do you have a favorite monk fruit sweetener?
Lakanto with allulose
I can’t find the brown monk fruit sweetener in my area. Will the white monk fruit sweetener work in its place?
Looks yummy! Do you have a swap/ratio where you could add in a good quality protein powder instead of all of the flour to up the protein content of each muffin
Sorry I do not.
So happy to see a dessert without added sugars. Love, love this!
what would the ww points be with out the frosting?
If you click on the WW button, you can see it in the WW app recipe card.
This is not on SkinnyTaste but you should know that clicking on the WW app does not work anymore as far as breaking down the points per ingredient
and has not for a long time.
Are these muffins gluten free if using gluten free flour and no icing?
Yes
Can’t wait to try. Your carrot cake recipe is a staple in our house and a favourite for birthdays and holidays.
It’s so good!