Healthy Applesauce Carrot Muffins {Carrot Cake Muffins}
These soft and fluffy delicious carrot cake muffins transform carrot cake into a good-for-you blend of whole wheat flour, applesauce, and carrots.
A one-bowl wonder, the recipe for these delectable, nutritious muffins has over 400 5-star reviews. They are beloved by so many!
Healthier Carrot Cake Batter
The reason these muffins are such a standout is because they are soft, moist, fluffy and delicious without being loaded with sugar and oil.
The key ingredients are:
- whole wheat flour
- applesauce
- honey
- shredded carrots
There are also some simple pantry spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as a tiny bit of butter. Overall, they are simple and nutritious!
Easily Doubled
This recipe makes a perfect batch of 12 muffins.
Good news: the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. This tip may come in handy since the muffins freeze well to pull out later for a yummy breakfast or snack.
It’s amazing how such a simple muffin batter can bake up into such a light and fluffy muffin! The warm flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg compliment the heartiness of the whole wheat flour so well.
It’s fair to say that these muffins are both cozy AND delicious!
Even though the muffin recipe doesn’t call for a lot of butter/oil, the muffins stay soft and moist because of the applesauce and shredded carrots.
Plus, there is no added processed sugar! Honey sweetens these carrot cake muffins perfectly. The flavor is just very lightly sweet keeping them solidly in the muffin category (rather than, say, a super sweet cupcake trying to act like a muffin! 😉).
Mostly, THEY ARE SO GOOD.
We love eating them slightly warm with a dab of butter and drizzle of honey. 😍
Rave Reviews for These Carrot Cake Muffins
Over the years, these simple, homey muffins have become a favorite for so many of you, too! Here are just a few of the 5-star reviews for these very deserving muffins.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve literally made these muffins 100 times now for my young son and he loves them. They’re so versatile. I add extra veg and some chocolate chips and they’re amazing. Best recipe ever. -Rebecca
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Absolutely delicious! I added craisins! -Tina
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ These were delicious. My daughter made these for 4-H and she received a Champion and was selected to compete at the State Fair. -Carrie
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ These were delicious! Plenty moist, not overly sweet, and quick to put together. I made a double batch, but the way my kids have been eyeing them, I’m thinking these won’t make it until morning… -Arlene
Healthy Applesauce Carrot Muffins {Carrot Cake Muffins}
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (213 g) whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour (see note)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) melted butter
- ½ cup (163 g) honey
- 1 (50 g) egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (245 g) unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ to 1 cup (90 to 100 g) finely shredded carrots (1 large carrot, no need to peel)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
- Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, honey, egg, vanilla, and applesauce.
- Mix until just combined with a few spots of flour remaining.
- Add the carrots and mix until just until combined (don't over mix or the muffins will be dense).
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling the muffin cups about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back lightly to the touch.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The muffins keep well covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days and freeze well, also.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from 100 Days of Real Food after being referred to the recipe by a long-time reader, Laura G. (decreased ginger, added nutmeg, decreased butter from 8 tablespoons to 2 tablespoons, etc.)
Recipe originally posted November 2013; updated March 2025 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Can you use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat? And add ground flax seed?
Yes you can use all purpose flour. If you add flaxseed, you might want to cut the flour down a bit.
so good – i used maple syrup instead of honey and it worked great
These are such a tasty and healthy snack! I added some orange zest as well and might experiment with maple syrup and peanut powder
Can oil be substituted for the butter?
I’ve literally made these muffins 100 times now for my young son and he loves them. They’re so versatile. I add extra veg and some chocolate chips and they’re amazing. Best recipe ever.
Do you think I could add spinach to these? I’m trying to get my toddler to eat more veggies but don’t want it to affect the moisture levels!
I think you probably could – definitely worth experimenting for sure. This spinach muffin recipe is super light and fluffy, so it might work!
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/healthy-green-hulk-muffins/
Can I freeze them?
I did make this recipe into a loaf pan and baked it for 1 hour and it turned out great! Didn’t sub anything but added raisins. Yummy!! :-}
Excellent muffins for all ages.
Would this recipe be adaptable to make it a loaf instead of muffins?
Definitely worth a try! I haven’t tried it myself so I don’t know what size pan, but I’d probably try an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch pan and fill 2/3 full.
The muffins were moist and delicious and healthy. What a great combination will definitely make again. I substituted Keto whole wheat flour blend.
Can almond flour be used in place of whole wheat flour?
I haven’t tried that, sorry!
These are yummy! Had some carrots to use up, so I doubled the batch. Did half brown sugar/half honey because honey is $$$. Also subbed out a portion of the flour with ground up oatmeal. So yummy – made for a play date tomorrow, and the kids are gonna love it!
Really great, moist, tasty muffins!! Will definitely make again, however will probably cut the honey down, abit too sweet for me and my little one.. but still delish!!
This is my favorite carrot muffin recipe. I substitute applesauce for the oil and add 1/2 cup raisins, coconut and walnuts. Delicious!
My muffins came out very syrupy/moist. I subbed almond meal for whole wheat flour and added some chia seeds and pecans, so maybe that had an effect. A little too sweet for me.
Making a substantial ingredient substitution (like almond meal for the flour) in a baking recipe can definitely affect results…I’m guessing that is why the muffins turned out more moist than they would if using whole wheat flour per the recipe.
Almond meal releases a lot of oil when heated so I’m sure that was the issue with the moisture.
These were so good! However, I used white flour, a dash of sugar since I didn’t have enough honey to fill the 1 cup needed and added raisins.
So good, thank you for the recipe! I madr it as a banana bread rather than kuffins and it came out moist, just sweet enough and it smells amazing. I mightbadd some walnuts to it next time, this one isna keeper!
Absolutely delicious! I added craisins!
Can you tell me the estimated nutritional value for one muffin? Thank you.
Hi Kristen, I currently don’t calculate that info, but I’ll be adding nutritional info to my recipes this summer.
These muffins are delicious and my grandkids love them. Could I substitute gluten free flour for the called for wheat flour?
Hi April, I haven’t tried them with gluten free flour but you could definitely experiment!
I cut the honey in half, but I see I could have even cut it down to 1/8 cup. I feel 1/2 a cup would’ve been way too much.
Also I added
– 1 ripe banana
– 5 tablespoons of almond powder
– 1/3 cup of chia seeds
– 1/3 cup of milk
I blended the carrots (because I only had chips, not shredded) with the banana, applesauce and milk. Then I added it in the middle of the dry ingredients with the other wet ingredients.
Also, I used coconut oil instead of butter.
This was intended to be a healthy snack for my toddler, but it was so flavorful and delicious that I will be eating it on a regular basis, too. I put some peanut butter on it and had it for breakfast!
Also, I didn’t bother with making muffins, the pouring and measuring is kind of time-consuming, especially since I will end up cutting it into small pieces for him, anyway. I just baked it in a rectangular baking pan and cut into squares. Much easier!).
Very yum 🙂
I used olive oil instead of butter and left out the honey & they still rose well! Thanks
I made these this morning and they were a huge hit with my super picky daughter! She couldn’t even tell there were carrots in them. She even asked for another one. This is going in the permanent rotation!
Yummy! Toddler loved them! Didn’t have the ginger, but came out tasty. Maybe more carrots and more cinnamon next time. I used silicone liners and two paper ones, the paper ones just made the muffins stick….Silicone for sure.
YUCK indeed. Kids (and those who raise them) deserve better!
Hahaha, you’re funny!
You must have made it wrong. Then again, I added milk, I figured it was the right thing to do since I added almond powder and chia seeds. So maybe that made it more moist.
Another amazing recipe! So so good. Followed the recipe except used fresh ginger instead of ground
I made healthy applesauce carrot muffins. YUCK. And I used homemade no sugar applesauce and fresh carrots from my garden! They have no taste and do scream Health Food Cardboard. Sorry Mel, you’re off my list.
Boy you feel pretty passionately about muffins
Didn’t have any applesauce so I just processed 3 apples and stuck them in the microwave for a minute. Added some raisins and walnuts on top, but followed everything else = delicious breakfast on the go !!
These were delicious. My daughter made these for 4-H and she received a Champion and was selected to compete at the State Fair.
That’s amazing!
These muffins are delicious! Such a treat for my kids, but something I feel good about them eating. Will make again and again. Thank you for the recipe!
They were delicious! Changes I made were-instead of butter I used 2 Tablespoons of melted Coconut Oil plus 1 teaspoon of water. I added 1/3 cup each of chopped raisins & chopped walnuts.
My kids and I gobbled these up fast! Delicious way to use carrots. Yum!
These were delicious! Plenty moist, not overly sweet, and quick to put together. I made a double batch, but the way my kids have been eyeing them, I’m thinking these won’t make it until morning…
I wish there was nutrition information for this recipe. It’s frustrating to find a “healthy” recipe that has no nutrition info. :/
Lots of free websites allow you to input your ingredients and calculate the info you’re wanting. 😉 Mel’s recipes are fantastic, and definitely worth trying out. 🙂
These were delicious! A great base for modifications if needed as well (mostly because I didn’t have all the ingredients needed for this recipe); I used leftover carrot rine from juicing earlier in the day, I added walnuts, I swapped the honey for maple syrup, and I added 1/4 tsp of pumpkin spice instead of ginger and nutmeg. I will be bookmarking this for the future!
I made these yesterday and they are so good! Husband approved! I like that it uses things you have on hand during these times. Also, we have cut sugar usage in our house so I think I could cut the sugar down to 3-4 TBSPS and not feel the taste has suffered. I might try taking out a couple TBSP of flour and adding some ground flax. My husband always says- “You don’t have to mess with a good thing.” Ha!
These muffins are so good!! I don’t like honey so instead I’ve put maple sirup.
These turned out great. Not for the sweet tooth though. I happe. To like my sweets ‘not to sweet’
I made these and LOVED every bite with not one shred of guilt. I swapped the honey for agave. So so good. Thanks for sharing!
These were great! Tasty, rose nicely like a coffee shop muffin. I added nuts and topped with some streusel I had left over from something else. 5 stars!
These ended up super dense and did not rise at all. Sad.
Made these exactly as recipe calls for and they are ok taste more like apple than carrot
These are so yummy! I used a scant 1.5 C Oat Flour and 1 C almond yogurt + 1/2 C goat milk. I’d call it a forgiving recipe. Definitely delicious!
Oops! That comment was for the double chocolate muffins. These are next to try 🙂
The flavour of these muffins was pretty good, but mine stuck to the liners WAAY too much – I swear, 1/3 of the muffin was lost to the liner!
Try using parchment paper muffin tin liners – nothing will stick to them.
I had never used applesauce when baking, but will make these again. They were delicious!
These are great! I popped 2 carrots (chopped roughly) into the food processor so I didn’t have to shred by hand and it worked really well!
My 14 month old is being super picky about food recently, and she loves these! Thanks!
I found this recipe may be 3 weeks ago and they are in high demand!!! I just doubled the quantity of carrots. It is both easy and delicious.As of verifying if you can keep them 2/3 days, it has not been possible . Just one word: thanks!!!
Thanks, Patricia!
I’m thinking of doubling the carrots too. Did you omit anything else then?
Was hesitant with any new recipe, but have to say these muffins were excellent!! So moist and flavorful, thank you!!
Made these with Pam’s GF baking flour, turned out great!
These were so delicious! I was looking for a healthy breakfast that could travel if needed for my 12 month old, and they were a big hit with her, and my husband and me as well!
Made these for my Grandson and they are delicious!! Replaced the butter with a good olive oil.
Love these muffins! Do you know the nutrition facts for these? Trying to calculate carbs and fiber. Any help would be appreciated!
I don’t; sorry!