We don’t eat a lot of sweets but these Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins came about out of necessity – hehehe!

My husband recently returned home with a 10-pound bag of organic carrots. I love carrots but 10-pounds is a lot!

We roasted them, made Carrot and Ginger Soup, Carrot Salad with Jalapeno and Lime, Savory Carrot and Zucchini ‘Pancakes,‘ and we still had some leftover.

What else to do? Make Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins of course!

These Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins are not as healthy as most of the ‘treats’ on this website. They contain organic coconut sugar and have the option of being topped with an upgraded organic cream cheese icing (which I highly recommend).  You could easily prepare them for a birthday, a feast or just because you have some carrots on hand.

My girls are not crazy about muffins, especially gluten-free ones but they LOVED these. I even put the word ‘cake’ into the title to entice them into trying them – ha!

If you love carrots and a delicious, moist muffin, these Gluten-Free Carrot Cakes Muffins are for you.

Here’s what you do:

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins

(gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free optional)

Makes 9 muffins

Ingredients:

Soft butter or coconut oil for greasing the muffin cups or parchment muffin liners.

1 1/1 cups of gluten-free flour blend (I used Pamela’s)

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4-1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg (I use this Microplane for grating)

1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt

3 large organic eggs

3/4 cup of coconut sugar

1/2 cup of avocado oil

1/4 cup of applesauce

2 cups of shredded organic carrots

1/4 cup of walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and position your oven racks so that they are in the center.
2. Grease muffin cups or line with parchment cups.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
4. In a medium-size bowl, whisk the eggs, once broken, whisk in the sugar and continue to whisk for a couple of minutes.
5. Add in the applesauce and oil and mix well with the whisk.
6. Stir in the carrots and walnuts (if using).
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet using a wooden spoon. Incorporate all and mix until there is no trace of flour left.
8. Using an ice cream scooper (or a measuring cup), add equal amounts of the batter to the prepared muffin cups.
9. Place the muffins on the center rack in the oven and cook for around 30-40 minutes (use a toothpick to pierce the center of a muffin to test if it is done. It should come out clean).
10. Remove muffins when done and allow to cool completely before icing.

Upgraded Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of grass-fed or organic butter

3 ounces of grass-fed or organic cream cheese

1 cup of organic confectioners sugar (it’s free of cornstarch and other additives)

Zest of 1/2 lemon (again I use the Microplane for this)

Splash of pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese using an electric beater (or a whisk attachment on an electric mixer) on high until it is smooth and creamy.
2. Put the sugar in a sifter or a small mesh strainer and gradually sift it into the butter and cream cheese mixture. Continue to beat while adding the sugar until no lumps remain.
3. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix to combine.
4. When the muffins have cooled, spread on a thin layer of Lemon Cream Cheese Icing.

Surround yourself with loved ones, make a favourite cup of tea, sit down, savour the first bite and enjoy!