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Moist, well spiced and lightly sweet Carrot Cake Muffins are easy to make and perfect for breakfast, tea time or as a mid-afternoon snack.
Carrot Cake Muffins Recipe
You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m a card-carrying muffin lover from way back. Once I developed our delicious and easy base sour cream muffin recipe, there’s been no limit to the inspiration and variations.
This Carrot Cake Muffin recipe is our most recent favorite! Each of our muffin recipes are slightly different but all have beautiful domed tops, loads of flavor and plenty of suggestions for optional add-ins.
When you’re craving Carrot Cake but don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen, these Carrot Cake Muffins are sure to satisfy. No mixer required!
Ingredients overview
For the complete printable recipe scroll to the bottom of this post…
For the muffins:
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- baking powder
- baking soda
- ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves (or allspice)
- granulated sugar or brown sugar
- large eggs
- whole milk
- sour cream or full fat yogurt
- unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- vanilla extract
- grated carrots
Optional glaze:
- powdered sugar
- whole milk or cream
- vanilla extract
- chopped pecans for topping
How to make Carrot Cake Muffins
For the complete printable recipe scroll to the bottom of this post…
1. First prep the oven and muffin tin
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12 well muffin pan or paper liners with vegetable cooking spray; set aside.
2. Next combine the dry ingredients
In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, spices and sugar. Make a well in the center and set aside.
3. Now mix together the wet ingredients
In a small mixing bowl whisk the eggs until blended. Add the milk, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla then whisk again. Pour the sour cream mixture and carrots into the bowl with the flour. Fold together using a spatula until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Don’t over-mix.
4. Portion out the batter into the muffin tin
Using a large ice cream scoop, immediately portion out a heaping mound of batter and drop it into a muffin tin well taking care to leave the batter rounded on top.
Repeat with the remaining batter filling all 12 muffins wells. Set the unbaked muffins aside for 10 to 15 minutes before baking.
5. Bake the muffins
Bake at 400 degrees F for 16 to 20 minutes or until just set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet batter. Moist crumbs are good. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. The muffins can be slightly warm when glazed.
6. Prepare the glaze
While the muffins are cooling prepare the glaze. In a small deep bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.
Dip the each muffin into the glaze covering the muffin top completely. Sprinkle pecans on top and set on a wire rack to dry for a few minutes. (The glaze dries quickly) Serve and enjoy!
How to get big round bakery-style muffin tops
There are two key steps to achieving beautiful, big domed muffin tops.
- First use a large ice cream scoop to portion out the batter. Once scooped, drop the batter into the muffin well and don’t touch it again. Leave the batter in a mound and move onto the next one.
- Second leave the unbaked muffins out at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before baking. This is key to the really terrific rise and domed top.
That’s it! Easy, dependable and almost fool-proof big round topped muffins.
How to store and freeze Carrot Cake Muffins
Unglazed Carrot Cake Muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, refrigerate glazed muffins for up to 5 days. Leave chilled muffins out at room temperature or warm gently in the microwave before serving.
Unglazed muffins freeze well when stored in an airtight container or zipper bag. Thaw completely before adding the glaze or skip the glaze altogether. They’re really that good!
Optional Add-Ins and Variations
❤️ Granulated or brown sugar
Feel free to use light or dark brown sugar in place of granulated sugar if desired. The muffins will have a slight caramel flavor and be a little more moist. They’re great with either sugar so no worries.
🧁 Frost the muffins with a cream cheese icing or glaze
For a cream cheese glaze simply add a few ounces of room temperature cream cheese to the glaze mixture and blend on low with an electric mixer. Add additional milk if needed for desired consistency.
Instead of dipping the tops spread the cream cheese glaze over the muffins with an icing spatula.
You might also like to try the cream cheese frosting we use on our Carrot Cake Cookies.
Or, omit the glaze and brush the baked muffin tops with melted butter. Sprinkle or dip the muffins in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and serve.
🥕 Great add-ins
Raisins, currants and/or chopped nuts can all be added to the batter before baking. We recommend warming the raisins or currants in a small amount of orange juice in the microwave until steaming. Allow the raisins to rest and plump for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the plumped raisins and any orange juice (and some orange zest) to the batter with the carrots. Bake and enjoy!
Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (284g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (170g)
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup whole milk (2 oz)
- 1 cup sour cream or full fat yogurt (8oz)
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly (113g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups grated carrots lightly packed (165g) about 4 medium carrots
For the OPTIONAL glaze:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (156g)
- 2 ½ tablespoons whole milk or cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
To prepare the muffins:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 12 muffins cups or cupcake liners with vegetable cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and sugar. Make a well in the center.
- In a small mixing bowl whisk the eggs until blended. Add the milk, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla and whisk again. Pour the sour cream mixture and carrots into the flour. Fold together with a spatula until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Don’t over-mix.
- Using a large ice cream scoop, portion out a heaping mound of batter and drop into the muffin tin well leaving the batter rounded on top. Repeat with the remaining batter filling all 12 muffins wells. Set the unbaked muffins aside for 15 to 20 minutes before baking.
- Bake at 400°F for 16 to 20 minutes or until just set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet batter. Cool the muffins in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool. The muffins can be slightly warm when glazed.
To prepare the glaze:
- While the muffins are cooling prepare the glaze. In a small deep bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Dip the muffins (top down) into the glaze covering the muffin top completely. Sprinkle pecans on top and set on the wire rack to dry for a few minutes before serving. The glaze dries quickly.
Recipe Notes
Muffins can be frozen before adding the glaze. Thaw completely before glazing. OPTIONAL:
- Raisins, currants and/or chopped nuts can be added to the batter. We recommend plumping raisins first in a small amount of orange juice and microwave until steaming. Allow the raisins to rest for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until plumped. Add the raisins and any residual orange juice to the batter with the carrots.
- Omit the glaze and brush the tops of the baked muffins with melted butter. Sprinkle or dip the tops into a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.
- Cream cheese frosting can also be spread on top to mimic traditional carrot cake if preferred.
Nutrition
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