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Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

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healthy carrot cake muffins with cream cheese icing on top, stacked on top of each other.

Perfect carrot cake muffins, made healthy! Gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, yet oh-SO delicious. These healthy carrot cake muffins come together in just one bowl, in about 30 minutes!

What You’ll Need to Make Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

Oat Flour – You can either buy pre-ground oat flour, or simply grind oats into a flour yourself. I always make my oat flour myself because it’s cheaper, and super easy. To do this, place rolled oats into a blender and blend until a flour forms, and no large oats pieces remain.

Apple Sauce – If you don’t have any apple sauce, feel free to use 1/2 cup of mashed banana instead! Though if you do use apple sauce, please make sure it’s unflavored and unsweetened for this recipe.

Maple Syrup – These refined sugar-free carrot cake muffins are naturally sweetened with maple syrup. I love the flavor of maple syrup in these muffins, you won’t even miss the sugar. However, if you don’t have any maple syrup, you can use an equal amount of honey instead!

healthy carrot cake muffins with cream cheese icing on top and milk on the side.

Tips and Tricks

  • Avoid over-mixing the muffin batter! If you mix too much, your muffins will turn out tough, instead of soft and tender. Therefore, mix all ingredients until just combined, then stop.
  • Let these healthy carrot cake muffins cool completely before icing. I know it’s tempting to ice and eat these delicious little muffins right away. But if they’re too hot when iced, the icing will melt and slide right off. So practice some self-control, and leave them to cool for at least 20 minutes first!
  • These muffins are best stored at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to three days. However, if you live in a warm climate (or are baking these in the summer), you may want to consider storing them in the fridge. If stored in a very warm place, the cream cheese icing may spoil.

Adjust This Recipe to Your Dietary Needs

Make it Vegan: While I haven’t tested this option myself just yet, you should be able to make these vegan carrot cake muffins by substituting the eggs for flax eggs! Or, use this Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer in place of the eggs in this recipe.

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing
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Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

5 from 1 vote
Recipe by Samantha Course: Snacks, DessertDifficulty: Medium
Servings

12

muffins
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

Perfect carrot cake muffins, made healthy! Gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, yet oh-SO delicious. These healthy carrot cake muffins come together in just one bowl, in about 30 minutes!

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs

  • 1/2 cup apple sauce, unsweetened

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

  • 1/4 cup milk, I used non-dairy milk

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 2 cups oat flour

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup shredded carrots

  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

  • 1/4 cup raisins

  • For the cream cheese icing:

  • 1/4 cup softened cream cheese, I used non-dairy cream cheese

  • 3 tablespoons softened butter, I used non-dairy butter

  • 2 cups powdered sugar

  • 2-3 tablespoons milk, I used non-dairy milk

  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
  • In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, apple sauce, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract.
  • Add in the oat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Mix until everything is just combined.
  • Then, fold in the shredded carrots, chopped walnuts, and raisins until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
  • Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted down the center of one muffin comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  • While muffins cool, make the cream cheese icing by adding all ingredients to a bowl and whisking until smooth and well-combined. Then, spread or pipe cream cheese icing on top of each cooled muffin.

Recipe Video

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30 Minutes or Less

Almond Flour Hummingbird Cupcakes (Pineapple Coconut Cupcakes)

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close-up image of an almond flour hummingbird cupcake

These hummingbird cupcakes are the perfect spring-time sweet treat! They’re grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, topped off with a delicious cream cheese frosting.

almond flour hummingbird cupcakes on a baking sheet with almond milk on the side.

It’s funny because I’m literally eating a hummingbird cupcake (and getting cream cheese frosting all over my keyboard) as I write this. I’m full-on addicted to the babies. They’re sweet, but not too sweet. Incredibly versatile – enjoy them as a snack, dessert, or heck you can even eat them for breakfast!

The first time I ever ate a hummingbird-anything was at this cute little muffin place by my parents house. My mom got me to try one of their hummingbird muffins and I’ve been hooked ever since. I then discovered hummingbird cake and was like – woahhhh, I didn’t know life could get EVEN better! And in case you’re like, Sam WTF is a hummingbird cupcake?! It’s similar to carrot cake, but has crushed pineapple and shredded coconut instead of carrots. It also features a cream cheese frosting, just like carrot cake. If you’re looking for a muffin instead of a cupcake, simply make these without the cream cheese frosting. My suggestion here is – take a plain cupcake, top it with a little crunchy almond butter, and enjoy it as a sweet afternoon snack!

an almond flour hummingbird cupcake on a baking sheet.

What You’ll Need To Make Almond Flour Hummingbird Cupcakes

Almond Flour – I chose almond flour as the base of these cupcakes for two reasons. One – it’s grain-free, making these cupcakes so light and healthy that you could literally eat them for breakfast if you wanted to. And two – it yields a soft, crumbly cupcake that doesn’t fall apart when bitten into, but also isn’t at all dense. I specifically used this Anthony’s Organic Almond Flour, it’s fairly priced and bakes like a charm!

Coconut Sugar – Just half a cup of coconut sugar is all you need in these cupcakes! This is what I mean by they’re sweet, but not too sweet. Coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index than usual white sugar. It also contains many more vitamins and minerals than most other sugars. If you don’t have coconut sugar, you can either use brown sugar, cane sugar, or white sugar instead.

Mashed Bananas – You won’t find a single hummingbird recipe without mashed bananas in it. In conjunction with the pineapple and coconut, a little banana is truly magnificent. It adds a touch of sweetness and incredible flavor. Though if you’re not a banana fan, you can use one cup of apple sauce instead.

Crushed Pineapple – Like I said earlier, crushed pineapple is a main ingredient in these hummingbird cupcakes. I buy canned crushed pineapple and rinse out the liquid before using in this recipe. Though you can use finely chopped fresh pineapple instead.

Shredded Coconut – Similar to the crushed pineapple, these wouldn’t be hummingbird cupcakes without a little coconut. My one thing when baking with coconut is to make sure it’s unsweetened. Our cupcakes are sweet enough!

overhead image of almond flour hummingbird cupcakes on a baking sheet

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

  • Make it Paleo: Leave out the dairy-free cream cheese frosting and you’ll have delicious little paleo hummingbird muffins!
  • Make it Vegan: Use your favorite egg-substitute in place of the eggs in this recipe. I have not tested this recipe using flax eggs, though I can image that it will yield slightly less-fluffy, but still delicious cupcakes.
  • Sugar-Free Option: Leave out the frosting and sub 1/2 cup of your favorite sugar-free sweetener for the coconut sugar. You can also leave out the coconut sugar altogether, if you’d like!

Almond Flour Hummingbird Cupcakes

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: DessertDifficulty: Intermediate
Servings

12

cupcakes
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

These hummingbird cupcakes are the perfect spring-time sweet treat! They’re grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, topped off with a delicious cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups almond flour, see Notes

  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

  • 1 cup mashed banana (about 2 very ripe bananas)

  • 2 eggs, see Notes

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

  • For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 1/2 cup dairy-free cream cheese

  • 1/4 cup dairy-free butter, softened

  • 2 cups powdered sugar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 1
  • In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 2
  • In a small bowl, mix together the coconut oil, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla extract.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 3
  • Add the wet ingredients, crushed pineapple, and shredded coconut into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 4
  • Fill each cupcake liner with 1/4 cup of batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 5
  • Transfer cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.DSC_0118Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 6
  • Make the frosting by adding all ingredients to a bowl and beating with either a hand or stand mixer until combined. Dollop frosting onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!DSC_0118Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 7

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Almond Flour: Be sure to use almond flour, not almond meal.
  • Coconut Oil: You can use 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil or melted butter instead.
  • Eggs: I like to remove my eggs from the fridge a couple hours before baking. If your eggs are too cold when added to the batter, they might cause your coconut oil to re-harden.

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30 Minutes or Less

Gluten-Free Coffee Cake Muffins

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gluten-free coffee cake muffins on parchment paper with milk on the side

Perfectly fluffy and delicious coffee cake muffins made gluten-free, with a dairy-free option as well! They’re irresistibly soft, sweet, and complete with a cinnamon streusel topping. I especially love enjoying a warm gluten-free muffin with my coffee in the morning – there’s no better way to start the day!

three gluten-free coffee cake muffins stacked on top of each other

What You’ll Need For This Recipe

Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour – I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-1 Baking Flour in most of my gluten-free baking recipes. It bakes up beautifully and can pretty much be used as a 1:1 swap for regular all purpose flour! However, you can use any gluten-free all purpose baking flour you’d like. Though when it comes to gluten-free flours, it’s super important to the integrity of your bake that your flour contains xanthan gum. Xanthan gum creates structure and will essentially hold these muffins together. Therefore, if your gluten-free flour doesn’t have xanthan gum, supplement it with 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum in this gluten-free coffee cake muffins recipe.

Butter – Any butter you’d like will work here! Salted, unsalted, and non-dairy butter all bake perfectly in this recipe. When it comes to salted butter, I truly don’t believe any butter has enough salt in it to make any difference in a recipe. So, feel free to use whatever butter you have on hand!

Eggs – Bring your eggs to room temperature before getting started on this delicious breakfast or snack recipe. By doing this, we reduce the risk of the cold eggs re-solidifying the melted butter. It’s also always a great rule-of-thumb to have all ingredients at room temperature before starting on any baked goods recipe!

Top Tips

  • You can freeze leftover gluten-free muffins for up to 3 months! I currently have half my batch in the freezer right now, ensuring they don’t go bad before I have a chance to eat them. Though for muffins you plan on eating right away, simple store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
  • Avoid over-mixing the batter, as this could result in tough and chewy muffins! Therefore, when folding the wet ingredients into the dry, simply mix until no more flour pockets remain. Once just combined, put down the spatula and head straight into the next step!
  • These muffins are best enjoyed warm! So to warm them up after baking, I recommend either popping them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, or into the toaster for a couple of minutes. Once warm, they’re irresistibly soft and flufy!

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

Make it Vegan – While I haven’t tried this variation myself yet, you may be able to get away with replacing the eggs in these muffins with a vegan egg substitute. I’ve used the Bob’s Red Mill Vegan Egg Substitute in other recipes, and have almost always found it successful. Flax eggs might work here as well, though expect a slightly more dense gluten-free muffin if going that route.

Cut the Recipe in Half – This recipe makes 24 gluten-free coffee cake muffins, but if that sounds like too much for you, you can easily cut this recipe in half! That’s right, use half of all ingredients listed for just 12 perfect muffins.

Use Regular Flour – Feel free to simply swap the gluten free all purpose flour for regular all purpose flour in this recipe.

Other Delicious Mix-Ins

Instead of the cinnamon and streusel topping, feel free to add one of the following to your gluten-free muffins:

  • Blueberries
  • Sliced Bananas
  • Chocolate Chips
  • Cranberries and Orange Zest
  • Lemon Juice and Poppyseeds
  • Strawberries
  • Raspberries
  • or simply leave them plain!
Perfect Gluten-Free Coffee Cake Muffins
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Perfect Gluten-Free Coffee Cake Muffins

3 from 87 votes
Recipe by Samantha Course: BreakfastDifficulty: Easy
Servings

24

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

Perfectly fluffy and delicious coffee cake muffins made gluten-free, with a dairy-free option as well! They’re irresistibly soft, fluffy, sweet, and complete with a cinnamon streusel topping. I especially love enjoying a warm gluten-free muffin with my coffee in the morning – there’s no better way to start the day!

Ingredients

  • For the gluten-free muffins:

  • 3 cups gluten-free all purpose baking flour

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1 cup butter, melted (I used non-dairy butter)

  • 3/4 cup milk (I used non-dairy almond milk)

  • 3 eggs, at room temperature

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • For the crumb topping:

  • 1 cup gluten-free all purpose baking flour

  • 1 cup brown sugar

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened

  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
  • Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
    • gluten-free coffee cake muffins step 1
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
    • gluten-free coffee cake muffins step 2
  • Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Fill each muffin mold with about ¼ cup of batter.
    • gluten-free coffee cake muffins step 3
  • Mix together all crumb topping ingredients in a bowl, then sprinkle over each muffin.
    • gluten-free coffee cake muffins step 4
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted down the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
    • gluten-free coffee cake muffins step 5

Notes

  • Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour: I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour.
  • Butter: I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks to make this recipe dairy-free.

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Other Delicious Gluten-Free Recipes You Must Try!

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Dairy-Free

Hummingbird Cupcakes (GF/DF)

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Straight on shot of hummingbird cupcakes sitting on a cutting board.

These hummingbird cupcakes are the perfect spring-time sweet treat! They taste incredibly decedent despite being grain, dairy, and refined sugar-free. These adorable cupcakes are chock-full of delicious crushed pineapple and shredded coconut. And in case you thought they couldn’t get any better, they’re also topped off with a dairy-free cream cheese frosting that is out-of-this-world good.

Hummingbird cupcake topped with pineapple and toasted coconut with a bite taken out.

It’s funny because I’m literally eating a hummingbird cupcake (and getting cream cheese frosting all over my keyboard) as I write this. I’m full-on addicted to the babies. They’re sweet, but not too sweet. Incredibly versatile – enjoy them as a snack, dessert, or heck you can even eat them for breakfast!

The first time I ever ate a hummingbird-anything was at this cute little muffin place by my parents house. My mom got me to try one of their hummingbird muffins and I’ve truly been hooked ever since. I then discovered hummingbird cake and was like – woahhhh, I didn’t know life could get EVEN better! And in case you’re like, Sam WTF is a hummingbird cupcake?! It’s similar to carrot cake, but has crushed pineapple and shredded coconut instead of carrots. It also features a cream cheese frosting, just like carrot cake. If you’re looking for a muffin instead of a cupcake, simply make these without the cream cheese frosting. My suggestion here is – take a plain cupcake, top it with a little crunchy almond butter, and enjoy it as a sweet afternoon snack!

What You Need To Make Hummingbird Cupcakes

Almond Flour – I chose almond flour as the base of these cupcakes for two reasons. One, it’s grain-free, making these cupcakes so light and healthy that you could literally eat them for breakfast if you wanted to. And two, it yields a soft, crumbly cupcake that doesn’t fall apart when bitten into, but also isn’t too dense.

Coconut Sugar – Just a 1/2 cup of coconut sugar is all you need in these cupcakes! This is what I mean by they’re sweet, but not too sweet. Coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index than the usual white sugar. It also contains many more vitamins and minerals than most other sugars. If you don’t have coconut sugar, you can either use brown sugar, cane sugar, or white sugar instead.

Mashed Bananas – You won’t find a single hummingbird recipe without mashed bananas in it. In conjunction with the pineapple and coconut, a little banana is truly magnificent. It adds a touch of sweetness and incredible flavor. You can use 1 cup of apple sauce instead, if you’d like.

Crushed Pineapple – Like I said earlier, crushed pineapple is a main ingredient in these hummingbird cupcakes. I buy canned crushed pineapple and rinse out the liquid before using in this recipe. Though you can use finely chopped fresh pineapple instead.

Shredded Coconut – Similar to the crushed pineapple, these wouldn’t be hummingbird cupcakes without a little coconut. My one thing when baking with coconut is to make sure it is unsweetened. Our cupcakes are sweet enough, we don’t need the coconut adding to that.

Adjust This Recipe To Your Dietary Needs

  • Make it Paleo – Leave out the dairy-free cream cheese frosting and you’ll have yourself delicious little paleo hummingbird muffins!
  • Make it Vegan – Use your favorite egg-substitute in place of the eggs in this recipe. I have not tested this recipe using flax eggs, though I can image that it will yield less-fluffy but still tasty cupcakes.
  • Make it Sugar-Free – Leave out the frosting and sub 1/2 cup of your favorite sugar-free sweetener for the coconut sugar. You can also leave out the coconut sugar altogether, if you’d like!
Hummingbird Cupcakes (GF/DF)
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Hummingbird Cupcakes (GF/DF)

5 from 1 vote
Recipe by Samantha Russo Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Intermediate
Servings

12

cupcakes
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups Almond Flour, see NOTES

  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar

  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

  • 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

  • 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted, see NOTES

  • 1 Cup Mashed Banana, about 2 bananas

  • 2 Eggs, see NOTES

  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

  • 1/2 Cup Crushed Pineapple, drained

  • 1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut, unsweetened

  • For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 1/2 Cup Dairy-Free Cream Cheese

  • 1/4 Cup Dairy-Free Butter, softened

  • 2 Cups Powdered Sugar

  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake liners.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 1
  • In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 2
  • In a small bowl, mix together the coconut oil, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla extract.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 3
  • Add the wet ingredients, crushed pineapple, and shredded coconut into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 4
  • Fill each cupcake liner with 1/4 cup of batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 5
  • Transfer cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.DSC_0118Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 6
  • Make the frosting by adding all ingredients to a bowl and beating with either a hand or stand mixer until combined. Dollop frosting onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!DSC_0118Hummingbird Cupcakes Process Photo 7

Notes

  • Almond Flour: Be sure to use almond flour, not almond meal.
  • Coconut Oil: You can use 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil or melted butter instead.
  • Eggs: I like to remove my eggs from the fridge a couple hours before baking. If your eggs are too cold when added to the batter, they might cause your coconut oil to re-harden.

Did you make this recipe?

Share it and tag @samdoesherbest on Instagram!

Like this recipe?

Follow us @samdoesherbest on Pinterest

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