These gluten-free Oatmeal Carrot Muffins are loaded with fiber! Made with oats, oat flour, shredded carrots and infused with spices, raisins, and optional nuts, kids and adults alike go crazy for them. Recipe created in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill.
When it comes to muffins, I am a big fan of trying to balance sweet with savory and reduce the amount of added sugar. These carrot cake muffins are a play on carrot cake but loaded with lots of fiber from the oats and shredded carrots.
If you haven’t baked with oats and oat flour before, this is the perfect recipe to get you started! I partnered with Bob’s Red Mill to create this carrot oatmeal muffin recipe for you and to showcase how easy it is to use oats to add fiber to healthy baked goods.
With Easter just around the corner and so many of us staying at home right now, I thought it would be fun to create a healthier Easter dessert that could travel well in case you want to send a care package to your family and friends you might not spend the holiday with this year.
I tested these carrot cake muffins a bunch of times and made sure to test how they defrost from frozen as well as from being refrigerated. I am happy to tell you that the crumb and texture is fantastic after both refrigeration and freezing!
If you live in the same town as your family, you could make a batch, frost them, put in a box and leave on their front porch or steps on Easter morning with a sweet note.
If you live a distance away, I recommend baking the muffins, allowing them to cool completely, and freezing. I would then individually wrap them in tinfoil and place them in a shipping box lined with parchment or wax paper. Include a note with the ingredients and instructions for the frosting and ship to your loved ones.
Carrot Muffin Ingredients
- Bob’s Red Mill Organic Rolled Oats (regular or thick will work)
- Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Grated Nutmeg
- Ground Allspice
- Ground Cloves
- Finely Ground Sea Salt
- Eggs (at room temperature)
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Avocado Oil, Coconut Oil, Butter, or Ghee (any will work)
- Organic Sugar
- Carrots
- Raisins
- Chopped Walnuts or Pecans (optional)
Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- Organic Powdered Sugar
- Cream Cheese
- Salted Butter
- Sea Salt
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Pineapple Juice (from a can of pineapple)
Tips to make Oatmeal Carrot Muffins
These carrot muffins are very easy to make and naturally gluten-free (as long as you use GF Oats!). Here are some tips and substitutions to ensure that they come out perfectly every single time!
- Don’t worry about buying separate Oat Flour. You can make oat flour in under 1 minute in your blender. Oat flour is 1:1 so if you need 1 cup of oat flour, you blend up 1 cup of oats. Just pour rolled oats into a dry blender (this is important, any moisture at all and the oats will not turn to flour) and process on high for 30 to 45 seconds until oats turn into a powdery flour. Note this may take a little longer if you are not using a high-powered blender.
- For the frosting: if you don’t have powdered sugar. You can make powdered sugar from regular sugar in about 1 minute. Follow the same instructions above for Oat Flour.
- Make sure you set out your eggs, butter, and cream cheese so that they are at room temperature when you are ready to bake the carrot oatmeal muffins and frost them.
- On that note, the muffins alone are naturally Dairy-Free so leave off the icing for anyone avoiding Dairy.
- I have tried this recipe with avocado oil and Ghee. Any mild oil (refined coconut oil, sunflower oil, etc.) or butter will work.
- If you want to save time, buy pre-shredded carrots and roughly chop them (they are usually very long).
- The nuts are optional. If you can have nuts, I highly recommend adding either chopped walnuts or chopped pecans as they add a lot of flavor and texture!
- As for the sugar, I tested these muffins with alternative sugars and wasn’t thrilled with the results. The recipe makes 12 muffins and uses 1/2 cup of organic sugar which works out to be 2 teaspoons of sugar per muffin. If you are concerned about sugar, you could experiment with using monkfruit or reducing the sugar even further to 1/3 of a cup.
Storing the Muffins
Once baked and completely cooled, these oatmeal carrot muffins can be refrigerated (for up to 5 days) or frozen (for up to 3 months). I tested both frosted and unfrosted muffins and they both came out great.
The only caveat I would add is that if you plan to freeze them to ship to someone, I would recommend sending unfrosted.
To refrigerate: Bake, cool, frost if desired. Place in a glass or plastic container with a lid. Store in a single layer if frosted. These carrot muffins can be eaten chilled directly from the fridge or set out to warm up a bit for 15 to 20 minutes before eating.
To freeze: Bake, cool, frost if desired. Place muffins on a baking sheet or tray in a single layer with a bit of space around each muffin. Set the tray in the freezer to chill. Once completely frozen, transfer to a freezer bag or other freezer-safe container. Defrost as needed by setting on a plate on the counter.
So, who is ready to bake some healthier carrot muffins? I can’t wait to hear how you like these! They make a great dessert, healthy snack or even a sweet breakfast with some scrambled eggs and fruit!
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
These gluten-free Oatmeal Carrot Muffins are loaded with fiber! Made with oats, oat flour, shredded carrots and infused with spices, raisins, and optional nuts, kids and adults alike go crazy for them.
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2` teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup avocado oil
- 1/2 cup organic sugar
- 2 cups shredded carrots approximately 4 medium peeled carrots
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter room temperatrure
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 2 Tablespoons pineapple juice
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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Begin by setting out eggs so that they come to room temperature. Next, shred carrots and set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.
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In a mixing bowl, combine oat flour, rolled oats, baking powder, spices, and salt. Whisk or mix until well combined.
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In a separate bowl, beat eggs with vanilla, oil, and sugar.
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Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix using a spatula or whisk until well combined.
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Fold in shredded carrots, raisins, and chopped nuts.
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Evenly divide batter into 12 part muffin pan lined with muffin liners.
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Bake for 28 to 30 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
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Allow muffins to cool for about 10 minutes in the pan and then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before frosting or eating. The texture will be too crumbly when warm.
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Combine room temperature cream cheese, and butter with powdered sugar, vanilla and salt in a mxing bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat until mixed. Slowly add pineapple juice and continue beating until frosting is light and whipped. Use immediatley or store in a container in the fridge until ready to use.
Note: the Nutrtition Facts are calculated WITH the frosting. Without the frosting, each muffin is 280 calories, 10g sugar, 4g protein, and 19g fat.
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
More Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes:
BEST Ever Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake
7 Gluten-Free Mug Cake Recipes
Gluten Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Cranberry Pistachio Gluten Free Biscotti
DISCLOSURE: This post is part of a series of posts sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. Bob’s Red Mill has compensated me for my time to develop this recipe and share my experiences with their products. Thank you for supporting the brands that make EverydayMaven possible. All opinions are my own.
Perfect timing Alyssa! We made these early this morning and already ate 4. Saving the rest in the freezer for future sweet cravings. We are thinking about making some to send to family in Florida – would you recommend icing them first?
So happy to hear you loved them Maggie! Glad you had the ingredients on hand 🙂 As for mailing the muffins, I recommend mailing them UNFROSTED. Include a note and the ingredients for the frosting. I think that the frosting will get too damaged in transit and since it has cream cheese and butter, wouldn’t be comfortable with it sitting out for who knows how long. The muffins on the other hand will do just fine!