Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins are soft, moist, and filled with warming flavors just like traditional carrot cake. Ready in 30 minutes using classic baking ingredients!
When it's spring and I'm not making carrot cake, I'm making these vegan carrot cake muffins. They're perfect for breakfast or as a snack (they freeze well!), and they're perfectly moist thanks to freshly shredded carrots.
Carrot muffins take the sweet, warming cinnamon flavors of carrot cake and combine them with the moist texture of zucchini bread. I include recipe options for a classic crumb topping or a buttery oat topping.
Looing for more vegan muffins? They're one of my favorite things to bake! Check out these vegan banana muffins, zucchini banana muffins, or strawberry lemon muffins.
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Ingredients
- Dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg.
- Soy milk is my go-to non-dairy milk, but any kind of vegan milk works. Almond milk or oat milk are two good options.
- Apple cider vinegar: The original recipe used a flax egg, but I now like to use apple cider vinegar in vegan baking recipes because the vinegar reacts with the baking soda to help the muffins rise. White vinegar also works here.
- Canola oil is my go-to oil for these muffins, but any neutral oil or even olive oil works.
- Carrots: I like to grate my own carrots from whole carrots, but you can cut back on prep time with a bag of matchstick carrots. Note that because they are thicker, matchstick carrots don't dissolve into the muffins as much.
Step by step photos
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full ingredients and instructions.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined. Don't overmix. Fold in the shredded carrots. This is a relatively thick muffin batter.
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners or spray with oil. Add ¼ cup of muffin batter to each tin. Make the crumb topping and sprinkle across the tops of the muffins (not pictured.)
- Bake on the middle oven rack at 425F for just 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn the heat down to 350F and continue baking for 16-18 minutes, or until the muffins are domed, golden, and pulling away from the pan. The crumb topping should be golden.
Cassidy's tips
- Muffin batter consistency: Muffin batter should be on the thicker side. It should be closer to scoopable than pourable.
- Oil vs butter: For a richer bakery-style vegan muffin, try using melted vegan butter or coconut oil in place of oil. I find that oil gives muffins a more tender crumb, but melted butter provides a richer flavor.
- Muffin liners: These muffins can be made with or without muffin liners.
- Half whole wheat: Replace half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for an earthier flavor
- Nuts: Add up to 1 cup of chopped pecan, walnuts, or chocolate chips to the batter. Fold into the batter after folding in the carrots.
Storage notes
- Freezing instructions: Muffins can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Let them cool to room temperature before freezing. They thaw quickly at room temperature.
- I recommend storing muffins in the fridge because they have a high moisture level and won't dry out. This keeps them fresh for 4-5 days.
More vegan favorites
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Recipe
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Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
Ingredients
For the muffins
- 3 whole carrots
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup soy milk any non-dairy milk works
- ⅓ cup neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the crumb topping
- 3 tablespoons softened vegan butter or softened coconut oil
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners or lightly spray with cooking spray. Peel the carrots then grate them on the large holes on a box grater. Measure out 1 cup of grated carrots.
- To make the crumb topping, mix together the softened vegan butter (or coconut oil), ⅓ cup flour, ¼ cup sugar, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
- Pour in the soy milk, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Stir until just combined. The batter should be thick enough to scoop but not dry. Use a spatula to fold in the 1 cup of shredded carrot until just combined.
- Add ¼ cup batter to each muffin tin. Crumble the crumb topping across the top of each muffin.
- Bake at 425F for just 5 minutes. Without opening the oven, turn the heat down to 350F. Continue baking for 16-18 minutes, or until the muffins are domed and the crumb topping is golden.
- Remove muffins from the tin and let cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store at room temperature for 3-4 days in a closed container, or keep refrigerated for 5-6 days.
- Flour: These muffins can be made with half whole wheat in place of white wheat. It will yield a slightly denser muffin. Use the spoon and level method to measure flour. Take a spoon and scoop flour into the measuring cup until overflowing. Use the back of a knife to wipe excess flour off the top. Do not pack flour into cup.
- Add-ins: Fold in up to ½ cup chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or your other favorite add-in to the batter.
- Rolled oat topping: A previous version of this recipe had a rolled oat crumb topping that was made by combining 1 cup rolled oats, ¼ cup melted vegan butter, and ¼ cup brown sugar.
Nutrition
Mr. Wilson
Mr. Wilson wants you to know that this recipe was originally shared February 2020 and was updated in February 2026. The recipe was adjusted significantly because I've learned a bit more about vegan baking in the past 6 years.
Instead of a flax egg, I adjusted baking powder and baking soda amounts and added apple cider vinegar. I added an option for a classic crumb topping and moved the original oat topping to the recipe notes.
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