These gluten free vegan carrot muffins are moist and soft, filled with grated carrots, chopped walnuts and sweetened naturally with maple syrup and banana. A tasty little snack for any time of day.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- These muffins are moist and soft with a tad bit of gumminess from the oat flour
- Very filling, one muffin helps to keep me going for hours. I like to enjoy one at brekky time with a side of fruit.
- Stores great in the fridge, making them an ideal grab-and-go snack
- Very easy to make using readily available ingredients
- Dietary friendly: vegan and gluten-free, refined sugar-free, corn free, soy free* (soy may be present in the type of milk you use)
Ingredients You'll Need
Notes on some of the ingredients, the full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Gluten free all-purpose flour, you can select your preferred blend, to be sifted into the batter to help make the muffin fluffier.
Oat flour is the main flour to provide the body of the muffins. This flour will also be sifted. Ensure that the oat flour used is certified gluten-free as some are processed in facilities that also handle gluten. This is the gluten free oat flour I like (affiliate link).
Carrots will be grated into the batter, when the muffins are baked, little bits of are scattered throughout the muffins making it obvious they are carrot muffins.
Walnuts are chopped into small pieces and baked within and on top of the muffins, they are some lovely crunch and texture.
Baking powder and baking soda, are the leavening agent to help these muffins rise and not be dense. Make sure these are also GF.
Neutral oil, only a couple of tablespoons are used. You can select your preferred type such as vegetable, canola, or sunflower.
Maple syrup and mashed ripe banana are the natural sweeteners and binders for this recipe.
Vanilla extract elevates all of the flavors.
Unsweetened dairy-free milk will be combined with some vinegar to create a vegan buttermilk. Try making your own hemp seed milk to use in your baking.
Cinnamon and ginger for some delicious warming flavors. You can use as much of these spices as you like. I find half a teaspoon of each is perfect.
How to Make Gluten Free Vegan Carrot Muffins
Oven instructions and prepare a muffin pan. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180°C (356°F) and grease 8 cups in your non-stick muffin pan with some neutral oil. I used a muffin pan with cups that measure 7cm x 3cm / 3in x 1in.
Make the vegan buttermilk by combining the dairy-free milk and vinegar in a bowl and then setting it aside for 5-10 minutes.
Add the wet ingredients, mashed banana and the grated carrot into the bowl with the vegan buttermilk, and whisk until well combined.
Make the batter. Sift the gluten-free all-purpose flour, oat flour, spices, baking powder, and baking soda into the wet mixture. Fold until all ingredients are combined to create a wet batter.
Crush the walnuts in a mortar and pestle, then fold them into the batter. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes.
Create the topping. Crush more walnuts in the mortar and pestle add a touch of maple syrup and combine them evenly ensuring all walnuts have some maple syrup on them.
Fill your muffin pan. Evenly distribute the batter into 8 muffin cups. Then distribute the topping evenly over each muffin. Using the back of a wet spoon, gently flatten each muffin, this will help to create rounder and even muffin tops.
Baking instructions. Bake the muffins for 19 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (a few crumbs is normal).
Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the tray for 5 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Kitchen Scale
I always use a kitchen scale when baking to ensure the same results every time.
Tips
When baking, I always recommend measuring your ingredients using a kitchen scale, this will ensure that you achieve exact results every time.
Letting the batter rest for 5 minutes helps create a fluffier muffin as the vinegar and the leavening agents react.
Bake your muffins in the center of your oven, where it is the hottest.
Once the muffins have completely cooled to room temperature, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Other Vegan Gluten Free Muffins To Try
Vegan banana pumpkin muffins are made with almond meal, savory zucchini muffins are also made with almond meal.
You might be interested to check out a list of vegan muffin recipes.
If you love ginger, check out this vegan gluten free gingerbread cookies recipe.
Did you make this? I'd love to know! Leave me a comment below with a ★★★★★ rating or tag @plantbasedfolk on social media.
Easy Vegan Carrot Muffins (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 80 g Gluten free All Purpose flour
- 130 g Oat flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Ground ginger
- 35 g Walnuts crushed
Wet Ingredients
- 125 g Carrot grated
- 135 g Ripe banana mashed
- 80 ml Maple Syrup
- 90 ml Dairy free milk
- 1 teaspoon Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 tbs Neutral oil + more for greasing muffin tray
Topping
- 35 g Walnuts crushed
- ½ teaspoon Maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180°C (356°F) and grease 8 cups in your non-stick muffin pan with some neutral oil. I used a muffin pan with cups that measure 7cm x 3cm / 3in x 1in
- Whisk the dairy-free milk and vinegar in a bowl and then setting it aside for 5-10 minutes. Add the other wet ingredients and the grated carrot into the bowl with the vegan buttermilk, and whisk until well combined125 g Carrot, 135 g Ripe banana, 80 ml Maple Syrup, 90 ml Dairy free milk, 1 teaspoon Vinegar, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, 2 tbs Neutral oil
- Sift the gluten-free all-purpose flour, oat flour, spices, baking powder, and baking soda into the wet mixture. Fold until all ingredients are combined to create a batter. Fold the walnuts into the batter. Then allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes. See note 1.80 g Gluten free All Purpose flour, 130 g Oat flour, ½ teaspoon Baking soda, ¼ teaspoon Baking powder, ½ teaspoon Ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon Ground ginger, 35 g Walnuts
- Create the topping by combining the crushed walnuts and maple syrup in a separate small bowl.35 g Walnuts, ½ teaspoon Maple syrup
- Fill your muffin pan. Evenly distribute the batter into 8 muffin cups. Then distribute the topping evenly over each muffin. Using the back of a wet spoon, gently flatten each muffin, this will help to create rounder and even muffin tops
- Baking instructions. Bake the muffins for 19 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the tray for 5 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Video
Notes
Equipment
Nutrition
N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.
Taji
These are delicious! Truthfully, I swapped out the bananas for overly ripe pears from my garden and used fresh ginger, whole wheat/white flour (I didn't have any oat flour) and only used a tiny bit of maple syrup. Put the wet ingredients in my BlendTec (because I was feeling lazy). Let the wet/dry sit for like 15 mins....OMG the muffins are lovely!
Janelle Hama
Hi Taji,
I am so glad you enjoyed these, thank you for making these muffins!!! Ripe pears sound amazing!
JS
Jennifer
These are amazing muffins! I was craving carrot muffins so hard when I found this recipe and unlike many gluten-free recipes, this one was moist and full of flavor! I froze a few muffins to eat later, but I'll be making these again!
Lisa
I made these carrot muffins for a friend who is vegan. She said they were the best.
Erica
I took your 'let the batter rest for 5' advice and actually forgot about it for about a half hour - they were THE FLUFFIEST!
Janelle Hama
Awesome!!! Yes they get fluffier the longer you leave the batter to rest, but I thought most people don't have time these days, so 5 minutes works!