Easy Vegan Carrot Muffins (No Added Sugar!)
Looking for a moist, healthy vegan carrot muffins recipe? This is IT! With no added sugar, this recipe uses applesauce and shredded carrot like a boss! Still lightly sweet, it’s the perfect muffin for picky eaters.
Hello friends! Welcome to Ironwild Fitness – my little part of the internet. 🙂
I’m Chantal – mom of two and certified personal trainer. If you’re new to my blog, welcome!
I share everything from my personal weight loss journey to healthy recipes like this one here on Ironwild Fitness. 🙂
In this post, I’d love to share a recipe that I recently created after tweaking a couple of Pinterest recipes. If you’d like to skip to the recipe, go ahead!
If you’re all about the backstory, then keep reading. Because you better believe that there’s a story behind every recipe here…lol!
The Story Behind My Carrot Muffins
The little person liked my vegan carrot muffins, which is always a plus! He subsequently ate two more.
Muffin face.
Okay so here’s how it happened – I had too many carrots. But wait – there’s more. Lol.
With COVID-19, I have been doing pretty much all of my grocery shopping online. So, I’ve been making my selections online and basically crossing my fingers that I’d actually get what I ordered each time.
I have made many mistakes when grocery shopping online – like ordering two apples instead of two pounds of apples.
Or buying tiny or giant containers of condiments.
I have so far accidentally purchased a miniature can of Parmesan cheese, and a year’s supply of ketchup.
Seriously.
It’s mostly because I’m a pretty visual person and I’m not always good at visualizing products in ounces or lbs.
So naturally, when I ordered whole carrots, I accidentally ordered a 5lb bag.
And even though 5lbs doesn’t seem like a lot, my family just wasn’t eating them fast enough. My carrots had sprouted after a few short weeks in the fridge and I needed to use them up.
I am one of those people who doesn’t like to waste food, and I’m really bad at getting veggies into my kids sometimes. (I go through phases. I’m just being honest!)
Related Reading: 15 Healthier Food Choices To Make When Grocery Shopping
So I knew that I wanted to make something carrot-cake-related.
But I also knew that if I made a true carrot cake complete with delicious cream cheese frosting, I’d be defeating the purpose of the carrots. You know, I wanted it to be healthier than that.
So I started looking for a healthy carrot muffin. I’m not vegan, but I wanted to see how good a vegan recipe could actually be.
I know that I could cut back on animal products in general, but part of me also wanted to set out to prove that not all vegan recipes are gross.
(I do actually enjoy a lot of vegan meals and recipes!)
So, like I do with many recipes, I hopped on Pinterest. When I create a recipe or even just want to try a new one, I usually click on at least three from other blogs and compare ingredients.
I want to know what ingredients they all have in common, as well as what works with what I already have on hand.
I saw some great recipes, but knew immediately that I’d want to tweak things to work for me.
In this case, I knew I’d be using peanut butter, applesauce, and a bit of honey unlike the other recipes I found. (They called for Agave nectar, almond butter, and Maple syrup.)
I trusted my gut entirely on this one, and my guestimates were pretty good, if I do say so myself.
I have made many a recipe with applesauce in place of sugar and sometimes eggs, so I kind of already knew what the end texture would be.
Now, I have a great vegan carrot muffin recipe to share with you!
The result is a slightly sweet, slightly nutty and very moist muffin that pairs perfectly with your morning coffee or tea.
And as you can see from the picture, my son liked this recipe. He is the one I’m struggling to feed veggies to. 🙂
Can’t wait to share it with you!
Related Reading: Healthy Greek Yogurt Deviled Eggs (The BEST!)
Easy Vegan Carrot Muffins Recipe
Easy Vegan Carrot Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1-2 packets Stevia
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 3 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
Instructions
- Mix flour, baking soda, salt, Stevia, and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Mix in peanut butter, almond milk, vanilla, applesauce.
- Fold in grated carrots.
- Spoon into muffin tin, filling each one 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Notes
A few tips and notes for those of you who decide to make this easy vegan carrot muffins recipe.
I made this verrry lightly sweet, and they turned out great. But you can easily manipulate the flavor with a little extra maple syrup or Stevia.
You can also easily switch out your favorite nut butters, and opt for sweetened applesauce. (That would add sugar though.)
I do recommend soaking up any excess water from your carrots if they feel too wet.
Or, you can use a little less applesauce or almond milk. Your batter will seem wet, and they will still seem moist after baking. This is the applesauce.
Related Reading: 13 Tips On How To Keep a Healthy Home
I personally like these vegan carrot cake muffins super-moist, so I wouldn’t change things unless you like things drier.
You could also freeze these if they don’t get eaten up within a few days! Good luck!
