Carrot Cake Muffins (GF, Paleo, AIP)
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These carrot cake muffins are simply the best! They’re paleo, AIP, and made without grains, nuts or eggs.
I never really got to enjoy carrot cake as much as I would have liked to because it almost always had nuts in it! Though I haven’t been full paleo my whole life, I’ve spent my whole life with an allergy to all nuts (with the exception of almonds) so carrot cake was off the table. It’s always a bummer when something is off limits, so I decided to create a carrot cake muffin that was allergy friendly!
These carrot cake muffins are seriously perfect for sharing! They’re made without common allergens like dairy, gluten, and nuts, and they taste amazing. Make them for an Easter brunch, an after dinner treat, or just a simple snack.
Muffins that are made without things like grains and eggs can be pretty hard to pull off, and don’t necessarily have the best texture. Not these! The trick is to let them cool completely before trying them to allow them to set and keep them from getting too soft. Leave them on a cooling rack on the counter for about 30 minutes, or even better, throw them in the fridge for a bit as well, and you’ll have a great texture!
Seriously, a texture like this on a grain free baked good is a serious treat! You don’t come across that every day. This is the texture that I missed so much when I first went grain free, and I am stoked to have this option! You may be seeing more muffin recipes from me now…
The Ingredient’s You’ll Need For The Carrot Cake Muffins
Tigernut flour
Tigernut is not a nut, but a tuber, and it helps to make a great texture for these muffins. If you do tolerate nuts, almond flour may be a good swap, but cassava flour would not be a good substitute in this recipe.
Tapioca flour
You can likely get away with swapping this for arrowroot starch.
Coconut flour & coconut oil
The coconut flour helps to absorb some of the excess moisture from that the carrots may produce. I have not tried this recipe without coconut flour. The coconut oil is the source of fat in the muffins where they would usually be something like butter. I have not tried palm shortening in this recipe, but it may work.
Maple syrup
You can likely swap honey for maple syrup.
Shredded carrots
You can either use a grater or a food processor to have mostly finely shredded carrots.
Raisins (or dried cranberries)
Golden raisins are what you would usually add to carrot cake, but if you’re having trouble finding any raisins without weird oils or sugars, I like to use these cranberries.
Eggs (or gelatin)
I use grass-fed gelatin to make two gelatin eggs to make this recipe egg free. However, you can use regular eggs if you tolerate them.
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PrintCarrot Cake Muffins (GF, Paleo, AIP)
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
These carrot cake muffins are simply the best! They’re paleo, AIP, and made without grains, nuts or eggs.
Ingredients
- 1 cup tigernut flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 cup finely shredded carrots
- 2 tbsp raisins (sub dried cranberries)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup +2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 2 eggs (substitute gelatin eggs, see notes)
For gelatin egg substitute
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp gelatin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with 8-9 muffin liners.
- Combine the tigernut flour, tapioca starch, coconut flour, shredded carrots, raisins, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix well.
- Stir in the maple syrup and melted coconut oil.
- Mix in the eggs (or gelatin eggs) and stir well until a dough forms.
- Spoon the muffin dough into the muffin tins (you’ll have about 8-9 muffins).
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until baked through and the tops are golden brown.
- Carefully transfer the muffins to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before enjoying. Cooling in the fridge also helps the muffins set further.
Notes
For the gelatin egg substitute – Add 1/2 cup water to a small sauce pot and slowly sprinkle in 2 tbsp of gelatin. Use a fork to gently mix in any clumps. Set aside and allow the mixture to harden for 2-3 minutes. Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat on low heat. Slowly melt the gelatin over 1-2 minutes. Immediately remove from heat once the gelatin has melted and the mixture has returned to liquid. Vigorously whisk the liquid until it becomes frothy. Pour it into the breadstick mixture immediately to swap for an egg.
All nutrition facts are estimations and will vary. Nutrition facts do not include ingredient swap options.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 257
- Fat: 15.3g
- Carbohydrates: 26.4g
- Fiber: 8g
- Protein: 5.3g
AIP
Low Carb
Paleo
Whole30
ok so far my daughter and I devoured the “left-over” batter. I cant have eggs so I find my “go-to egg” is a flax egg. So we put two of those in there. Will let you know how the result is. Currently in the oven. I am excited to eat them and perfect amount of sweetness as well! way to go Michelle!
★★★★★
Holy cow these taste AMAZING!
★★★★★
These are really good muffins, with an actual muffin texture! These made me so happy! Next time I will have to add the raisins. (My toddler ate the last of them!)
★★★★★
Love these muffins, my husband said “better than the ones with gluten”!
Thank you for an amazing recipe and for sharing with everyone!
★★★★★
Ah YAY! Thank you so much, Cindy! So happy you guys liked it!
Ok. I was just hoping to like this…I didn’t expect to LOVE THEM! Thank you for these. They’re every bit as yummy as the picture (and more!). I’m grateful for your blog…and these muffins 🙂
★★★★★
Thank you so much Heather! So glad you liked it!!
Just made these aip carrot cake muffins again and they turned out amazing! Wondering if I could modify the recipe to use grated zucchini?
Thanks for the recipe. I used cutted Dried abricots and let the syrup out.
They where great
YUM! So glad to hear that worked well 🙂 Thank you so much!
This recipe is really flavourful! and very versatile. I’ve made it with Avacado oil and Olive oil and it’s really nice with either. I’ve also mixed it up and used Almond flour for my paleo granddaughters and they turned out great! I’ve added grated apple and zuchinni and it just gets better. This recipe is amazing. Thank you!
Hi Teresa, just curious what quantities you used for zuchinni and apple? Those sound like great additions!!
★★★★★
The flavor was great-we’ve really been missing muffins!! Wondering if the 1 cup of tiger nut flour should be 112g? I used 120, thinking that’s what a cup was, but see in your cookbook tiger nut recipes go by 112g. My muffins were very dense so I was thinking I used too much tiger nut.
★★★★★
Thanks, Heather! My publisher actually helped do all of the gram conversions in my cookbook, but 112g does sound right. Hope that helps for next time 🙂
These are unbelievably delicious. Best AIP thing I’ve baked so far. Thank you!!
★★★★★
These muffins are so tasty. I do think they are a little on the sweet side. With tigernut flour already having a bit of “sweetness” to it and the carrots, I would probably just try 2 TBLs of maple the next time I make them, and would add some collagen powder to give them a protein kick.
★★★★★
I haven’t tried this yet, but they sound delicious! My husband‘s birthday is coming up. His favorite cake is carrot cake. The AIP carrot cakes I see, just don’t look that good to me. This recipe looks far better. Do you think I could use these as a little cupcakes, and make an AIP cream cheese ( coconut cream ) Frosting for them?
★★★★
Sure! That sounds amazing!! Enjoy!! 🙂
I think the muffins are very dry… I did them for 20 mins. Tips of how to make it less dry?
I don’t find them dry, but I do find that different brands of coconut flour are more dry than others. I like the brand that’s linked
These muffins are so yummy! I haven’t had carrot cake in years. Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Thank you!!
Is the maple syrup (or honey) necessary? I’m wondering if I can do it without since I’m doing no sugar right now.
Look no further, these are hands down the best gluten free carrot cake/muffins you will ever make! Honestly these are better than any muffin I’ve ever purchased from my local gluten free bakery! Soft and- dare I say, fluffy! These freeze very well too. I made a double batch, froze half, and had them for breakfast for days and days to come. Make these!!
★★★★★
Thank you so, so much Natasha!
I uses almond flour and these turned out wonderfully delicious! Thank you!
★★★★★
Hi, I have a tapioca sensitivity, can you recommend a substitute? I think I read arrowroot can be a substitute. I’m confused though as are they the same thing?
They aren’t the same thing, but in this recipe you can likely get away with swapping the tapioca for arrowroot starch.
Can I make this without the tapioca starch?
These are amazingly delicious! They are the only AIP muffin I have liked so far (cassava flour in the other muffins is very off putting for my taste buds!). This is a great recipe! More like this one please!
I’m so glad that you liked it! I have several other muffins on the blog that you might enjoy 🙂
Excellent recipe. I added in 2 scoops of collagen powder, 1/4 of diced pineapple and some shredded coconut. I omitted gelatin eggs and eggs and muffins turned out amazing! Thank you!
★★★★★
I did and At the beginning I was disappointed because it looked like it wasn’t set after baking time, the knife come out clean. But it looks soft like raw. At the end after they got cool they were fantastic, I did with vegan eggs ( gelatin according with the instructions).
Very equilibrated flavour and a nice consistency.
So glad you enjoyed!
I just made these after following UW for years and OMG. Perfection. Texture, flavor, everything. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed!!
Amazing! These came out so tender & tasty!!
★★★★★
What about cassava flour can I use that in place of Tigernut? I just can’t handle the gritty Tigernut. Thank you!
Cassava flour would not be a good substitute in this recipe. I haven’t tried it, but almond flour might work as a substitute.
Could these be made as a bread or cake by using a baking dish.
Do you have any suggestion on dish size , oven temp and timing I could experiment with?
Thanks!
★★★★★
These muffins turned out great! I made some regular sized and some mini muffins and like the mini the best! I sifted the tigernut flour through a small sifter I have and then measured to 1 cup and that worked perfectly. On the carrots, next time I will pack the measuring cup and may even add more carrots – possibly 1 1/4 cups packed finely shredded carrots. This is a recipe I plan to make regularly! Thanks!
★★★★★
so glad you enjoyed!!
These were so yummy and moist. One of the best AIP muffins I have made. I doubled the recipe and only put in half of the syrup. I also used avocado oil.
★★★★★
thank you!!
I love these! Thank you! How long do they last in the fridge?
Generally 3-4 days, but you can also freeze for a month
These are absolutely delicious!!! I make a batch every week and they are my desert. They just make me happy! My baby loves them too and I can’t get them out without him screaming until I give him a bite. 🙂 Thank you So much for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you both enjoy!!
Hi! I wonder why mine turned out so oily at the bottom. Is it the brand of the coconut oil?
Sorry that happened! It could be the type of liners… a trick I’ve seen is putting uncooked rice between the tin and the liner to absorb oil
I eat gluten, dairy, nut ,chocolate free. I am looking for recipes that are low of sugar and salt as I have had kidney stones. I like the recipes you post and am going to make them with the tiger nut flour.
Thank you!!
I absolutely LOVE these carrot cake muffins and have made them a few times. I only use 2 Tbs of maple syrup and they are sweet enough for me. I made them with shredded fresh beets instead of carrots last night and they are awesome!
Yum! So glad you enjoyed!!