These sugar free carrot cake muffins are sensationally moist, light and simply mouthwatering! They are 100 % grain free, refined sugar-free and packed with carrots.
I take my recipe testing very seriously and made these low carb carrot muffins three times before I posted them. They were eaten by ten people in total, from different age groups. My type 2 diabetic mother-in-law loved them. My teenagers loved them. Thumbs-up all around!
And what's not to love? These muffins are gluten-free, grain-free, low in carbs and packed with carrots and nuts. They are naturally sweetened with banana and a little additional sweetener.
Since posting this recipe in April 2016, many readers have also made it (I am revising this post in February 2024). From their feedback, I have learned that these muffins are perfect for little people, from toddlers to primary school-age children.
There you go. Whether you call them diabetic carrot cake muffins, low sugar carrot cake muffins or simply healthy carrot muffins for kids - that's all just semantics. It's the flavor that's going to convince you. And the fluffy texture of the crumb.
When a recipe works, it just WORKS.
We like them for breakfast and I can share that they go very well with a cup of coffee. But, they would also make a lovely on-the-go snack.
Ingredients
Here is what you need:
- Carrot - Freshly shredded. Make sure the carrots are grated and not ground to a pulp, which essentially separates the liquid from the fibre. This was the mistake I made in my first attempt! A box grater works well.
- Eggs - These should be room temperature for best results.
- Butter - I used unsalted butter, which needs to be very soft.
- Banana - Must be overripe so they are nice and sweet.
- Almond flour - I always use ground almonds in my recipes, which is the same as regular almond flour.
- Flaxmeal - Ground flaxseed adds fiber!
- Powdered sweetener - Any sugar free sweetener of your choice works in this recipe, from erythritol to xylitol or allulose. In my original recipe, I used stevia sweetener. If the bananas are very sweet, you may decide to omit it altogether. The choice is yours.
- Walnuts - A carrot cake without walnuts is just not complete, and it's the same with carrot muffins!
- Baking powder - make sure that it is fresh, so the muffins rise well and get that all-important fluffy texture
- Cinnamon and Vanilla extract - to add extra flavor
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
It's really simple to make sugar free carrot cake muffins. Here are the basic steps. Scroll down to the recipe card for a detailed method.
Step 1: Blend the eggs, softened butter and bananas until thoroughly combined. I used a food processor. If you use a large mixing bowl and a handheld electric blender, mash the bananas first.
Step 2: Mix in the ground almonds, flaxseed, spices, vanilla, sweetener and baking powder.
Step 3: Fold the grated carrot and the walnuts into the batter with a spatula.
Step 4: Spoon the dough into the muffin pan lined with paper cups. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool completely before you add the cream cheese frosting. The frosting is completely optional - the muffins taste just as good without.
Variations
Dairy-free: Replace the butter with a dairy-free butter such as Violife.
Nut-free: Instead of almond flour, use a 50/50 blend of sesame seed flour and sunflower seed flour. Also, omit the walnuts.
More spices: Feel free to add ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and even a pinch of allspice or cloves.
Recipe FAQs
You can try using applesauce instead. In this case, it ill be necessary to increase the sweetener. Or, try my keto carrot cake recipe. This is banana free. Another option is my sugar free carrot cake, which you can bake as muffins.
I have not tried it yet, but it should work well. Use either a springform pan or a rectangular cake pan, which you line with parchment paper. The baking time will be 50-60 minutes at the same oven temperature.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you store the frosting separately, reheat them for 15 seconds in the microwave before serving. They are delicious warm.
Yes. You can freeze them for up to 3 months, without the frosting.
More Sugar Free Muffin Recipes
- Almond Flour Muffins
- Keto Blueberry Muffins30 Minutes
- Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins35 Minutes
- Coconut Flour Banana Muffins30 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
★ STAY IN TOUCH on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST and INSTAGRAM for more great food and join my NEWSLETTER for the latest updates and a FREE EBOOK.★
Recipe
Sugar Free Carrot Cake Muffins
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 300 g / 3 cups grated carrot
- 5 eggs room temperature
- 180 g / ¾ cup butter, softened
- 2 very ripe medium bananas 200g
- 150 g / 1 ½ cup almond flour or ground almonds
- 30 g / scant ¼ cup flaxseed ground
- 2 tablespoon powdered sweetener
- 50 g / ½ cup walnuts, chopped
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 tablespoon powdered sweetener
- 100 g / ½ cup cream cheese, full fat room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180C / 350F electric or 160C / 320F fan. Line a muffin pan with paper cups or grease a silicone muffin pan.
- Blend the eggs, softened butter and bananas until thoroughly combined.
- Mix in the ground almonds, flaxseed, spices, vanilla, sweetener and baking powder.
- Lastly, gently stir in the grated carrot and the walnuts.
- Spoon the dough into the muffin pan and bake them in the oven on the middle shelf for 30 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- For the frosting, beat the cream cheese with powdered sweetener. Spread onto the muffins once these are fully cooled.
Dunia
Hi Katrin,
I made these carrot muffins and they cane out so moist and not so sweet, in which I like and it took a few days for my hubby who loves the sweet stuff and carrot cake to eat one, then two. Then he asked if I could make these again to snack on. Next time I’ll make with 1c almond flour to 1/4 c coconut flour. Should I add another egg because of the coconut flour?
This is my go to for carrot cravings.
Thank you so much for the recipe.
Dunia
Katrin
Hi Dunia, I'm happy you like the muffins. If you want to sub some of the almond flour for coconut flour, you must change the amount because coconut four is MUCH more absorbent. I would recommend using 1/3 - 1/2 of the amount of almond flour, so for 1/4 cup possibly only 1 1/2 tbsp of coconut flour. I do not think you need to increase the amount of egg, 5 is plenty.
Victoria Doedens
Hey Katrin, I have been living off of your recipes for the last 6 weeks after finding out I have gestational diabetes.
Waiting for these little muffins to bake after preparing a batch of almond pancakes for breakfast (def not a morning person so thank you for the reheating in the toaster tip!)
I'm a plonker and was not concentrating when I added the 100g of cream cheese into the mix. Too late to do anything as I gave it a good stir! I'll let you know the result!
Katrin
Haha, I do that kind of thing all the time. Let me know how it went! Recipes can be quite forgiving - you might discover that it tastes fantastic!
TJ
When you say "blend" eggs, butter and bananas until thoroughly combined, do you mean to use a hand mixer or just stir by hand? Am I aiming for a smooth non-lumpy blend that a hand mixer would give?
Katrin
I used a blender to get it nice and smooth 🙂
Katrin
Aw, thank you Ada! You are so welcome 🙂
Katrin
Brilliant! How lovely you all liked them 🙂 Thanks for your comment
Cherry Harris
Hi, I've just made double the amount and 12 muffins are baking now! I was going to put the rest into a loaf tin, but have decided to do them all as muffins so easier to freeze! Also, double the amount looks more like 3 times the number of muffins! Weird! AND, I didn't look at all the messages first and I grated the carrots with the biggest side of the grater, so I'll let you knoe if they come out too carroty! They smell wonderful, looking forward to a taste.
Claudia
Hi Katrin, these muffins look amazing!
I was just wondering if I can cook them the day before and add the icing on the day. Would it be better to refrigerated or leave the muffins at room temperature?
Katrin
I would refrigerate them, just to keep them fresher. Then take them out half an hour before serving so they're room temperature by the time you serve them 🙂
Ada
Hi Katrin, this recipe looks delicious! Do these muffins freeze well or are they best to be consumed within days of making?
Katrin
You can freeze them. I'd use fresh icing though 🙂
charlotte
I'm confused, should the carrots be grate or shredded
Katrin
Hi, thanks for asking, to me that was the same thing! As all graters are different, this could be a guideline - the grated (shredded?!) carrots you get in ready-made salads are probably a bit large. Any size below that is fine. Too small would be if the juice starts separating and you more or less have a pulp. Hope this helps!
Rachel Breen
Just made these. They taste yum. But I didn't put the vanilla extract in as the recipe isn't quite clear about when it should be added. Don't know if anyone else has mentioned this. Otherwise it's a great recipe looking forward to my morning coffee with a couple of these
Katrin
Glad you like the recipe Rachel, and thanks for pointing out about the vanilla. I've added it to the description - you just mix it in with the bulk of the ingredients.