These gluten free carrot muffins are light, moist, and perfectly sweet! Enjoy as-is or top with cream cheese frosting. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a gluten free snack.
Why You'll Love them:
This gluten free carrot muffin recipe is perfection!
It's moist yet light, sweet but not overly so, and you'd never know it's gluten-free! The key to a gluten free muffin (besides a stellar recipe!) is a good gluten-free flour blend. I'll talk more about that later.
These gluten free carrot muffins make a great on-the-go breakfast for my sweet kiddos!
They're freezer-friendly so all you have to do is pop one in the microwave for 20 seconds and breakfast is served. Thank goodness! My littles are NOT morning people.
Key Ingredients:
- Gluten-free flour - I used Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. It's my favorite brand in terms of taste and texture. I highly recommend using it since I created this recipe with it. Not all gluten-free flour blends react the same in recipes.
- Vegetable oil - I opted for oil instead of butter to keep the muffins moist!
- Mashed banana - Adds moisture and natural sweetness! I mashed mine in a bowl with a fork. Be sure to use a ripe banana.
- Shredded carrots - I used a mandoline to shred mine. A box or handheld grater works fine too.
How to Make Gluten Free Carrot Muffins:
These gluten free muffins are super simple! It's a one-bowl process that takes about 10 minutes.
Just be sure to shred your carrots and mash your banana first.
- Beat both sugars, vegetable oil, and the banana for 2 minutes. It feels like a long time, but it creates a fluffy texture!
- Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until incorporated, then add the next one.
- Add the dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated. No need to go crazy! Just beat until a muffin batter forms.
- Stir in the shredded carrots.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin tin. I fill them nearly all the way full. This gives you a beautiful, lofty muffin top.
- Bake until cooked all the way through. Mine took exactly 24 minutes.
Gluten Free Flour Basics:
Gluten free all-purpose flour is a blend of alternative flours, starches, and oftentimes xanthan gum. It's not like regular all-purpose flour, which contains one main ingredient - wheat.
Each brand has a unique mixture and ratio of ingredients, which means they all react differently in recipes! And not all of them are good. Some are downright awful!
For this reason, I highly recommend you use the brand called for in the recipe! I used Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. You can find it at Target, Sam's, Walmart, and online.
Recipe Tips:
- Don't use cup4cup gluten-free all-purpose flour. While it's a tasty gluten-free flour, it's not a 1 to 1 substitution with Bob's Red Mill's brand.
- Make these gluten free muffins into cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! Don't fill the muffin tin as high with batter if you plan to make cupcakes.
- You can double the recipe to make a bigger batch. You'll need a lot of carrots though so be sure to get enough!
Storage:
Let the muffins cool completely before you store them!
- Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to three days.
- Freeze leftover muffins for a longer shelf life! Place them in a large zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw on the counter or in the microwave in 20-second intervals.
Gluten Free Muffin Recipes:
- Gluten Free Lemon Muffins
- Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Gluten Free Blackberry Muffins
- Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins
- Gluten Free Strawberry Muffins
Gluten Free Carrot Muffins
Equipment
- mandolin or box grater
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup mashed banana
- 2 large eggs
- 1¼ cup Bob's Red Mill's 1 to 1 gluten-free baking flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- pinch ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup shredded carrots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Set it aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and mashed banana for 2 minutes, until thick and emulsified.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
- Add the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and kosher salt. Beat until incorporated and a muffin batter forms.
- Stir in the shredded carrots.
- Scoop the muffin batter into the muffin tin until nearly full. You should get 10 muffins.
- Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until the tops bounce back and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan. Transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
The Nortmans says
Love these muffins and gluten free!
Tony. Bonitati says
These are the best!
Vonda says
Oh my goodness! These are so good and moist! Yum!