Carrot Applesauce Muffins are a fall baking favorite our whole family loves! Packed with freshly shredded garden carrots and applesauce, cinnamon-spiced, naturally sweetened with real maple syrup, and topped with a buttery pecan streusel that is truly delicious! These are healthier muffins made with no vegetable oil, plus a banana and almond flour for extra protein and nutrition. Easy to make with wholesome ingredients, they're perfect for breakfast, lunchboxes, or a healthy snack!
- The Fall Garden - Carrots are one of my favorite veggies to grow in the garden! They are just so easy, abundant, and fun to harvest when fall comes around and most veggies are done. My kids love pulling a carrot from the dirt to snack on, and a big pile of shredded carrots goes into these muffins!
- Healthier Baking - Muffins absolutely do not need vegetable oil! Applesauce, a mashed banana, and a little butter give them the perfect soft texture. This is how I always bake, the healthier version is the regular version in our house! A nourishing batch of muffins becomes much more useful to fill in breakfast, after school snacks, and with no chocolate, a bedtime snack is fine too! With lots of veggies, healthy applesauce, eggs, nuts, and extra protein, I'm happy with my kids reaching for these!
- Love these Muffins? Try my Spiced Zucchini Apple Bread and these Apple Banana Bread Muffins too! And check out my ebook The Healthier Baking Cookbook for more treats that double as healthy snacks!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
A powerhouse little muffin, this ingredient list in packed full of nutrition, great for using up fall carrots from the garden, but can be made any time of year!
- Carrots - Freshly shredded garden carrots are what make these muffins so special in the fall. Shred them on the regular side of a box grater, it looks like a lot but they blend right in. You can make this recipe any time of year with grocery store carrots.
- Applesauce - The applesauce adds moisture, natural sweetness, and apple flavor that gives these muffins that baked cinnamon fall vibe. Every year we love to find an apple tree and make our own Homemade Applesauce for the Freezer, handy for muffin recipes all year!
- Banana - One ripe banana adds moisture and gives muffins that perfect texture without using oil. You can't really taste it, the carrot, cinnamon, and maple syrup flavors are strongest, but it makes these muffins a little more nutritious.
- Maple Syrup - Real maple syrup sweetens these muffins and adds rich depth. Use the real thing, not pancake syrup. I didn't try it, but I think you could substitute brown sugar or honey.
- Butter - Just 2 Tablespoons is all you need, and you could substitute melted coconut oil or avocado oil.
- Almond Flour and Flour - I like to use both to increase the protein and make it a bit more nutrient dense.
- Cinnamon - For that cozy fall, pumpkin spice feel!
- Pecan Streusel Topping - Adds a pretty topping, more protein and delicious crunch! Use raw baking nuts, walnuts are fine too. Don't use more than 1 Tablespoon of butter, you want a dry crumbly topping, too much butter will give you a paste. Try making your own Homemade Brown Sugar, easy and so fluffy!
See recipe card below for full quantities.
Instructions
Carrot Applesauce Muffins are easy to make in one bowl, crumble the pecan streusel over the top, and pop in the oven!
Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix.
Step 2 - Shred the carrots and mash the banana.
Add all ingredients to the bowl and mix.
Step 3 - Mix the streusel topping in a small bowl.
Step 4 - Evenly fill 12 muffin cups with batter almost full. Sprinkle the topping over each muffin.
Step 5 - Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes. Check for doneness and allow to cool before removing from the pan.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Don't Open the Oven Door - This is the most common mistake in baking. Opening the oven door to peek and check too often can cause your muffins to sink in the middle when they are trying to rise. They needs consistent heat while rising, so don't open the oven door for at least 20 to 25 minutes (unless you know your oven tends to run hot).
- Fresh Carrots and Applesauce - Shred fresh carrots, the pre-shredded ones from the store are too thick and won't soften enough when baked. If you are buying a jar of applesauce just for these muffins, you can freeze the extra, portion it out in jars to thaw for healthier baking recipes!
- Storage - Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 1 or 2 days on the counter, or 3 to 4 days in the fridge. They can be frozen for 3 months.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, very much so! With warm spices, rich maple syrup, shredded carrots, and a delicious pecan topping, they're essentially a carrot cake muffin but made with healthier ingredients. They have all the cozy flavor of carrot cake without the cream cheese frosting and refined sugar.
No, the banana just gives these muffins great texture and extra moisture without oil, but you really can't taste it.
Yes, I didn't try it, but you should be able to substitute the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, the almond flour is already gluten-free. The texture may be slightly different but the muffins will still be delicious.
I love buying a big bag of almond flour to add protein to baked goods. But, if you don't have it, or have a nut allergy, you can swap regular all-purpose flour, oat flour, or any other nut flour.
More Healthier Baking!
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Carrot Applesauce Muffins
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Print Pin RateIngredients
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅔ cup applesauce
- 2 Tablespoons butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 banana mashed
- 2 carrots shredded (about 1 cup packed)
For the Streusel Topping
- 1 Tablespoon butter melted
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons almond flour
- ⅓ cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉.
- Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix.
- Shred the carrots using the regular side of a box grater and mash the banana. Add all wet ingredients to the dry and mix to combine.
- Mix together the streusel topping in a small bowl.
- Evenly fill 12 paper-lined muffin cups with batter almost full. Sprinkle the topping over each muffin.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool and serve with butter.
Notes
- Carrots - Wash them well, no need to peel.
- Don't Open the Oven - Keep the oven door closed for 25 minutes without peeking while the muffins bake. Inconsistent temperature drops from opening the oven door can cause the muffins to sink instead of rise.
- Store muffins 1 to 2 days on the counter, 3 to 4 days in the fridge, or freeze for 3 months.
Nutrition
If you love healthier baking, find more similar recipes in The Healthier Baking Cookbook (ebook)!
With healthier swaps like oats, nuts, yogurt, and maple syrup, this ebook turns dessert into healthy snacks!
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