These healthy, moist and flavorful Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins are made without refined sugar and include oats, walnuts and turmeric. They are easy to make and are perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
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Whole Wheat and Oat Carrot Muffins
These wholesome Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins are light, moist and tender. At 194 calories and 1 gram of saturated fat per muffin, these are the best healthy carrot muffins I’ve made.
They are made with a combination of whole wheat and oat flour. Walnuts are added for some crunch and their nutritional benefits. Feel free to substitute the walnuts if nut allergies are a concern. You can use shredded unsweetened coconut or raisins as add-ins. Since the muffins are spiced with turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and a touch of black pepper they are also super flavourful. A pinch of black pepper is added to help our bodies absorb the beneficial health properties of turmeric. If you don’t have any turmeric you can leave it and the black pepper out of the recipe.
Why Add Turmeric
Turmeric contains the active ingredient curcumin which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. What is especially appealing about curcumin is its ability to enhance the function of the liver to detoxify our bodies.
Since adding turmeric (fresh or dry) to your food is a great way to add antioxidants to your diet, I’ve been on a quest to add it to as many foods as I can. I tried it in my baked goods after seeing this recipe over at Green Kitchen Stories.
How to Make Healthy Carrot Muffins
Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients in this recipe, these muffins are easy to make. The oat topping for the muffins is optional. If you choose to include it, simply combine the oats, oil, maple syrup and cinnamon in a small bowl, mix together and set it aside.
For the muffin batter, start by grating the carrots. Put them in a medium-sized bowl and add the rest of the wet ingredients to the carrots. Whisk the wet ingredients together until blended. Add the dry ingredients to a second bowl, whisk them and add the wet ingredients to the dry. Combine the ingredients until the batter is well blended. Add the walnuts and give them a quick stir. Don’t overmix the batter or your muffins won’t be as tender.
Fill your muffin cups and top each muffin with the rolled oats mixture before baking them. Bake them in the oven at 375ºF for approximately 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out dry.
To store the muffins, let them cool completely on a wire rack and place them in a container. Store at room temperature for up to 4 days. If you have more muffins than you can eat in 4 days, store the extra muffins in a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months. Enjoy!
More Healthy Muffins
- Sweet Potato Muffins
- Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Whole Wheat Blueberry Lemon Muffins
- Whole Wheat Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
If you make this recipe be sure to take a picture and share it with me on Instagram by tagging #sweetandsavourypursuits, I love to see your photos!
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1-1/2 tsp. turmeric optional
- 1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper optional
- 1-1/2 cups grated carrots
- 2 eggs, lightly wisked large, room temperature
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup light tasting oil
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces toasted
For topping:
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1 tbsp. light tasting oil
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 dash cinnamon
Instructions
For the Oat Topping:
- In a small bowl, combine the oats, oil, maple syrup and cinnamon. Set aside.
For the Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins:
- Place a rack in the centre of your oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- In a large bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, oat flour, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt and pepper.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, maple syrup, oil, eggs, vanilla extract and grated carrots.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Add in the walnuts and give it a quick stir.
- Evenly spoon the batter into the greased or paper-lined muffin cups.
- Top each muffin with a bit of the oat mixture.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the muffin pan and place onto a wire rack to cool completely before storing in a container.
Notes
- Toasting the walnuts will add to the texture and the flavour of your baked goods. You can toast walnuts in a 350ºF oven for about 8-10 minutes or until they are lightly browned and fragrant, let cool and chop coarsely.
- A pinch of black pepper is added to help our bodies absorb the beneficial health properties of turmeric. If you don’t have any turmeric you can leave it and the black pepper out of the recipe.
- Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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so nice recipe, you have represented very perfectly.
Thank you, glad you like it!
These are a perfect way to start the day!! Thank you for sharing!
I think so too, thanks for visiting!
These muffins look so good, I think I’ll be baking a batch of these this weekend!
I really hope you enjoyed them!
I just discovered your site and I wanted to let you know that I baked these carrot muffins for my family and they loved them.
Thank you for writing and letting me know, it makes me happy to hear that people are enjoying my recipes!