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Easy Carrot Cake Muffins With Cream Cheese Glaze
Perfect oatmeal muffins packed with carrots, warm spices, and topped with a creamy cream cheese glaze. Enjoy all the flavors of carrot cake in a healthier breakfast option!
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Servings: 12 Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin Pan
- Cupcake Liners
Ingredients
Carrot Muffins
- 1 cup of quick oats
- 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded carrots
Cream Cheese Icing
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF and line the muffin tin with paper liners.
- Combine the oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside
- Whisk together the oil, brown sugar, applesauce, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until half way combined, and lumps of flour are still showing.
- Fold in shredded carrots until evenly distributed and no streaks of flour are showing.
- Divide the muffing batter between 12 muffin cups.
- Bake at 400ºF for 18-22 minutes until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the muffins are baking, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. With a whisk or an electric hand mixer, mix until smooth and creamy. The glaze should be thick, but will slowly run off a spoon.
- Once the muffins are cool enough, spoon a heaping 1 teaspoon of cream cheese icing onto the center of the muffin. You can also drizzle the tops if you prefer.
- Chill any leftover glazed muffins for up to five days.
Notes
- Shred the carrots yourself for the best results. Use a box grater or the grating disc on a food processor.
- If you don’t have quick oats, pulse old-fashioned oats in a blender or food processor until chopped—not flour. Avoid instant or steel-cut oats.
- Wait until the muffins are cooled before icing with cream cheese glaze.
- Any uneaten muffins need to be refrigerated if they're iced.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Muffin | Calories: 273kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 250mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 3676IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 2mg