Oat Flour Carrot Cake Muffins – Healthy, delicious treats that are made with ONE flour, no starches or gums, and less sugar. Gluten-free and nut-free.
Baking as therapy
Who’s baking up a frenzy lately?!
I like to bake something at least once a day. From cookies to cakes, casseroles and muffins, the act of baking is my thang.
With school over for the summer here, Jade and Nat have been in the kitchen more. They enjoy looking up recipes from both my site and others.
Some of their favorites are this gluten-free chocolate chipper and this giant cookie made with oat flour.
Oat flour as a primary flour
In my experience with oat flour, which is considerable, it can work without added gums or starches.
However, because of the lack of gluten, it can tend to crumble a bit easier than whole wheat or all-purpose flours. This is mediated in this recipe by the addition of an egg.
Dryness and crumbles can also be avoided by not overbaking the muffins.
These make a great on-the-go breakfast, snack, or pre-workout bite.
One of my biggest issues with some of the ‘muffin’ recipes I’ve come across is the amount of sugar. For me, if you’ve got half as much sugar as you do flour in a recipe, you have a cupcake, not a muffin!
I say this now so that you are aware that I like my muffins healthy and lightly sweetened. The focus is more on flavor from spices and add-ins (carrots and raisins in this case).
Top these with a slather of butter or coconut oil, and, if you need it, a little extra drizzle of honey.
Oat Flour Carrot Cake Muffins (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS:
- 1 c. oat flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/4 t. sea salt
- 3/4 t. cinnamon
- 1/2 t. ginger
- 1/4 t. cloves
WET INGREDIENTS:
- 1/3 c. buttermilk see Notes on how to make your own
- 1 T. oil I like olive or grapeseed
- 2 T. maple syrup see Notes for lower sugar option
- 2 Tbsp applesauce
- 1 egg
- 1/2 t. vanilla
- 3/4 c. finely grated carrot about 2 medium-sized carrots
- 1/4 c. raisins optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir gently until just moistened.
- Fold in the carrots and raisins (if using).
- Fill nine paper muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until tops are springy to the touch. As with any muffin, don't overbake or they will be dry!
Notes
Nutrition
Notes:
To make your the buttermilk, add one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a measuring cup and add in enough milk of your choice to equal 1/3 cup total.
To lower the sugar even more, replace one tablespoon of maple syrup with one tablespoon of water.
Add in a dash of stevia for extra sweetness.
These are great unbleached muffin cups.
Some of the items I use in this recipe include:
apurva says
Hi I was wondering if I could use nonfat yogurt as a substitute for any of the ingredients?
Lauren says
Plain yogurt may work for the buttermilk, but you may need an extra tablespoon of water or so.
Scarlet says
Hello, I was wondering if I could substitute applesauce with anything please? Thanks
Lauren says
Mashed banana should work as well.
stefanie says
I have just looked at my muffins again and I just wonder if I need new Baking powder because they didn’t rise and I am sure I added it, but perhaps I am mistaken. I will try them again.
Stefanie says
Hi Lauren,
I used a flax egg. Perhaps that was it. It would have taken more than a cup of flour, but that’s all I added.
Lauren says
Hmm, I don’t think that would do it either. Sorry they didn’t turn out for you. Perhaps try baking them a bit longer next time? Thanks for your feedback.
Stefanie says
Hi Lauren,
Sounds like an interesting recipe. I tried it and it was tasty but feel there is something missing like more flour.
Lauren says
Hi Stefanie,
Did you make any changes to the recipe that could have affected it?
Rachel says
This was awesome. I subbed the spice mix for two tbsps of pumpkin spice. Instead of carrots I did a small apple diced. And I threw a tiny bit of brown sugar and oats on the top so of each. They turned out awesome and not overly sweet. The diced apple added some moisture!
Trish says
I LOVE this recipe! You are my favorite blogger!!
woof! says
Someone used your picture and copied your recipe on her blog and claimed as her own. :/
https://pwincessfoodies.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/oat-flour-carrot-cake-muffins-gluten-free-nut-free/
Awesome pics and recipe, btw!
Lauren says
Argh, thanks for letting me know!
Elaine says
When I first started baking, I really didn’t want to buy flour for some reason. However, I did have oatmeal, so this was the first muffin recipe I ever tried. I really enjoyed these muffins, and I love that they don’t contain tons of sugar.
Lauren says
Thanks so much Elaine!
Bridy says
These are so good!
I used bought buttermilk.
My daughter hates raisins so I made them without, but they would be very good with the raisins.
Lauren says
I’m so happy you enjoyed them Bridy! 🙂
Bridy says
I am on batch #2. The kids ate them all before I could grab a second one.
Maybe I should out raisins in these ones! Haha
MaElena says
Hi Lauren,
I want to bake this with my little baby for her brother, she is very excited about doing this 😉
The thing is that the only species I have right now is vanilla extract and fresh ginger. Do you think it will be a nice addition?
Love your healthy recipes and specially the gooey brownies with avocado chocolate cream… just amazing taste. Thank you for sharing goodness 😉
Buena vibra
Lauren says
Hi MaElena,
Both vanilla and ginger sound like they would be delicious in this recipe! Go easy on the ginger though, as it can be a very powerful taste. Thank you for your nice comment! 🙂
Mike@TheIronYou says
Since there’s carrot, these muffins count as a veggie portion, right? 😉
Lauren says
Haha, but of course! 😀
Natasha Palmer says
I made these today. I added the raisins, I think without them they wouldn’t have been sweet enough for me. I don’t have stevia so I used a teaspoon of raw sugar instead and I used the maple syrup option. Very good and I am so happy to satisfy my craving for carrot cake with these healthier muffins. Thanks!
Lauren says
Thanks Natasha! I do tend to stay on the less sweet side with my muffins, so I’m happy you found a way to make them that works for you! 🙂
Gabby @ the veggie nook says
These look awesome! And I also do coconut oil sea salt on baked goods! Really give it a “butter” feel!
Matt @ Runner Savvy says
There look delicious!
pennyodell says
Looks great. I wonder how it would be with almond flour?
Lauren says
Hi Penny,
If you’re looking for something grain-free, you might try this: https://www.oatmealwithafork.com/2013/07/15/%E2%99%A5lovers-carrot-cake%E2%99%A5-grain-free-nut-free/