Carrot Muffins with Walnuts are packed full of shredded carrots and raisins. They’re a delicious addition to your breakfast or brunch menu!
These tender and moist Carrot Muffins with Walnuts are perfect for spring baking. I love serving them alongside my ham & asparagus quiche and sausage links for brunch.
They also make a great breakfast-on-the-go for busy mornings.
The muffins are a simplified version of morning glory muffins—these don’t have apples or pineapple. Instead, they’re packed with shredded carrots, raisins, and walnuts for crunch.
These Carrot Muffins aren’t overly sweet, so if you like a sweet muffin, be sure to follow the instructions in the recipe notes for bumping up the sweetness!
Carrot muffins vs. carrot cake
Carrot cake is traditionally sweet, and topped with a cream cheese frosting. Carrot Muffins are less sweet and not frosted. In the case of these muffins, they also contain raisins and walnuts.
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Tips for this carrot muffin recipe
- You’ll need to shred the carrots yourself, whether with a box grater or a food processor. Pre-shredded carrots are too thick for this recipe.
- Take care not to over mix the batter once you add flour, otherwise the muffins will be tough.
- You can substitute whole wheat flour for up to half of the all-purpose flour.
Ingredients
- Grated carrots are the star of the muffins. Be sure to grate your own instead of using pre-grated carrots from the grocery store, which are too thick for this recipe.
- Light brown sugar sweetens the muffins, but we’re only using ½ cup here so the muffins aren’t overly sweet. Check out the recipe notes for how to make sweeter muffins if you’d like!
- The recipe calls for buttermilk. If you don’t have it, you can make your own buttermilk using 2 teaspoons of vinegar and a scant ½ cup of milk.
- A combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice add warm spice notes to these muffins.
- We’ll add walnuts and raisins as mix-ins. If you don’t like either one, just leave them out!
How to make carrot muffins with walnuts
Start by grating the carrots using a box grater or a food processor. I like using whole carrots (not baby carrots) for the best flavor.
Do not use pre-grated carrots that are sold in bags at the grocery store. They are too thick for this recipe.
I have this food processor from Cuisinart, which comes with disks for shredding.
Next, whisk together the brown sugar, buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and vegetable oil until smooth.
Then, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice.
You can substitute whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour if you wish.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir gently with a spatula until almost combined.
Add the walnuts, raisins, and shredded carrots, and mix until just combined. Do not over mix, which can cause the muffins to be tough and chewy.
Divide the muffin batter evenly among 9 muffin cups (be sure to grease the pan first!). I find that an ice cream scoop makes scooping muffin batter super easy.
Bake the muffins for 17–19 minutes in a 375°F oven. They should be lightly golden brown on top. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes.
Run a butter knife around the edges of the muffins to loosen them from the pan, then take them out and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.
How to make your own buttermilk
This recipe calls for ½ cup buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own using vinegar and milk.
To make your own buttermilk, pour 2 teaspoons of vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Fill the cup to the ½ cup line with milk and let sit for 5 minutes.
Any kind of cow’s milk is fine, such as skim, 1%, 2%, or whole. For the vinegar, you can use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can omit either one, or both. You do not need to make any other changes to the recipe when you do this.
Unfortunately, typical pre-shredded carrots (the ones that are sold in a plastic bag at the grocery store) are too thick for this recipe. They will be too crunchy in the finished muffin.
Use a box grater or food processor to shred the carrots instead.
As written, the recipe produces a lightly sweet muffin. To make sweeter muffins, increase the brown sugar to ¾–1 cup.
If you don’t have allspice, add another ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon.
Carrot Muffins can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature for 12 hours, or until defrosted.
Serving the muffins
Carrot Muffins with Walnuts are delicious warm or at room temperature. I love them spread with some butter!
To re-warm the muffins, place them back in the muffin tin, and bake for 3–4 minutes at 350°F, or until warmed through.
More delicious muffin recipes
- Zucchini Muffins with Walnuts and Coconut (Grandma’s recipe!)
- Rhubarb Muffins with Pecan Streusel
- Apple Oatmeal Muffins
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and/or comment below!
📖 Recipe
Carrot Muffins with Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1½ cups grated carrots
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray (the recipe will make 9 muffins).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and vegetable oil until smooth.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir gently with a spatula just until combined.
- Add the grated carrots, raisins, and walnuts, and stir just until combined.
- Divide the batter between 9 muffin cups. Bake for 17–19 minutes, or until light golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin, then remove the muffins (run a butter knife around the edges if they’re stuck). Enjoy the muffins while warm or let cool completely.
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