Carrot Cake Muffins

We all love a good carrot cake recipe, but when the recipe also uses simple plant-based ingredients, then it’s definitely a keeper! These carrot cake muffins are moist, sweet, delicious and a perfect afternoon snack for adults and children alike. The best part is they are easy to make and very budget-friendly.

One-pot Wonder

It’s so appealing to us when the recipe only calls for one pot to be used throughout the entire recipe, like these carrot cake muffins. Usually, the mess you have to clean after using what feels like a million bowls and dishes can be overwhelming and could really deter someone from continuing to experiment in the kitchen. One-pot recipes like this one are amazing, and we have a few of those you can go and check out (like this one-pot pumpkin chili and this yellow curry!).

Carrot Cake Muffins Without The Carrots!

This muffins recipe is such a great base for any muffin variety you’d like to try. Using the core ingredients (all ingredients minus the walnuts and carrots) you can customize them to whatever you have on hand or you feel like eating. You can add any dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, chopped dates, or chopped dried apricots. Or you can go the fresh or frozen fruit route, and add something like blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries if you have them.

Remember to keep the base of this recipe in mind so you can get super creative whenever you feel like baking or crave something sweet.

Ripe Bananas

Using very ripe bananas is crucial to this recipe. Why? The greener the banana, the less sugar content it will have so we recommend using the ripest bananas you’ve got. You can determine how ripe they are by the color of its peel. Aim for at least spotted bananas, but dark brown is even better. Using ripe bananas when baking is amazing because it will reduce the amount of sugar you need to achieve the right sweetness.

Also, when mashing the bananas you can either leave some chunks to add some texture or you can mash them thoroughly for a smoother texture.

Let us know how they turn out!

Recommended equipment:

• Grater or food processor
• Measuring cups
• Medium Bowl
• Spatula
• Muffin Tin

Photos by Alfonso Revilla

Ingredients

• 1½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil, plus more for greasing
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup crushed walnuts (optional)

Method