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Healthy muffins make for super easy breakfasts all year long! This apple carrot muffin recipe is so good, that you’ll want to make more than one batch at a time. Busy families everywhere need this simple muffin recipe in their lives and that means you too!
“This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.”
Why you should make these now!
My kids LOVE a muffin for breakfast. They think they are getting a treat and getting away with something sneaky, but I know that they are getting a good healthy start to their day.
One of the best things about this breakfast muffin recipe is that it includes all the flavors of apple cinnamon oatmeal. In my opinion, apples and cinnamon belong together like peanut butter and jelly. There is something about the warm spices paired with the sweet apple and carrots that make this muffin so good.
With both fruit and veggies in this apple carrot muffin, as well as good for you oats, this is a muffin that will keep you full. It's not only a great choice for breakfast, but a great after school snack.
Ingredients
- Apples: you can use whatever apple you like in this recipe
- Oats: I like to always bake with old fashioned oats. I would suggest using them in this recipe.
Simple step by step instructions
The hardest part of these muffins is shredding the apples and carrots. Have no fear, this isn’t hard. You can use a box grater or you food processor. I like using the box grater because with just one apple and one or two carrots to shred, it’s a much easier clean up. Both the apple and carrot shred really easily and you should be able to use the large holes in the box grater to do the job quickly.
Then just combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk them together.
In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients and whisk together. Add in the shredded carrots and apples and mix until they are incorportated.
Then pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix until just combined. I suggest doing this with a spatula or mixing spoon and not in the stand mixer.
Now the batter is ready for muffin tins. I like to use a cookie scoop to portion the apple carrot muffin batter into the tins. It's simple and ensures you get even amounts into each muffin.
Then bake at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, let cool and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Well, the ingredients include an entire apple, a few carrots, and oats. These items alone are a great base for any healthy muffin. Apples paired with the oatmeal provide a significant amount of fiber to this muffin. Foods high in fiber also help you feel full longer, which is just another reason these make such a good breakfast or snack.
Both the carrots and the apples add a natural sweetness to the recipe, so I've cut back on the amount sugar compared to other recipes. And they still taste great!
Yes, apple carrot muffins freeze great. Once they are baked, let them cool and then store them in either a zip top freezer bag or a air tight container and pop them in the freezer. When you are ready to eat, either leave the muffins to defrost on the counter, or warm in the microwave from 15-30 seconds. Keeping healthy breakfast options in the freezer makes mornings so much easier! These muffins will keep up to about 3 months in the freezer.
Absolutely. They are dairy free and nut free as written. I like to use almond or soy milk when I make them, but you could easily substitute for cow's milk if keeping the muffins dairy free wasn't a concern. I haven't tried to make them gluten-free, but any all purpose gluten free baking mix should work here here as well.
One More Simple Tip
- When making these breakfast muffins you don’t want to over mix the batter. You just want to incorporate the ingredients together and then fold in the apples and carrots gently at the end
Looking for other simple breakfast recipes? Try these:
When you try this recipe and love it 😍 let me know by leaving a comment below or 5 ⭐ rating!
Apple Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 cup shredded apple
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 2 eggs at room temp
- ½ cup coconut oil in liquid form
- ¾ cup almond milk at room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare a muffin tin by spraying with baking spray
- In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt
- Whisk dry ingredients together until combined
- In a medium sized bowl add in 2 eggs, ½ cup coconut oil, vanilla and ¾ cup almond milk and whisk with a fork to combine then add the shredded carrot and shredded apple to the bowl and gently fold the wet ingredients until incorporated.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well until just combined
- Portion into 12 muffin cups and bake at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes
- Once the muffins come out of the oven, let cool in muffin tin for about 5 minutes, then move to cooling rack to cool completely (if you can wait that long 😉)
Notes
- These apple carrot muffins are fun when they are made in mini-muffin pans as well. You'll just need to adjust the baking time to about 15 minutes or so.
- I use either a box grater or a food processor to make even faster work of shredding the carrot and the apple. If I'm just making a single recipe the box grater works great. If I'm doing a double recipe or grating other veggies for other recipes, I'll pull our the food processor.
Nutrition
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Julie
The muffins were very good but a little dry. I'm thinking of adding a bit of applesauce to them next time.
Marni Katz
That should be ok, and you may want to also try a little bit more shredded apple or carrots. Each piece of fruit has a different water content, and if your apple isn't super juicy, you may not have had enough liquid for muffin.
Rachel
Looking forward to making this! What can I substitute for the coconut oil?
Marni Katz
You can substitute vegetable oil without a problem. Enjoy!
Erin
Recipe says preheat to 350 but then later on says bake at 375. Which temp is correct?
Marni Katz
So sorry about the confusion. I like to bake muffins at a higher temp to get a good rise...so bake at 375. I will update the recipe to reflect that.
Gail
I made these using 1cup reg flour 1 cup almond flour, less oil & reg milk.
Very good
Marni Katz
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for sharing the substitutions that worked for you 🙂
Eliza
The preheat and baking temps are not the same, just FYI!
Marni Katz
Thanks for letting me know. 375 is correct and I will update accordingly.