Carrot Cake Mini Muffins
Carrot Cake Mini Muffins are a great breakfast or on-the-go snack that are gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free.
Carrot Cake Mini Muffins are gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free to accommodate our crazy crew that do better by avoiding some food items. Oh, and look here…I managed to sneak more carrots into a normally vegetable-less breakfast item! I’m not sure why I always gravitate toward carrots, but I do. They are very healthy for you (beta-carotene, potassium, vitamin B6 and more antioxidant vitamins) and sneaking in as much as possible each day is always my kind of a goal to reach. Since adding carrots and also golden raisins, I decided they needed to be named Carrot Cake Muffins. Or perhaps it’s because when you tell the kids at breakfast they’re eating “cake” muffins, they think you’re a cool mom!
We also have puffed (or popped) quinoa, but don’t let this one scare you, it’s easy to make and a quick google search will show you exactly how to do it. I like adding quinoa to muffins or granola for a little nutty-flavor and more nutrients. Quinoa offers amino acids, fiber, iron, and a high content of manganese. Now you can always leave the puffed quinoa out of this recipe and substitute shredded coconut flakes. But trying something new in the kitchen is always a great adventure and one that might become a weekly routine!
Muffins make a great add-on to breakfast. We usually do sausage scramble (recipe coming soon!) and a muffin. Great protein from the sausage and the muffin helps fill the kids up all while being a healthy alternative to some of the sugary-breakfasts that are out there. We do add some sugar to the muffins, because without it was pretty bland tasting. Feel free to use honey or maple syrup in place of cane sugar, they both work remarkably well with this recipe.
We are kind of obsessed with mini muffins over here. We are definitely a muffin family and we’ve found making mini muffins to be a great way to have zero-waste. The normal size muffin is a good size for an adult, but more often than not I’ll find a half eaten muffin left on a plate (or the floor…because let’s be real for a minute, our floor always has food on it!). So making mini muffins is PERFECT for our family with little ones. Great size for those little hands and small bellies. And when snack time comes around it’s a good amount that will leave them feeling satisfied, but not too full to eat their dinner!
-
1/4
cup
Coconut Oil
melted
- 2 bananas, ripe
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup coconut cream
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup cane sugar or honey or maple syrup
-
1 1/2
cup
gluten free flour blend
Bobs Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1
- 1/3 cup grated carrots
-
1/4
cup
Puffed Quinoa
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 2/3 cup golden raisins
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 24 mini muffin tin, set aside.
-
In a large mixing bowl combine the coconut oil, bananas, baking soda, coconut cream, water and sugar.
-
Add the baking powder, puffed (or popped) quinoa and gluten-free flour blend stirring until well mixed together. Fold in the carrots, sunflower seeds and raisins.
-
Evenly fill the mini muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Store in an airtight glass container for up to 4 days.
I see Puffed Quinoa on the ingredients list but you don’t add it in the recipe. Does it get added with the flour? Also, when I click on the link for Puffed Quinoa, it takes me to a normal quinoa and not a Puffed quinoa. That is confusing. Do I used regular or puffed…or not at all.
Thanks!
Thank you for the question! I have done a quick update and added the quinoa to the recipe instructions, thanks for noticing that! Regular quinoa can be made into puffed (also known as popped) quinoa…a quick google search will give detailed instructions!