Wholesome Honey Oat Carrot Muffin Recipe

Half a buttered honey oat carrot muffin laying on a muffin wrapper with the rest of the muffins on a cooling rack.

Wholesome Honey Oat Carrot Muffin Recipe

Honey Oat Carrot Muffins are soft, moist, and just the right amount of sweet. Made with shredded carrots, oats, and a touch of honey, they’re perfect for breakfast, snacks, or even a light treat.

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Snack

Cuisine American-Inspired, Bakery-Style

Keyword Carrot Muffins with Oats, honey oat carrot muffins

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 24

Cooling Time 5

Total Time 44

Servings

Calories 174kcal

Ingredients

Dry Goods

1 ⅓ cups flour (165g)
1 ⅓ cups rolled oats (130g)
⅛ cup bran flakes (9g)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder (6g)
½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
¼ teaspoon salt (1.5g)
¾ teaspoon cinnamon (1.5g)
½ teaspoon ginger (1.5g)
1 cup carrots (110g) shredded (see notes)

Wet Ingredients

1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (2.5ml)
⅓ cup honey, raw (140g) + 1 Tbs
⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce (85ml)
¼ cup neutral olive oil (55ml)
½ cup plain Greek yogurt (120g)

Optional Add-ins (choose up to ½ cup total)

Pecans golden raisins (sultanas), dried cranberries, currants, shredded coconut, walnuts.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tray or line with paper liners.
Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, bran and oats until evenly combined. Set aside.
Mix the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, honey, oil, and applesauce until smooth. Then fold in the Greek yogurt. Saving the shredded carrots to toss into the dry ingredients. Note: a ½ cup of honey is a bit too sweet, so this recipe calls for ⅓ cup PLUS 1 tablespoon to get just the right mildly sweet balance.
Combine wet and dry:
Add the shredded carrots to the dry mixture and stir to distribute.
Gently fold the dry mix into the wet ingredients.
Optional add-ins: If using walnuts, pecans, raisins, currants, or shredded coconut, gently fold them into the batter.
Bake: Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. About 2.5oz or (75g) per baking cup. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 8–9 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F (180°C) and continue baking for 12–15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool & serve: Let the muffins cool in the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Notes

Recipe Note: This recipe also works beautifully as a loaf or as bakery-style jumbo muffins. For a loaf, skip the high-heat start and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 45–55 minutes. For jumbo muffins, use the same two-step temperature method: 400°F (200°C) to start, then drop to 350°F (180°C) until baked through. Keep an eye on them—your oven might have its own opinion!

Substitutions:
Applesauce can be replaced by same amount of mashed banana.
Carrots can be replaced by an equal amount of shredded apples.
Try adding some nuts, raisins or even shredded coconut to the batter, about ½ cup.

Nutrition