Healthy carrot muffins – vegan and nut free

Name: Healthy carrot muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 250 g carrots (grated); 125 g sultanas; 100 g sunflower oil (olive works as well); 1 tbsp whole chia seeds (optional); 15 g pumpkin or sunflower seed (chopped); 125 g maple syrup; 250 g spelt flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground ginger; 1/2 tsp nutmeg; 4 tbsp milk (I used oat milk)

January 4, 2018 by Mandy Mazliah 25 Comments

My healthy carrot muffins will go down a treat with anyone looking for a delicious, filling bake that is low in refined sugar. They’re packed full of nutritious ingredients and suitable for vegans. As they’re nut free too they are perfect for kids lunch boxes although I must admit to eating as many of them as my kids do!

I only started making a daily lunchbox for my picky eating seven year old in September last year and while we got off to a good start, by December he was coming home with a full lunch box several times each week. Yes, that’s right – he hadn’t eaten any of his lunch. When I asked him why he said that he wasn’t given enough time at school to eat but I think that was just an excuse. The reality is that he has a limited amount of foods that he’s willing to eat and so of course he does end up eating the same thing quite a lot.

This is in fact known as food jagging and it’s really common with kids who only eat a few different things. They will eventually get bored of having the same thing over and over again. The advice is to serve up familiar foods but in different formats – so for example if your kid likes apples then try serving sliced apples one day, apple sauce another and apple muffins on a different occasion.

If this is something that you are struggling with as well then I recommend that you check out the resources offered by Simone Emery of Play With Food* – her video courses have really helped me out and there are plenty of invaluable free articles and tips on her site too.

Why carrot muffins?

Everyone loves carrot cake right? These healthy carrot muffins are part of my new year resolve to ensure that at least some of my son’s lunch gets eaten every day. While carrots are definitely not on his “safe food” list – cake usually is!

Wish me luck…

Incidentally the chia seeds are in these muffins to add nutritional value rather than as an egg substitute, which is why they’re not ground up. You can leave them out if you don’t have any available. I’ve tried to include as many nutritional ingredients as I can in these muffins – including a portion of hidden vegetables as well.

While I made these with my older child in mind these carrot muffins are a great choice for toddlers too as they’re packed full of nutritious ingredients. You can make them in fairy cake cases instead to reduce the size (free any leftovers).

Are these carrot muffins nut free?

These muffins are nut free as my children’s school has a nut free policy due to allergies. If you don’t need these to be nut free some chopped walnuts in place of the sunflower seeds would be lovely.

Here’s how to make healthy carrot muffins:

These healthy carrot muffins are really easy to make. Simply mix together the dry ingredients. Using a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients and the grated carrot together. Fold in the dry ingredients and finally stir in the milk before spooning into the muffin cases and baking.