Carrot Cake Muffins!

A delicious and incredibly easy carrot cake muffin recipe with a crumb topping, soft and moist muffin, and a cinnamon icing drizzle 

Carrot cake is without a doubt one of my favourite bakes in the world, and these crumb topped muffins are insane. They’re so easy, so tasty, and so moreish.

Carrot cake

So, as I have said so many times now in the past, carrot cake is my favourite cake flavour. Yes, I know, it may shock people that it’s not chocolate, or biscoff, or something caramel flavoured.. honestly, I adore carrot cake, and if I’m in a pinch at a cafe, I will always order it as it’s hard to get it wrong. 

Carrot cake is a soft, moist, and deliciously flavoured sponge that is adaptable, but like I say… basically foolproof. I also don’t use that world lightly, but as you simply have to mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients with a bowl and spoon, it’s so hard to mess it up if you follow the recipe. 

My carrot cake cupcakes are always a glorious bake, along with my carrot cake traybake, and even my carrot cake cheesecake – the obsession is real here. This made me want to do an even better version of a carrot cake, and make it muffin sized.  

Easter bakes

I would usually say that carrot cake is more synonymous with people around Easter, so I am posting this in the run up to Easter this year. For me however, it’s a year round obsession so I will probably be baking these weekly for the rest of the year at this rate as I adore the recipe. 

If easter has brought you to this page, you are welcome however. I have such a love for baking at Easter as it’s just so fun, and my insane number of recipes such as my Simnel Cake recipe, my easter cookie dough desserts, my carrot patch cupcakes, or even my creme egg fondants are just a few. There are so many good ideas at this time of year, but if you want to avoid the usual trend of chocolate… carrot cake is the way to go. 

Crumb topping

For these muffins, I want to do it a little differently to how I have done a muffin before, and add a crumb topping. You could call it streusel if you want, but it’s a really simple crumb that is three ingredients, and 100% worth the prep of the crumb before baking.

• Flour – I usually use plain flour for a crumb as it just doesn’t need a raising agent
• Sugar – I used light brown sugar because I love the caramel flavour from it
• Butter – unsalted butter, that has been melted – I tend to avoid margarines as it becomes oily

You basically want to add these ingredients to a bowl, and mix. It may look a little weird, but as long you trust the process it’s fine. It’s also worth making this first as you want to mix it up, and let it chill. The fridge or freezer is great for speed. Once the muffins are then ready, you ‘fluff’ the crumb up with a fork, and simply crumble it over the top. 

Muffin mix

The muffin mix itself, is a simple play on my carrot cake cupcakes recipe. However, cupcakes to me are smaller, so these ingredients have been increased to fit the tulip muffin cases that I adore using in a muffin bake. 

• Oil – in baking, I tend to use sunflower oil or vegetable oil as they are flavourless, other oils may carry a flavour with them
• Eggs – I use three medium eggs, but two large is perfect  
• Carrots – the obvious part – I grate mine up to have 250g worth to add in grated
• Sugar – I adore using light brown soft sugar as it creates a wonderful flavour in the sponge but you can use caster sugar or dark brown sugar
• Flour – I use self raising flour as I want the raising agent part but you can use plain and add 1.5tsp baking powder 
• Raising agents – I also add in some bicarbonate of soda so that there is some extra fluffiness in the sponge
• Flavours – a little mixed spice, cinnamon, ginger

The muffin mix is best when you simply mix all of the wet ingredients (the oil, eggs, carrots) and the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, raising agents, flavours) together as little as possible. I use a spoon and a bowl, and don’t use a mixer. 

Icing drizzle

The icing drizzle is optional, but I love it. It’s a simple mixture of icing sugar, vanilla extract, a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt, and then a little milk. You can use water instead, but I find the milk makes it creamier. 

I tend to wait until my muffins are out of the oven for 30-60 minutes, then drizzle it over the top – but I do like these muffins fresh and warm, so it doesn’t matter if you rush it a little. You can use a different topping such as a cream cheese frosting but I think this is too similar to the cupcakes, the muffins are already bigger, and the drizzle suits the crumb topping better. 

Tips & Tricks

• These muffins will last for 3-4+ days
• These muffins will freeze for 3+ months 
• I use this muffin tray
• I use these tulip muffin cases 

Carrot Cake Muffins!

A delicious and incredibly easy carrot cake muffin recipe with a crumb topping, soft and moist muffin, and a cinnamon icing drizzle 

Print Pin Rate

Category: Cupcakes

Type: Muffins

Keyword: Carrot

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cooling & Decorating: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 muffins

Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

Crumb topping

• 100 g plain flour
• 75 g light brown soft sugar
• 65 g unsalted butter (melted)

Muffin Mix

• 175 ml sunflower/vegetable oil
• 3 medium eggs
• 250 g carrots (grated weight)
• 175 g light brown soft sugar
• 250 g self raising flour
• 2 tsps mixed spice (see below)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Icing drizzle

• 150 g icing sugar
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 2-4 tbsp milk

Grams - Ounces

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 190ºc/170ºc fan and grab 12 tulip cases in a 12 hole muffin tray
• Mix the crumb ingredients together in a bowl, and chill in the fridge of freezer
• Add the oil, eggs, carrot and sugar to a bowl and combine
• Add the flour, spices and bicarb and mix again - try not to over mix
• Split the muffin mix between 12 tulip cases evenly
• Mix the chilled crumb up with a fork and sprinkle over the muffins 
• Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes and then cool
• Mix the drizzle ingredients together until thick and then drizzle over the muffins

Notes

• You can add more spices if you prefer a stronger flavour - the amounts just create a light pleasant flavour suitable for more. 
• These muffins will last for 3-4+ days
• These muffins will freeze for 3+ months 
• I use this muffin tray
• I use these tulip muffin cases 

ENJOY!

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