These carrot cake muffins are moist and tender, packed with classic carrot cake flavor. The batter has freshly grated carrots, warm spices, and nuts, but you can customize them with any mix-ins you like. Each muffin has a smooth, tangy cream cheese center that melts in your mouth. They're finished with a crunchy cinnamon streusel topping and are a perfect breakfast treat enjoyed with a cup of coffee.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Classic carrot cake flavor: Oil and grated carrots make these muffins so soft and moist. The muffins are perfectly spiced with cinnamon and other warm spices for the perfect, cozy classic flavor.
- Cream cheese center: The best part of carrot cake has to be the tangy cream cheese frosting. Instead of a frosting, these muffins have a cream cheese filling for the same tangy, creamy flavor. Plus it melts into the muffins as they bake.
- Bakery-style muffins at home: These muffins are tall and fluffy, just like the ones you get at your favorite bakery. This recipe walks you through my top tips for getting tall, domed tops, like resting the batter and baking only 6 muffins at a time.
If you're interested in baking a real carrot cake, check out my mini carrot cake and apple carrot cake (with the BEST burnt honey cream cheese frosting).
Ingredient Notes
- You need to use fresh carrots for carrot cake, including muffins! Pre-shredded carrots are too thick and hard. I recommend using a box grater or food processor to grate them, but you can use a microplane if you're really in a pinch. Do not squeeze out the moisture- we need it for super fluffy muffins!
- These muffins use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar for sweetness and warmth. Light or dark brown sugar work, just make sure it's moist.
- I used a combination of olive oil and vegetable oil for an extra earthy flavor to complement the carrots, but any kind of oil works.
- You need buttermilk to add extra acidity, which makes the muffins super soft. Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt work as well.
- For the spices, I used cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. You can mess around a little with the ratios to suit your taste, or add more spices like cardamom or ground cloves!
- For the cream cheese filling, make sure to use a brick of full-fat cream cheese so the filling isn't soupy. Make sure it's room temperature or the filling will be chunky.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
A Note on Mix-Ins
I feel like carrot cake is very, very personal, so I made this recipe flexible so you can add whatever mix-ins you like! I had some chopped pistachios and almonds in the pantry, so that's what I decided to use. You can also use walnuts, pecans, raisins, shredded coconut, or (well-drained) pineapple chunks!
Just don't use anything too wet (like applesauce or crushed pineapple) because it'll mess up the texture. Also make sure the total quantity of your mix-ins doesn't exceed 1 cup.
Step by Step Instructions
Remember to clean and grate the carrots before you start baking!
Step 1: To make the crumble, whisk the flour, cinnamon, sugar, and brown sugar together with a fork. Mix in the melted butter, then place in the fridge to chill in the fridge while you make the muffin batter. The streusel will look wet, but it dries out and gets nice and crumbly as it cools.
Step 2: Whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and oil together in a large bowl until combined.
Step 3: Whisk in the eggs and vanilla bean paste until smooth and glossy, then stream in the buttermilk while whisking until well combined.
Step 4: Next fold the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt in with a rubber spatula.
Do not overmix the batter.ย After you add the flour and spices, gently fold them in until just barely combined. Overmixing will develop too much gluten and give you tough, dense muffins.
Step 5: Fold in the shredded carrots, nuts, and any other mix-ins until the dry streaks of flour just disappear. Let the batter rest on the counter while you preheat the oven to 425ยฐF.
Step 6: While the oven preheats, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla bean paste together on medium speed until smooth. You can use extract if you don't have vanilla paste! Transfer the mixture to a piping bag.
Don't skip resting the batter. Letting it sit for even a few minutes gives the baking powder a head-start activating. This helps create a lighter, fluffier texture and encourages the muffins to rise taller as they bake. The longer the batter rests, the better (up to 1 hour).
Step 7: Line every other cavity of a muffin pan with paper liners. Using a cookie scoop, portion the batter into each liner, filling them about ยพ full. Then, insert the tip of the piping bag into the center of each muffin and gently squeeze in the cream cheese filling, slowly lifting the bag as you go. Sprinkle crumble on top.
Step 8: Bake the muffins at 425ยฐF for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350ยฐF and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack before you eat them.
Baking only 6 muffins at a time helps the hot air circulate around them more evenly and push them upward!
Why 425ยฐF? The initial high temperature gives the muffins a quick burst of heat, which makes the tops rise rapidly and creates that tall, bakery-style dome. Lowering the temperature after a few minutes allows the centers to finish baking through evenly without overbrowning or drying out.
Storage
Store any leftover carrot cake muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days since they have a cream cheese filling. For the best texture, let them come to room temperature before serving.
More Muffin Recipes to Try
๐ Recipe
Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling
Equipment
- 1 box grater
- 1 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners
- 1 whisk
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Ingredients
Crumble Topping
- 38 grams all purpose flour
- 30 grams granulated sugar
- 25 grams brown sugar light or dark
- ยฝ teaspoon cinnamon
- 35 grams unsalted butter melted
Carrot Cake Muffins
- 150 grams grated carrots 2-3 large carrots
- 165 grams brown sugar light or dark
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 120 grams olive oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 180 grams buttermilk room temperature
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ยฝ teaspoon ginger
- ยผ teaspoon nutmeg
- โ teaspoon allspice
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 75 grams chopped nuts
Cream Cheese Filling
- 227 grams full-fat cream cheese room temperature
- 55 grams granulated sugar
- ยผ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Crumble Topping
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon with a fork. Pour in the melted butter and mix until combined and small clumps form. Place the bowl in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the muffin batter. The mixture will firm up as it cools.38 grams all purpose flour, 30 grams granulated sugar, 25 grams brown sugar, ยฝ teaspoon cinnamon, 35 grams unsalted butter
Carrot Cake Muffins
- Wash, peel, and finely grate the carrots using the small holes of a box grater. Set aside.150 grams grated carrots
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and oil until fully combined.165 grams brown sugar, 50 grams granulated sugar, 120 grams olive oil
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth. Slowly pour in the buttermilk while whisking until fully incorporated.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 180 grams buttermilk
- Add the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the ingredients together until just combined. Stop mixing as soon as you no longer see large streaks of flour to avoid overmixing.250 grams all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ยฝ teaspoon ginger, ยผ teaspoon nutmeg, โ teaspoon allspice, ยฝ teaspoon salt
- Fold in the grated carrots, nuts, and any additional mix-ins until evenly distributed and no dry streaks remain. Let the batter rest at room temperature while you preheat the oven to 425ยฐF.75 grams chopped nuts
Cream Cheese Filling
- In a medium bowl, beat the room temperature cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla bean paste on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Transfer the filling to a piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off.227 grams full-fat cream cheese, 55 grams granulated sugar, ยผ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- Line every other cup of a muffin pan with paper liners. Use a cookie scoop to fill each liner about ยพ full with batter. Insert the tip of the piping bag into the center of each muffin and pipe the cream cheese filling inside, lifting slightly as you squeeze to keep it in the middle. Sprinkle crumble evenly over the tops.
- Bake at 425ยฐF for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350ยฐF without opening the door. Continue baking for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin (avoiding the cream cheese center) comes out clean with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
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