These easy gluten free carrot muffins are gently spiced and packed with bits of juicy shredded carrots. Made with oat flour and tangy buttermilk, they’re just right alongside your morning coffee or tucked into a lunchbox.

In spring, I love all things carrots! These sweet and simple gluten free carrot muffins don't need to be saved just for mild days, though; I find them to be perfect all year round. Spiked with cozy spices like cinnamon and ginger, packed with whole grain oat flour, and just sweet enough, they can be served at breakfast time with butter, as a quick after-school snack, or even as a complement to a bowl of carrot cauliflower soup!
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You'll Love These Simple Carrot Muffins!
These gluten free carrot muffins are incredibly moist, thanks to perfectly shredded carrots, with just the right amount of added spice. They're also kid-approved and pack well for snacks, school lunches, or post-run pick-me-ups. I love that they're not overly sweet, yet still feel a bit like a treat (you can also make them naturally sweetened with maple syrup if you like). Here are a few more highlights to tempt you to skip right to the recipe and get baking!
- Easy - You need about 5 minutes to make the batter, and most of that time is spent grating the carrots!
- Kid-friendly - Even kids who claim not to like vegetables won't be able to turn their noses up at these muffins! You can even grate the carrots super finely so that they won't notice them.
- Naturally gluten-free - Rely on oat flour or another whole-grain gluten-free flour (sorghum flour is a nice alternative) to keep these muffins easily gluten-free. The bonus is that you'll get an extra dose of whole grains!
- Make-ahead friendly - These muffins freeze and defrost beautifully, so go ahead and make a double batch so you can stash half in the freezer for an on-the-go breakfast.
Ingredient Notes
Here's a look at what you need to bake these muffins, wtih some variation ideas included below the ingredients list. Don't forget to scroll down to my recipe card at the end of this post for the full ingredient amounts and instructions!
- Oat flour - Learn how to make oat flour or pick up a package at the store (use certified gluten-free oat flour if needed). If you can't have oats, swap brown rice flour.
- Granulated sugar - You can adjust the amount of sugar a bit here, by ¼ cup less.
- Brown sugar - Light or dark brown sugar is fine.
- Leavening - Baking powder and baking soda.
- Spices - A combination of ground cinnamon and ginger adds warmth.
- Salt - I use fine sea salt, but table salt works fine, too.
- Eggs
- Buttermilk - Or use whole milk.
- Vegetable oil - Any neutral oil, such as avocado oil, will work here.
- Carrots
Variations to Try
- Nuts - Add a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans for crunch.
- Raisins - I leave out raisins, but a nice classic addition to carrot muffins is golden or regular raisins. You can add them when you stir in the carrots.
- Coconut - For a little coconutty sweetness, add ¼ cup of shredded sweetened or unsweetened coconut.
- Maple syrup sweetened - Swap the combined amount of brown and granulated sugar for ½ cup of maple syrup.
How to Make Gluten Free Carrot Muffins
Here's an overview in photos of how to make this recipe—hint: It's just grate, stir, and bake!
- Prep: Lightly grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with liners.
- Mix dry ingredients: Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Combine wet ingredients: In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and oil.
- Combine: Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Add carrots: Fold in the grated carrots.
- Rest the batter: Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, then rest the batter.
- Bake: Bake the muffins at 400°F for about 20 minutes.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out to cool to room temp.
Baking Tip: Shred Carrots Finely
To ensure that the carrots blend seamlessly into the batter, use the smallest shredding option on your box grater. And because I don't mind a bit of texture. I sometimes use the large option for larger shreds of carrot. It's up to you!
Tips and Substitution Suggestions
- Use room temperature ingredients. Bring the buttermilk and eggs to room temperature before baking to ensure the muffins rise especially well.
- Don’t overmix! For the tenderest muffins, stir gently together the batter until everything is just combined.
- Rest the batter. Make sure to let the muffin batter rest in the muffin tin for up to 20 minutes (while the oven heats usually works great), so fully hydrate the oat flour.
- What size to make the muffins? I used a ¼ cup measure to scoop the batter into the tin so that each muffins would be about the same size.
- Use gluten-free flour. Skip the oat flour and use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose blend (my homemade gluten free flour blend always works perfectly).
- Dairy-free: You can use dairy-free milk for the buttermilk, or just use water.
- Make them egg-free: Substitute 1 mashed banana or 2 flax eggs for the eggs.
Storage
- Counter - Place fully cooled muffins in an airtight container and store them on the counter for up to 3 days. Make sure the muffins are thoroughly cooled before placing them in the storage container so that they don't become soggy.
- Fridge - Keep the muffins, airtight, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer - Store the muffins in a freezer-safe bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw the muffins in the fridge before eating.
More Carrot Recipes
If you try this recipe, please let me know! And if you have any questions, always feel free to reach out in the comments or by email. I hope you love it! ❤️
Gluten Free Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups oat flour (270 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar (light or dark brown sugar)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ginger
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups grated carrots (about 2 medium-large carrots)
Instructions
- Lightly grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then stir in the grated carrots.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, filling the muffin cups almost to the top.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Rest the batter while the oven heats, then bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn them out to cool completely.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. Bring the buttermilk and eggs to room temperature before baking to ensure the muffins rise especially well.
- Don’t overmix! For the tenderest muffins, stir gently together the batter until everything is just combined.
- Rest the batter. Make sure to let the muffin batter rest in the muffin tin for up to 20 minutes (while the oven heats usually works great), so fully hydrate the oat flour.
- What size to make the muffins? I used a ¼ cup measure to scoop the batter into the tin so that each muffins would be about the same size.
- Use gluten-free flour. Skip the oat flour and use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose blend (my homemade gluten free flour blend always works perfectly).
- Dairy-free: You can use dairy-free milk for the buttermilk, or just use water.
- Make them egg-free: Substitute 1 mashed banana or 2 flax eggs for the eggs.
Katie Simpson says
Yum, the boys and I will be making this tomorrow!