Gluten free pumpkin carrot muffins are fluffy with hints of walnuts, ginger, cinnamon, carrot and pumpkin! Made with almond and oat flour and topped with a dairy-free cashew cream cheese, they’re perfect for spring!
Carrots are a spring superfood and I’ll take any chance I get to add pumpkin to something which is how these pumpkin carrot muffins were born! Fluffy and moist with a bakery-style muffin top but way lower in sugar and higher in flavor if I might add!
Pumpkin, carrot, cinnamon, ginger, almond, and walnut come together in each bite of these muffins. The dairy-free cashew cream cheese is truly the icing on top and is easy to make in a blender if you’re looking for a dairy-free cream cheese alternative. Although I do eat cheese, and yogurt, something about the taste of cashew cream cheese, I really love.
Ingredients for gluten free pumpkin carrot muffins
for the muffins:
- blanched almond flour
- oat flour — be sure it’s gluten free if you want to keep this recipe gluten free!
- eggs
- pumpkin puree
- carrot
- coconut oil
- maple syrup
- coconut sugar
- vanilla extract
- cinnamon
- ginger
- salt
- walnuts
for the dairy-free cashew cream cheese:
- cashews
- lemons
- maple syrup
- vegan butter
- cinnamon
Be sure to follow me on Instagram for more seasonal treats and nutrition tips!
Tips for making pumpkin carrot muffins with dairy-free cashew cream cheese
- Use a high-speed blender to blend the cashews. You will need to blend the cashews on high with the other ingredients in order to get the right consistency. I use the tamper tool to push the mixture down to get the creamy texture. I haven’t tried it in a food processor but that might also work!
- Muffin batter should be a little lumpy. Once you combine the wet and the dry ingredients you should only mix once or twice more until just combined.
- Spray the muffins liners so that the muffins come out of the liners clean once baked.
Gluten Free Pumpkin Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- for the muffins:
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup grated carrot
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
- for the dairy-free cashew cream cheese frosting
- 2 cups raw cashews soaked in warm water for at least 4 hours and drained
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- ¼ cup vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners and spray the bottom with cooking spray to prevent muffins from sticking.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut sugar, maple syrup, coconut oil, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Fold in the grated carrot.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the flours, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in walnuts. It’s ok for muffin batter to have some lumps.
- Use an ice cream scoop to portion the dough in the muffin tin.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.
- In the meantime, add the cashews to a high-speed blender along with the lemon juice, cinnamon and maple syrup.
- Blend on high until the mixture begins to look smooth like cream cheese. Add in the vegan butter and mix for about 30-40 more seconds until more combined and smooth.
- Top each muffin with cream cheese, walnut pieces, shredded carrot and cinnamon and enjoy! Store muffins and cashew cream cheese in the fridge for maximum freshness.
more muffin recipes you’re sure to love:
- banana lemon chia muffins
- healthy pumpkin muffins with spiced maple glaze
- pumpkin gingerbread muffins
pin this recipe for later!
This recipe is amazing! I made 1/3 of the recipe (all ratios the same). I had accidentally bought a Pumpkin Pie Filling a few days prior (it was a good, “clean” brand so just had a little extra sugar and some spices in it) so I used that instead. I also added some Nutmeg (my favorite) and some Pumpkin Pie Spice into the batter. I’m vegan so I made flax/chia “eggs” to replace the eggs. Finally, I also added a bit of shredded coconut and a few raisins with the carrot shreds. Instead of muffins, I made a small cake in a square, glass baking dish and baked this is my fancy toaster oven. I did “cheat” a bit on the frosting – I used some vegan Pumpkin AND some vegan Cinnamon cream cheese I had to make the frosting (with powdered sugar, vanilla & almond milk.) I sprinkled a bit of Pumpkin Pie Spice over the frosted cake and it was truly WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for this recipe!