Spiralized Carrot Cake Muffins with Coconut Cream Frosting

Spiralized Carrot Cake Muffins with Coconut Cream Frosting

Happy Monday! Two things: I forgot to place my can of coconut milk in the...

Spiralized Carrot Cake Muffins with Coconut Cream Frosting

Happy Monday! Two things:

  1. I forgot to place my can of coconut milk in the refrigerator the night before I made this recipe, so the frosting turned out to be more of a milky substance, less a fluffy frosting. Don’t make the same mistake – it really is important for the coconut milk to solidify so you can whip it into a frosting!
  2. It’s move-in day to our new apartment!!!!

I apologize in advance for the milky looking frosting, but this pregnancy brain is a real thing – I literally set 8 alarms in my phone and even put a sticky note next to my desk and I did not remember to refrigerate the coconut milk! The struggle is real, but alas, you get the point.

I’ve been meaning to make Carrot Cake Muffins forever, so I’m happy to finally get them up on the blog! Of course, they used spiralized carrots – which are way less labor intensive than grating carrots (ick!) You still get that carrot-cake flavor and you get little swirls of carrots in your muffins.

Another way you could do this to avoid grating your carrots is to make rice out of the spiralized carrots. If you have the time, the consistency would be even better!

The muffins are grain-free and sweetened with dates instead of sugar. The coconut flour and coconut oil used makes them just sweet enough! And I love the pretty carrot spirals that peek out!

I’m going to be somewhat MIA today on the blog, because today is May 1st, which means that we get to move into our new apartment! Lu and I are thrilled to be moving into a new place together. When we first moved in together in January 2013, we didn’t expect to fall in love with our building as much as we did, so we ended up staying in our building, just moving three floors down!

Spiralized Carrot Cake Muffins with Coconut Cream Frosting

I’m happy to stay in the building also because it’s very, very baby-friendly (who wouldn’t want an elevator, pool, gym, parking garage, and doormen with a newborn?!) We’re upgrading to a two-bedroom, because of course, we’re going to need a nursery for our little baby boy this September! I can’t wait to nest the heck out of our place.

If you want to follow along with our move today, follow me on Instagram, I’m sure I’ll be posting videos of Lu lugging boxes and moving furniture, while I unpack! We’re moving all of our current furniture into the new place, so all I’ve had to get so far is a new area rug for the living room and a kitchen dining table (just a little nook table.)

Happy May, everyone – cheers to fresh starts!

Watch our video to learn how to spiralize a carrot using the Inspiralizer and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch more videos:

 

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 8 points

*These points were calculated using the official Weight Watchers SmartPoints calculator. We are in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, we are providing this information based on popular demand.

Spiralized Carrot Cake Muffins with Coconut Cream Frosting

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • For the muffins:
  • 1 large carrot Blade D, noodles chopped
  • 8 pitted dried dates finely chopped
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • lightly chopped pecans to garnish
  • For the frosting:
  • 1 14.5 oz can full-fat coconut milk refrigerated overnight
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
  • Add the dates and coconut oil in a food processor and process until smooth. Place the date mixture into a large mixing bowl along with the eggs and vanilla. Beat the mixture well. Add the coconut flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and stir until combined. Fold in the spiralized carrots and mix to combine.
  • Fill the greased muffin cavities with the batter. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5-10 minutes.
  • While muffins cool, prepare the frosting. Scoop the solids off the top of the coconut milk can and place in a stand mixer or medium mixing bowl along with the vanilla and maple syrup and beat until frosting has peaks.
  • Frost the muffins and serve.

Recipe Notes

Per serving (1 out of 12 muffins) - Calories: 181, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Carbs: 21g, Fiber: 5g, Sugars: 2g, Protein: 3g, Sodium: 46mg

Spiralized Carrot Cake Muffins with Coconut Cream Frosting

with love, Ali

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Recipe Rating




comments

  • Do you think almond flour could be substituted for the coconut flour?
    • They aren't typically interchangeable
    • Any thoughts on a substitute for the dates, that would be lower carb?
      • The dates add necessary sweetness and a carrot-cake like flavor, so I discourage that!
    • Teresa, the consistency would be different and the flavor wouldn't be quite as sweet, I don't recommend it!
  • Ali I am SO excited to try these! Would you recommend flax eggs to make them vegan?
    • Brittany, I've never tried, so I can't be sure it will work - but give it a try!
      • Or have you tried aquafaba. It is the juice from a can of chickpeas. I've read it can substitute for eggs in cake. Why not try?
  • Recipe directions calls for cloves but don't see that listed in ingredients.
    • There are no cloves, that was a typo! Recipe is updated.
  • Note to self: keep a can of coconut milk in the fridge. When you use it, replace it. :-D
  • Approximately how much carrot do you use? There are tiny and very large carrots at the market so "1 carrot" could lead to inconsistent results. Would you say approx 2 cups spiralized or 1-1/2 rices? Anxious to try these.
    • About 3 cups spiralized, one large carrot (much larger than the bagged carrots.)
  • Hi Ali! These look delicious! Can't wait to try them! Are we using the whole can of coconut milk or just the cream at the top? Thanks!!
  • I have successfully used protein powder in my coconut whip. I use a type that gels in cold liquid. It works to solidify the icing and it keeps well in the fridge. I also used a bit of lemon juice in the frosting.
  • I made these this weekend and they are SO good. I don't have a food processor so I left out the dates and used 1/2 cup maple syrup. I had to slightly increase the amount of coconut flour but they still came out great. I made about 8 medium sized muffins. I wanted to let you know in case anyone else was wondering on substitutions. :)
  • I tried to make these this morning but the muffins were dry and un-inspiring. It made only 8 muffins. I tried to whip the cold coconut milk and it never got "stiff peaks" just more like Ali's picture...a milky frosting. I used all the ingredients suggested--even the cloves but they are still pretty awful. It is a shame to use so many ingredients and time and energy and not have a good product. Any suggestions?
  • Ordinarily I love all of your recipes! I've made so many and loved them! But this was a definite miss. The dough was too thick; it could have used another flour to go along with the coconut to lighten it up. The muffins are just too dense and heavy. Also, giving us a measurement for the carrots would be helpful (1 cup or whatever) as all carrots are not alike! They smelled lovely while baking though!!
  • This was the first recipe of yours that I've tried that I was disappointed with. However, I must say that the muffins smelled delicious while baking and I think I would have loved them, but the texture was way too dry. I thought I may have missed a liquid ingredient. The flavor was definitely there though. With that said, I love your website/blog, and the few recipes I have tried, I have absolutely loved!! Looking forward to your third book. Thank you for what you do and keeping it healthy. You are very inspiring.
    • Thank you for your feedback and for your support.
  • I agree that this was a bit dry and would love to see some edits to the recipe to help us - maybe we're all doing something wrong???