Two in one! This delightful recipe makes a moist muffin for breakfast, a sweet afternoon baked treat, or a fancy cupcake for dessert! (If you add the festive vegan cream cheese frosting you’ll have a yummy cupcake!) YUM!
ABOUT THE RECIPE:
This recipe plays double duty, providing a moist breakfast muffin or fancy cupcake for dessert! These mini-muffin/cupcakes are on the larger side, so they are perfect for a satisfying snack too. If you add the festive vegan cream cheese frosting you’ll have a yummy cupcake!
Makes 24 mini-muffins or cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:
VEGAN CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (optional)
12 ounces vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
3⁄4 cup vegan confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
MUFFINS / CUPCAKES
2½ cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus more if needed (see note)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup vegan brown sugar or maple sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1⅓ cups peeled and grated carrots, divided
3⁄4 cup raisins
1 cup plain or vanilla dairy-free milk
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two twelve-cup mini-muffin tins with paper liners.
To make the optional frosting, put the vegan cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and stir vigorously until smooth and well blended. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours, or until the frosting firms up.
To make the muffins, put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a dry whisk to combine. Add the brown sugar and stir with the whisk to combine. Add the walnuts, 1 cup grated carrots, and raisins and stir until coated with the flour. Stir in the dairy-free milk, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix just until incorporated. If batter still seems thin, add up to ¼ cup more flour (see note).
Put the remaining 1/3 cup carrot garnish in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
Divide the mixture among the lined muffin cups. The muffin cups will be very full. Place the muffin tins on a sheet pan(s), in case they overflow while baking! Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. (Muffin tops will overflow and fuse/bake together while baking.)
Put the pans on a wire rack and loosen the sides and tops of each muffin with a knife. Let cool for about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the muffins from the pans (you may need to cut the tops apart before removing them from the pans, if they have fused together). Let cool completely before adding the frosting.
If desired, pipe or spoon a generous amount of frosting over the top of each muffin/cupcake. Top with a bit of the carrot garnish, placed artfully in the center of the frosting. Covered tightly and stored in the refrigerator, leftover muffins/cupcakes will keep for about 2 days.
Note: If you are using maple sugar in place of brown sugar, you will probably need to add 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup more flour to the batter.
Note: Use the frosting from this recipe to top a wide variety of cakes and other baked treats.
Ingredients
Directions
ABOUT THE RECIPE:
This recipe plays double duty, providing a moist breakfast muffin or fancy cupcake for dessert! These mini-muffin/cupcakes are on the larger side, so they are perfect for a satisfying snack too. If you add the festive vegan cream cheese frosting you’ll have a yummy cupcake!
Makes 24 mini-muffins or cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:
VEGAN CREAM CHEESE FROSTING (optional)
12 ounces vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
3⁄4 cup vegan confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
MUFFINS / CUPCAKES
2½ cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus more if needed (see note)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup vegan brown sugar or maple sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1⅓ cups peeled and grated carrots, divided
3⁄4 cup raisins
1 cup plain or vanilla dairy-free milk
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two twelve-cup mini-muffin tins with paper liners.
To make the optional frosting, put the vegan cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and stir vigorously until smooth and well blended. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours, or until the frosting firms up.
To make the muffins, put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a dry whisk to combine. Add the brown sugar and stir with the whisk to combine. Add the walnuts, 1 cup grated carrots, and raisins and stir until coated with the flour. Stir in the dairy-free milk, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix just until incorporated. If batter still seems thin, add up to ¼ cup more flour (see note).
Put the remaining 1/3 cup carrot garnish in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
Divide the mixture among the lined muffin cups. The muffin cups will be very full. Place the muffin tins on a sheet pan(s), in case they overflow while baking! Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. (Muffin tops will overflow and fuse/bake together while baking.)
Put the pans on a wire rack and loosen the sides and tops of each muffin with a knife. Let cool for about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the muffins from the pans (you may need to cut the tops apart before removing them from the pans, if they have fused together). Let cool completely before adding the frosting.
If desired, pipe or spoon a generous amount of frosting over the top of each muffin/cupcake. Top with a bit of the carrot garnish, placed artfully in the center of the frosting. Covered tightly and stored in the refrigerator, leftover muffins/cupcakes will keep for about 2 days.
Note: If you are using maple sugar in place of brown sugar, you will probably need to add 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup more flour to the batter.
Note: Use the frosting from this recipe to top a wide variety of cakes and other baked treats.
