Fall is rounding the corner, and it will soon be time for pumpkin spice, nutmeg, and all things cinnamon. These low carb carrot cake muffins are all about fall, and if you bake up a batch, I promise your house will smell like Thanksgiving.
These beautiful little cream cheese topped muffins are low in carbohydrates, free from refined sugars and gluten, and are appropriate for a keto diet. Each muffin only has 5 net carbs!
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins
These muffins are soft with a tender crumb and have the right balance of spices. They have that blend of warm cinnamon, with a kick from the ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
The coconut adds a chewiness without going overboard on the coconut flavor. The pecans add a pleasant nutty crunch.
Together the texture and spices create a wonderful fall tasting treat. It really is hard to beat!
We have a fresh baked batch of fall inspired desserts too that might peek your interest:
- Pumpkin Spice Donuts
- Caramel Pecan Bars
- Our super popular Millionaire Shortbread Bars
- Maple Glazed Pecan Blondies
- Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake
What sweeteners Work Best IN this recipe?
I used powdered erythritol in this recipe (both the muffins and the cream cheese frosting), but you can use any of your favorite powdered sweeteners.
If you don’t have powdered erythritol or xylitol and only have granular, go ahead and give it a blast with a high-speed blender or food processor.
Swerve, monk fruit, stevia, and Allulose will work perfectly fine here as well as does any powdered erythritol or xylitol brand or blend.
Just remember, xylitol is poisonous to dogs and cats, so if that’s your choice and you have little furry friends running around, be aware that it can be deadly for them.
Answers about Sweeteners, Low Carb Baking Tips, and General FAQ
For more detailed information about must-have baking tools and answers about sugar replacements, you can check out these FAQ pages.
We also have a handy sweetener replacement chart you can download for free!
Our FAQ Pages have answers to your biggest low carb baking questions including:
Tips for Baking With Almond Flour
Tips for Baking with Coconut Flour
Guides for Allulose, Monk Fruit, and Erythritol.
Substitutes for Xanthan Gum.
are carrots keto/ low carb?
Eh? Meh? It all depends on what you consider low carb.
Carrots have six net carbs per cup. Enough to take up a significant amount of your carbohydrate allotment if you’re on a keto diet, so probably not the best choice.
However, all things in moderation. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of shredded carrots, and that adds .5 net carbs per muffin. Not bad.
Substitutes for the carrots?
I know I am going to get asked about substitutes – so if you do not want to use real carrots, you can substitute with 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini.
If you decide to use zucchini, be sure to drain it very well and squeeze the excess moisture out before adding it to the muffins. I mean, they won’t be carrot cake muffins anymore, but if you can make pizza out of cauliflower, you can make zucchinis into carrots.
Tips for the low carb carrot cake muffin batter
For the batter, there are a few tips to make sure the low carb carrot cake muffins turn out perfect every single time.
- Be sure to sift all the dry ingredients. Sifting removes any lumps and helps lighten up the heavy nut flours. Sifting adds a bit of air to the dry ingredients and helps to create a better texture in the final product.
- Whip the eggs until they are very light and frothy. Whipping the eggs until they are light and frothy introduces more air into the muffin, again helping create that beautiful crumb.
- Fold the wet into the dry only until all the dry ingredients are wet. Do not over mix. Over mixing will remove all that air we worked so hard to get into the batter.
- Xanthan gum is essential for the structure of these muffins. Xanthan gum replaces gluten in this recipe and adds structure to the recipe. It’s mostly the ingredient that holds everything together. Without the xanthan gum, the muffin will be very soft and crumbly.
Tips for the cream cheese frosting
- In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, whip cold cream cheese until it becomes spreadable.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all cream cheese bits are well blended.
- Add the heavy cream, vanilla, and sweetener to the bowl and mix on low until whip cream starts to blend with cream cheese.
- Turn the mixer up and whip the mixture until soft and fluffy.
Storage & Serving suggestions
You can store these low carb carrot cake muffins on the counter, covered, overnight, but the cream cheese frosting suffers, especially if the room is hot.
I like these stored in the fridge, the texture is a bit firmer, and I love the texture of the icing better cold but honesty these muffins are pretty good at room temperature too.
You can make a batch and freeze them too, so long as you skip the frosting. To defrost your muffins, leave them on the counter for an hour, or defrost in the fridge overnight.
We have so many popular muffin recipes too, you might find something you want to make next!
Low Carb Carrot Cake Muffins With Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Muffin Batter
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2/3 cup coconut flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup powdered erythritol
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup chopped raw pecans
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup powdered erythritol monk fruit blend (or your favorite sweetener)
- 1 cup heavy whipped cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Carrot Cake Muffin Batter
- With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt.
- Blend eggs in a bowl with a hand mixer, or stand mixer until the eggs are very light yellow and frothy.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the melted coconut oil and erythritol until the mixture is creamy and blended. With the mixer at low speed, drizzle in the almond milk, vanilla, and whipped eggs.
- In small batches mix the dry ingredients into the egg batter and erythritol mixture. Fold in pecans, shredded coconut, and shredded carrot. Do not over blend. Once blended spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from muffin tins and place them on a cooling rack until completely cooled. Over baking will cause the muffins to turn out dry, so keep an eye out on them. You want to pull them out of the oven just as they finish baking.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cube one cup of cold full fat cream cheese and add it to the bowl of a stand mixer and blend for 1 minute, until the cream cheese has no lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Add 1 tsp vanilla and powdered erythritol.
- Add 1 cup of full-fat whipping cream to the bowl and mix on low for 30 seconds, until blended with cream cheese. Turn up to medium and then high until the whipped cream and cream cheese fluff up and resemble buttercream frosting.
- Do not overbeat. Over beating will cause the mixture to liquefy.
Notes
- Do not overbeat the cupcake batter, fold wet into dry until just incorporated.
- The xanthan gum is used in this recipe as a replacement for gluten. Without the xanthan gum, the recipe lacks stability and structure.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 403Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 285mgCarbohydrates: 9gNet Carbohydrates: 5gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 9g
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs (and sugar alcohols) are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fibre.
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