Healthy Pumpkin Carrot Pecan Muffins
Pumpkin carrot pecan muffins with chia seeds, grated carrot, and topped with pepita seeds. These texture filled muffins are so moist!
These Pumpkin Carrot Pecan Muffins are one of my favorite muffin recipes to date. Though they definitely fall into the category of pumpkin baked goods, they’re good enough to make year-round!
They are a light adaption of these pumpkin spelt muffins that I shared a long time ago. However, I’ve added a few more add-in’s, such as chia seeds, coconut oil, and have topped them off with pumpkin seeds.
These muffins are packed with lots of freshly grated carrot (one and a half cups to be exact!). I love the added texture that the grated carrots add, and although these muffins taste like pumpkin muffins, they have a lot more dimension.
They are ridiculously moist and flavorful.
Healthy Pumpkin Carrot Pecan Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup (60g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (60g) whole wheat pastry flour
- 1½ tablespoons chia seeds optional
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch ground allspice
- pinch ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup canned pumpkin puree
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) melted coconut oil or vegetable oil at liquid state, canola, or safflower oil
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ cups coarsely grated carrot roughly 2-3 carrots
- ⅓ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
- ¼ cup zante currants or raisins optional
- pumpkin (pepita) seeds for topping (roughly 1 tablespoon)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the center position. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with 9 paper liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, chia seeds, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sugar, melted coconut (or vegetable) oil, and vanilla unti smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until all of the dry ingredients are just absorbed. Fold in the grated carrot, pecans, and currants (or raisins, if using).
- Using a spring-loaded cookie scoop, distribute the batter among the 9 muffin cups. The batter should reach close to the top of each cup. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins evenly with pumpkin seeds.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the muffins top spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and set on. a rack to cool completely. Muffins are best served slightly warm or at room temperature.
61 Comments on “Healthy Pumpkin Carrot Pecan Muffins”
Just made these. WOW, they were so moist and flavorful. Just love the spice combo. Came together quickly and baked with a nice dome. I let the batter sit for 15 minutes before baking and filled every other muffin cup so they had room to rise. They smelled so good baking I had to eat one as soon as they were done. I love carrot cake and anything pumpkin so these were right up my alley. Didn’t have pumpkin seeds so used sunflower seeds on top and they were just delicious with a cup of chai tea!
Hello I love these muffins! I freeze them then Microwave 2 for breakfast they are amazing! I am wondering do you think I could substitute the sugar for dates? I think it would work out well but am too chicken to try it. Thanks!!!
Hi Rachel! So happy to hear that. I honestly don’t know, because I’ve never tried. I’m a bit hesitant because dates add more moisture and sugar plays a structural role in baked goods. With that said, maybe try experimenting? I just wouldn’t be able to say for sure without testing.
Made these twice in the past two weeks. I cut the sugar almost in half, but besides that kept recipe the same. Excellent!! My toddler and I both love these.
So happy to hear that you enjoyed them (and that your toddler did too! 🙂 ) – also that’s wonderful that you could cut down the sugar and it didn’t affect the outcome either. Thanks so much for the feedback Annabelle!
These sounds amazing! Has anyone made them gluten free? Should I sub 1 for 1 gf Flour and oat flour?
These muffins are delicious! I doubled the recipe so that I could share with my new next door neighbor. The only changes I made were to reduce the amount of coconut oil to 2 tablespoons or 4 tablespoons for a double batch. My experience is that too much coconut oil can make baked goods soggy. I also used regular sugar as I didn’t have turbinado sugar on hand. Definitely a keeper recipe. Thanks!
I love these and love making them for my family!! Are you able to provide any nutritional information?
Unfortunately I haven’t calculated the nutritional information for these – online calculators aren’t the most accurate, which is why I’ve been hesitant to do this in the past. It’s a goal of mine to add nutrition information to recipes moving forward! I’ll let you know when I can get to this one!
Made these today they are excellent!
So thrilled to hear that! It’s one of my favorite muffin recipes on the blog!
I just made these and they are AMAZING. I doubled the batch so I did make substitutions. I added a whole can of pumpkin(15oz), I used 1/4 maple syrup instead of sugar, I used 2 tablespoons pumpkin spice instead of the spices in the recipe and I used Kodiak cakes pancake mix for a lower carb muffin. I love that this recipe doesn’t need a ton of sugar. I thought my muffins were going to be super dense because of the substitutions I made and it wasn’t at all. My 2 year old won’t stop eating them
I used a larger microplane on my carrots and then pressed out the water (and then drank the carrot juice! 🙂 ) Also, I added the chia which tends to soak up a lot of water too. These muffins were so delicious! I only had cardamom pods so I had to crack those open, pull out the tiny little seeds and grind them by hand. All with lots of love so that could be mixed in too! I’m so glad I found this recipe and your blog. Well done! I’ll be coming back. Thank you!
So thrilled to hear that!
Hi! Just wondered if I might be able to help Maria with her sogginess issue. I used the small coarse grate setting on my box grater (to get finer shreds) and noticed that the carrots were very wet. I wrapped them in cheesecloth and wrung out about 1/2 cup of liquid! So if you try that, it may solve your problem. Hope that helps!
No matter how long I cooked these, they were mushy in the middle. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Maria. I’m so sorry to hear that! My only thought is that somehow the measurements could have somehow come out wrong? Did you make any substitutions or changes? If your oven isn’t calibrated properly, that could also be an issue–as I’ve made these muffins many times–in various ovens–and have never had that issue (and have heard good feedback from others). They are definitely very moist muffins, but they shouldn’t be mushy or under cooked in the center! Let me know!
I have three kids and also make muffins for kids at the school that need them so I just love your muffin recipes… thank you
OMG these muffins are amazing. So delicious. I doubled the recipe the first time, then ate 2, and went back in the kitchen to make more so that I wouldn’t have such a hard time sharing them. They’re so yummy! Thanks for such a great recipe!
Oh my gosh! So happy you loved them!!!! 🙂 They are one of my favorites!
These look and sound delicious. I am making them for Thanksgiving morning at my Mother-in-laws. Thanks
So happy to hear that! Definitely let me know how they turn out! Have a great Thanksgiving!
I am probably the only person in the world who likes the carrot cake part more than the frosting – these muffins are my dream!
I think I’m that person too, actually! 🙂 Thanks Lynn!
Isn’t Fall THE best? I’m so glad you’ve started baking with pumpkin because I just adore the stuff. These muffins look delicious and healthy and well, I’m kind of in love.
Love, love, love fall! And these muffins 🙂
Well you don’t have to tell me twice! Truth be told, I broke out the pumpkin this weekend also. It just felt right.
Mhm, yes, mhm. Yes, I’m all for it. And I’m right with you on the pumpkin train. Everyone and their mother is posting about pumpkin and it’s making me so excited!
Thanks so much Sarah! Me too!
I’m so excited about all the pumpkins out on display!! I’m already baking up a storm – and now I have these to add to the list!! LOVE!
ME TOOOOO! 🙂 Thanks Megan! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Ha! Ha! You can totally steal it. Don’t think I didn’t do the same! And yes, BUTTERBEER cupcakes, and I made little chocolate witches hats to put on the top of them (idea stolen from Pinterest, of course). If we are in my hometown around our anniversary, I always order a dozen of them for us to splurge on too. I’m totally not that kind of blogger that’s like “Hey! I know you don’t know me and we just met, but go to my blog!”, but I did link the post to my wedding photos to this comment if you’d like to check them out.
Too cute! Just checked them out!
I am still in that weird mode where I am drifting back and forth between buying summer and autumn ingredients.
This looks delicious! It’s packed with so much healthy goodness.
I totally know what you mean! I was just thinking this myself the other day–I’m really craving fall foods, but also desperately clinging to any summer fruits and other veggies that are still available!
Thanks so much Karishma!
Hooray for pumpkin season *throws confetti*. I’m totally an avid pumpkin lover, and I have to have it in my life year round. I’m definitely the girl drinking pumpkin pie smoothies for breakfast in June. I’m also the girl who had pumpkins lining both sides of the aisle during our late October wedding as well as pumpkin (and butterbeer!) cupcakes and a build your own caramel apple bar. Aaah…memories.
Hahaha! I love that *throws confetti* reference! That might be my new favorite saying.
And OMG! Your wedding sounds like my dream wedding!! BUTTERBEER?!
These photos are next level awesome. And I would smash a batch of these muffins, because carrots = more brownies later.
Thanks so muc h Sarah! So true.
I thought this was a bit early, but YUM anyway! I remember those muffins from years ago, so if these are better, I’m ready, for the muffins, not the colder weather!
They are similar, just adapted to the regular muffin tin and easier to find flours!
I love the photo with the chia seeds!
Thanks Pips!
Yum! Love the pepitas and the raisins in these… lots of yummy rich dark fall flavors 🙂
Thanks Medha! So glad you like them!
Your photos are gorgeous – these muffins HAVE to be eaten year round – simply decadent!!
Thanks Shashi! Means a lot. I would totally eat these year round, I have to say 😉
What beautiful photos!! I love how much good stuff you crammed in these! They look perfect! And the pumpkin seeds on top – just lovely!
Thanks so much Annie! They are definitely healthy, but if you can’t find some ingredients, most of the extras are totally optional too!
These are almost too pretty to eat!
Thank you Rachel! Almost being the operative word, right? 🙂
I want one of these right now!
Yay! Thanks!
So much good stuff in these muffins! Love!
Thanks girl! 🙂
Fall and spices. You just reminded me of how awesome those things are combined.
Gorgeous photos, L! Love your current photography style 😉
nom nom nom…
-k
Thank you so much!!!
I am with you, ugly pumpkins are the best. I just think they are so unique and cute!
Loving these muffins! I am trying to wait till closer to fall for pumpkin on the blog, but I have totally been baking with it at home. So I cannot wait to try these!
The ugly ones are amazing! I laugh at myself for just how much I love them. Thanks Tieghan! Let me know if you try them!
DEFINITELY will not hate you for getting a head start on pumpkin recipes. In my opinion, you can never have too many or start too early. These look wonderful. LOVE that they are chockfull of healthy stuff. These are muffins you can definitely have for breakfast without feeling guilty!
Yay!! Good to hear that. I’m in this weird end of summer/beginning of fall limbo period when it comes to recipe cravings.
And these muffins are perfect for breakfast! Thanks Rivki!