With a tender crumb, just the right amount of sweetness, and a delightful hint of 5-spice powder, these paleo pumpkin and carrot muffins are a crowd pleaser!
One of my favorite meetups ever was a Paleo Pop Up Brunch that I co-hosted at Departure Restaurant with our pal, the incomparable Chef Gregory Gourdet—a.k.a. the guy who’s been dominating all the challenges on season 12 of Top Chef. (FYI: if you’re not on #TeamGG, I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends.)
We all raved about the insanely great spread that GG and his crew served, but there was one recipe in particular that everyone wanted: GG’s Paleo Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins.
I can’t blame them.
These mini carrot cakes are dangerously addictive. With a tender crumb, just the right amount of sweetness, and a pleasantly unexpected hit of exotic spice, it’s no wonder the brunch crowd scarfed down these muffins.
You guys know that I’m not much of a baker. And because I refuse to tinker endlessly with batch after batch of Paleo baked goods—my waistline just can’t take it, people—I begged GG to share his recipe. GG, being awesome, happily agreed to spread the pumpkin-y, carrot-y love.
The Secret Ingredient
When he sent me the recipe, what really surprised me was his secret ingredient: FIVE SPICE POWDER! I know—you’re raising your eyebrows. But if the guy who’s killing it on Top Chef Boston is telling you to use it, you’d be a dummy not to listen.
Now, grab an apron and let’s start baking!
Time to make Paleo Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins!
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 medium carrots, peeled
- 1½ cups (144 grams) almond flour, spooned and leveled
- 1½ teaspoons five spice powder (if you must, you can substitute pumpkin spice blend)
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup (183 grams) canned pumpkin purée
- ½ cup (170 grams) local honey
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil, and a bit extra for greasing the muffin tin if not using paper liners
- 1 tablespoon sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds
Equipment: find all my favorite kitchen tools here
Method:
Heat oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle position, and take your eggs out of the fridge. It’s important that your eggs are at room temperature when you start blending the liquid ingredients, or things’ll get chunky.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Confession: Even when I make sure the muffin cups are coated with coconut oil or ghee, my muffins tend to stick. If you don’t want to use paper liners, you can use silicone ones, or just grease the living $%!# out of the cups and fall to your knees and pray that the muffins release.
Next, grate your peeled carrots by hand or in a food processor…
…and place the shredded carrots in a doubled piece of cheese cloth or clean dish towel. (Trust me: paper towels will tear.)
Gather up the sides of the cloth and wring out the excess carrot juice…
…and set the carrot shreds aside. The final volume of the shredded carrots should be 1½ cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, five spice powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, ground cinnamon, and sea salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs well.
Mix in the pumpkin, honey, almond butter, and melted coconut oil.
Again, make sure these ingredients are at room temperature, or the coconut oil will harden and clump up. Not the worst thing in the world, but definitely annoying when your goal is a smooth batter.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry…
…and stir until combined.
Fold in the grated carrots.
Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tins, filling them about ¾ full.
Sprinkle sliced almonds and toasted pumpkin seeds on top before placing the muffins in the oven.
Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the muffin tin 180° halfway through the cooking process.
The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the tops feel springy to the touch.
Cool the tray on a rack for about 5 minutes…
…and then pop the muffins out and completely cool them directly on the rack.
Final step: EAT.
How to store leftover muffins
Store any uneaten muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. They freeze beautifully, too! I try to let chilled muffins come up to room temperature before taking a bite, but to be honest, I sometimes usually can’t wait that long. Thankfully, they also taste great right out of the fridge.
LOOKING FOR OTHER TASTY PALEO PUMPKIN DESSERT RECIPES? MAKE ONE OF THESE TREATS:
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Paleo Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 4 medium carrots peeled
- 1½ cups finely ground almond flour spooned and leveled
- 1½ teaspoons five spice powder you can substitute pumpkin spice blend
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup canned pumpkin purée
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 teaspoon melted coconut oil and a bit extra for greasing the muffin tin if not using paper liners
- 1 tablespoon sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon toasted pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle position, and take your eggs out of the fridge. It’s important that your eggs are at room temperature when you start blending the liquid ingredients, or things’ll get chunky.
- Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Next, grate your peeled carrots by hand or in a food processor and place the shredded carrots in a doubled piece of cheese cloth or clean dish towel. (Trust me: paper towels will tear.) Gather up the sides of the cloth and wring out the excess carrot juice and set the carrot shreds aside. The final volume of the shredded carrots should be 1½ cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, five spice powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, ground cinnamon, and sea salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs well. Mix in the pumpkin, honey, almond butter, and melted coconut oil. (Again, make sure these ingredients are at room temperature, or the coconut oil will harden and clump up. Not the worst thing in the world, but definitely annoying when your goal is a smooth batter.)
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until combined. Fold in the grated carrots.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tins, filling them about ¾ full. Sprinkle sliced almonds and toasted pumpkin seeds on top before placing the muffins in the oven.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the muffin tin 180° halfway through the cooking process. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the tops feel springy to the touch.
- Take the muffins out of the oven. Cool the tray on a rack for about 5 minutes and then pop the muffins out and completely cool them directly on the rack.
Video
Notes
- Confession: Even when I make sure the muffin cups are coated with coconut oil or ghee, my muffins tend to stick. If you don’t want to use paper liners, you can use silicone ones, or just grease the living $%!# out of the cups and fall to your knees and pray that the muffins release.
- Store any uneaten muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. They freeze beautifully, too! I try to let chilled muffins come up to room temperature before taking a bite, but to be honest, I sometimes usually can’t wait that long. Thankfully, they also taste great right out of the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are really good. I used lakanto sweetener instead of honey and they turned out great. Didn’t use papers but sprayed a silicone muffin form really well. No sticking. Also used avocado oil because I was to lazy to melt coconut oil. Used the 5 spice, seriously good. Thanks!!
These muffins came out really good! I was pleasantly surprised at how forgiving this recipe was, given the liberal substitutions I made. I used a mix of coarse almond flour (that kind from TJ’s), cassava flour, and about 70% blanched almond flour. I generously loaded in carrot-juice pulp. I substituted a scant tsp of olive oil instead of coconut oil and reduced the amount of honey to half. I’d probably bump up the honey a bit next time, but made as-is, I was more than happy to oblige my child on his third muffin request. : )
These are very tasty! I used about 100 grams of honey because I don’t like things on the sweet side, and they were perfect for me. Also used avocado oil instead of coconut and chopped hazelnuts on top because it’s what I had on hand. Will make again for sure, yum!
Haven’t made these yet, but I loved your regular pumpkin recipe. An opportunity to use my Chinese 5 spice, which I love. I was wondering if I can add something else instead of the shredded carrot?
Great recipe! I made the following substitutions:
– Used juice pulp (mostly carrot, orange, ginger) instead of shredded carrots.
– Substituted the honey for maple syrup which made it the right level of sweet for us.
– Used butter instead of coconut oil (cos I didn’t have it).
– Changed the measures of cinnamon and spice to include a little cacao and ginger powder.
– Placed a mini walnut on the muffin and glazed it with a little butter.
Thanks for getting me started! 😁
Fantastic!
I followed the recipe 98% as written, subbing a scant .25 cups coconut flour with the almond to make the full 1.5 cups. I want to use these as post heavy-workout or pre-ride snack so I also added a scoop of unflavored collagen peptides for the added protein.
Flavor is great–honey and five spice offer a perfect blend of mild sweetness and spice!
These muffins are amazingly moist, very flavorful, and healthy!
Along with the sliced almonds and pumpkin seeds I added a sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut on each muffin before baking.