Moist Apple Carrot Muffins with Oil

Homemade moist apple carrot muffins with oil are easy to make with fresh fruit and vegetables. The perfect breakfast or dessert treat you can make as regular sized, jumbo or mini muffins are fun for toddlers as well.

Easy Apple Carrot Muffins

I love to bake with produce. It makes everything so tender and moist bursting with plenty of fresh flavors. During the Fall this pumpkin apple bread started our obsession. I remembered how much we loved it and thought of adding one more thing into the mix. Carrots!!

Since I love this orange veggie so much so that I had it as part of my wedding cake, it was time to incorporate it into breakfast.

What oil is best for moist muffins?

Vegetable oil is one of the most commonly used oils in baking because it has a neutral flavor that doesn’t affect the taste of the muffins. It provides excellent moisture, resulting in a tender and moist baked good. Canola oil is another neutral-flavored oil that works well in with a light texture and is low in saturated fats, making it a healthier option.

What is the secret to moist muffins?

There are a few things to remember when baking in a muffin pan and wanting a tender cakey texture. Adding diced fruits and/or vegetables will add a bit of moisture. You will want some fat to make it moist too which typically comes in the form of an oil. Last but most importantly is to not overbake them. 18 minutes at 350 is typically right, ONLY long enough for the top to spring back when touched gently.

If you don’t want to use your finger use a toothpick and take out when there are still some crumbs attached but it isn’t wet inside.

You can see the ingredients here. You could use whatever type of apples you wanted but Fuji is our favorite. Now you could leave out the shredded veggies if you really wanted to. I think both bring great flavors and texture to it and your kids probably won’t even realize their eating vegetables. I mean carrot cake has always been my ultimate favorite dessert but I wouldn’t say it tastes anything other than sweet.

This is what you want to get out. Of course spices are personal and we just added some cinnamon. A bit of nutmeg and even some pumpkin pie spice may be other options to throw in there too depending on your tastes.

Carrot Apple Muffin Ingredients

1. All purpose flour, make sure you measure flour properly so they’re nice and fluffy
2. Sugar, white granulated to sweeten
3. Baking powder helps it to rise fluffy
4. Salt will make it even sweeter actually
5. Milk or use a dairy free alternative like cashew milk
6. Egg is best added at room temperature
7. 1/4 cup Oil or sour cream works too
8. Apples diced fine
9. 1.5 c carrots shredded
10. 1 tsp cinnamon I like to add

Apples should be diced small, can be skinned or the skin left on, and shredded carrots. You could use grated apples if you don’t really want any added texture (chunks).

What are the best apples for muffins?

Honeycrisp and Jonagold are quite sweet so those are good. They are on the more tender side which helps too when baking with them. Fuji and Granny Smith are typically my favorite for Instant Pot apple crisp but not for this. With that said you want them to be on the firmer side so they don’t fall apart when cooking. In this case you aren’t cooking them in liquid but rather the batter is thicker and won’t break them down as easily.

How do you add fruit to muffins?

The larger they are the more space they will take up and will remain a bit chunkier so cut small. I mean they will soften up for sure and personally I like the added texture of them but just keep that in mind. Like the carrots I do like to chop and then lay them on a paper towel real quick to absorb some of that excess moisture. If not you’re going to make your batter a bit thinner.

How do you shred carrots for muffins?

No matter what you are making with these orange veggies, if you want small pieces you would follow the same method as below. When baking our carrot casserole I do the same thing just in more bulk since we use 2 lbs to make that one, another favorite goodie on the table. I mean it isn’t much different than cheese but I’ll give you a quick rundown.

• First use a vegetable peeler to remove the very top layer that kinda’ looks dirty.
  • I don’t put mine down the drain because we have septic, and I don’t think it’s fabulous for a garbage disposal either so I usually do it over the trash.
• Lay down a few paper towels and set your cheese grater on top.
• Once you have enough, lift it off and set into the sink to clean.
• Then roll up the paper towels with the shreds inside and press down to soak up most of the liquid on the outside.

If you are really concerned with the produce sinking to the bottom you could toss them in just a bit of flour. That is what we do with our frozen blueberry muffins but with this I didn’t find it really necessary. When it comes to baking muffins I almost always use muffin liners, unless I run out. In that case I use olive oil spray lightly inside the holes, nobody wants them to stick to the sides.

One Bowl Apple Carrot Muffins Recipe

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In one bowl mix dry ingredients and in another bowl whisk wet ingredients together.
• Leave prepared apples and carrots aside. Slowly incorporate dry into the wet bowl until folded together well. Then gently fold in fruit and veggies.
• Line muffin tin with paper muffin cups / paper liners and fill them 3/4 of the way full.
• Now time to bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out mostly clean with some crumbs on it. Or touch the top gently and when it springs back in the center they’re done.
• Remove from oven and pan and place on cooling wire rack.
• Use the back of a spoon to smear on cream cheese frosting. Use ready made tubs or in a bowl combine ingredients shown below.

And always add fruit and/or vegetables at the very end. That way they won’t break apart into smaller bits in the mixing process. They just need to be gently folded into your batter so they’re incorporated, no more. For added “flair” you could crush 1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans and sprinkle some on top as well.

This is a great recipe when you just want to bake! If we’ve been apple picking it’s top on our list of things to make next to homemade Instant Pot applesauce. If you want to go all out you can make your own topping too.

Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting for Muffins

• 4 oz room temperature cream cheese
• 1/3 c butter softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c powdered sugar
• 1/2 c walnuts chopped are optional to sprinkle on the top

Use a hand or stand mixer to blend together until smooth. If you want it a bit thicker just stick it in the fridge for about an hour. Then frost with the back of a spoon or squeeze it on after adding it into a freezer / pastry bag.

How do you store carrot muffins?

You always want to make sure food is at room temperature before packaging them up. Once they are slide them into a gallon freezer bag (unfrosted). Just add one layer, suck air out and zip closed. Keep them on the countertop so they stay moist and enjoy within 3-4 days.

When you are reheating apple muffins you want to add a small pat of butter or tsp of maple syrup to the top. Then microwave for 45 seconds and enjoy again.

How do you freeze fresh muffins?

Follow the same instructions as above but slide them into a flat area of your freezer. If you have a lot you can do this with multiple bags. Once they are hard then you can stack the bags on top of one another to save space.

Other desserts with vegetables you’ll love

If you want to make other creations with several items inside try our pumpkin zucchini muffins, apple zucchini muffins and blueberry zucchini muffins too. If you don’t want to turn your oven on I suggest trying our Instant Pot carrot cake.

Do you have another combination you love baking with? Have you ever surprised your kids with vegetables in their baked goods that they didn’t notice? It really is kinda’ fun. Now mine love carrots raw!