Cranberry Apple Carrot Muffins
on Feb 21, 2022, Updated Jul 08, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These Cranberry Apple Carrot Muffins are a great way to start your morning! They’re healthy, hearty, and loaded with apples, carrots, and cranberries. They also happen to be vegan.
This recipe and photos have been updated since the original post on 9/20/2017.
These Cranberry Apple Carrot Muffins are a great basic muffin recipe to make any time of year. The batter is infused with warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and allspice that not only add flavor, but will make your house smell amazing while they’re baking.
Shredded apple and carrot not only provide natural sweetness, but also help to keep the muffins moist and tender. The dried cranberries provide a nice sweet, tart, and chewiness in every bite.
Unlike most of the muffins you’ll find on Recipe Runner, these also happen to be vegan muffins. All that really means is I’ve made them egg-free and dairy-free.
If you’re worried about making a vegan muffin, don’t be. I assure you it’s just as easy, tastes equally delicious, and you won’t have to buy any hard to find or expensive ingredients.
Ingredients For Cranberry Apple Carrot Muffins
- Flaxseeed meal – Be sure to use the meal and not flax seeds.
- White whole wheat flour – You can use regular whole wheat flour, but the flavor will have a stronger wheat taste and the texture won’t be as light.
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Ground cinnamon, ginger, and allspice – if you don’t have ground allspice substitute with ground cloves or ground nutmeg.
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Unsweetened almond milk – Any type of non-dairy milk can be used, but I recommend using an unsweetened version unless you want a sweeter muffin.
- Maple syrup – This is real maple syrup, not pancake syrup, which actually has no maple in it.
- Avocado, Olive, or melted coconut oil – I used avocado oil for this recipe, but have also made it with both olive oil and melted coconut oil. You can also use canola oil if you prefer.
- Apple – I recommend a sweet crisp apple such as a Honeycrisp, but Gala or even Granny Smith would be good too.
- Carrots
- Dried cranberries
How To Make Cranberry Apple Carrot Muffins
Preheat your oven to 400° F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin pan with parchment paper liners or spray the pan with baking spray. I like to use the parchment paper liners because it guarantees the muffins won’t stick to them.
Next, make the flax eggs. Combine the flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons of water and stir it together. Let it sit for 5 minutes before adding it to the batter.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl. Shred the carrot(s) and apple and add them in with the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated.
In a separate bowl combine the applesauce, oil, flax eggs, almond milk, and maple syrup. Whisk together until combined and then pour into the flour mixture. Stir everything together with a rubber spatula just until it’s combined.
Stir in the dried cranberries and then divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them and cooling completely on a wire cooling rack.
Storing, Freezing, and Reheating Muffins
Storing – The muffins can be stored in an airtight container on the countertop for 2-3 days.
Freezing – Before freezing the muffins make sure that they are completely cool. Place the cooled muffins in a single layer in an airtight container. You can also use a freezer bag.
If you use a freezer bag, be sure to press all of the air out before sealing it. Place the freezer bag filled with muffins into a second freezer bag, again pressing out the air. This will help prevent freezer burn. The muffins will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating – To reheat the muffins, simply pull one out of the freezer and microwave it for 30-60 seconds or until it’s defrosted and warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Simply replace the flax eggs with 2 eggs.
Raisins, dates, dried cherries, apples, or apricots would all be good replacements for dried cranberries.
Yes. Any type of milk will work for this recipe.
More Muffin Recipes
- Strawberry Banana Muffins
- Pear Ginger Muffins
- Lemon Zucchini Muffins
- Carrot Cake Muffins
- Coconut Chocolate Chunk Banana Muffins
Did you make this Cranberry Apple Carrot Muffins? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Cranberry Apple Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons flax meal 2 tablespoon flax meal mixed with 6 tablespoons of water, let sit 5 minutes
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup maple syrup use 1/3 cup for a less sweet muffin
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
- 1/4 cup oil avocado, olive, canola, or melted coconut oil all work
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice or cloves
- 1/2 cup grated apple
- 1/2 cup grated carrots
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- Raw sugar for topping the muffins optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a muffin pan with parchment paper liner or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Stir in the grated apple and carrots until incorporated. In a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and stir together just until combined. Stir in the dried cranberries. Divide the mixture evenly into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for several minutes before removing them onto a wire cooling rack.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
