Satisfy those carrot cake cake cravings with these delicious and healthy carrot pineapple muffins with a simple cream cheese frosting! They’re easy, moist, delicious and packed with nutrients! {gluten-free & no refined sugar}
These healthy carrot pineapple muffins are packed with moisture and flavour and are basically the best snack ever!
The level of sweetness is just right, and the cream cheese frosting? The icing on the cake!
The addition of the crushed pineapple not only makes them super moist, it also helps to naturally sweeten the muffins. Packed with fruits and veggies, these muffins are the perfect healthy snack or breakfast for the whole family to enjoy!
If you love carrot cake, these muffins are definitely for you! And if you’re looking for other carrot cake recipes, be sure to check out these Carrot Cake Bliss Balls, this Low Sugar Carrot Cake and Healthy Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal.
Table of Contents
Why Make this Carrot Muffins Recipe
- They contain both carrots and pineapple, which totally ups the nutrient factor. Think vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and fibre. How many muffins are loaded with fruits AND veggies?
- These muffins are nice and moist and slightly more dense than your typical muffin. I actually love this texture because it reminds me of an apple or coffee cake. SO good!
- They are lower in sugar than your typical muffin. Because the crushed pineapple is added to the muffins, it adds a nice natural sweetness and flavour which means that you can use less added sugar. Once again, those fruits and veggies are here to save the day!
- These muffins are free of the typical refined white flour and are instead primarily made up of almond and coconut flour, which means that they’re lower in carbohydrates and a better source of fibre and healthy fats. One of my favourite reasons to use these flours in baking, along with the fact that I love the taste and texture they provide!
- They’re incredibly versatile. You can either eat them plain if you want a dairy-free option or top them with the delicious cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts. With the frosting, they’re almost like carrot cake cupcakes!
Ingredient Notes
- Flour: We use a mixture of almond and coconut flour which makes these muffins a good source of healthy fats and fibre. They also happen to be naturally gluten-free. Use blanched almond flour for best results.
- Baking soda: To make the muffins light and fluffy.
- Eggs: To bind the dry ingredients together. Use large eggs and beat them together before adding to the other ingredients.
- Coconut oil: Melted coconut oil adds moisture and additional flavour to each bite. Use unrefined coconut oil if you want a stronger coconut flavour, or refined if you prefer a milder flavour.
- Pineapple: Use crushed and drained canned pineapple packed in water or finely chopped fresh pineapple.
- Carrot: Use freshly grated carrot rather than pre-grated for the best flavour and texture.
- Frosting: The frosting is optional, but a very welcome addition. It’s made with cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Skip if you wish to keep these muffins dairy-free.
How to make carrot cake muffins with pineapple
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin or line with 10 silicone baking cups.
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In a large bowl, add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together, making sure to break up any chunks.
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Next, add the eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, crushed pineapple, and carrot.
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Mix until evenly incorporated. The batter will be pretty thick.
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Evenly distribute the mixture among 10 muffin cups or silicone cups. Use a spatula to smooth the surface.
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Bake for 17-20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool.
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Meanwhile, add the cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla to a small bowl and mix together until smooth and creamy.
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Using a knife, gently smooth frosting over the top of each muffin. Top with a sprinkle of chopped walnuts, if desired.
Healthy Carrot Muffins Recipe Tips
- There are a couple of different options for the pineapple used in these muffins. First, you can simply buy the canned crushed pineapple, which is what I did for ease and convenience. You’ll just want to make sure that you strain all of the liquid REALLY well. I simply packed the desired amount of crushed pineapple into a measuring cup and pressed down on it as hard as I could over the sink to release the moisture. By squeezing out as much as possible, it will reduce the likelihood of the muffins being too moist.
- The second option is to chop up fresh pineapple REALLY finely, squeezing out any additional moisture. Either method will work just fine!
- Place the cream cheese at room temperature for about 20 minutes or so before mixing it with the remaining frosting ingredients. This will get it soft enough so that it’s easy to combine and spread onto each muffin.
- I highly recommend baking these carrot cake muffins in silicone muffin liners to reduce the likelihood of them sticking. These muffins tend to stick to paper liners, so your best bet is to grease the tin really well or better yet, use the silicone liners for easy removal.
Recipe FAQs
How to Store
You can keep these carrot pineapple muffins in the fridge for up to three days. If at that point, you still have extra muffins left over (which I highly doubt you will!), then you can pop them in the freezer.
To freeze: Freeze in a large ziploc bag or freezer safe container. If stacking them, I recommend separating them with parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
To thaw: Simply place in the fridge or at room temperature for several hours to thaw out or warm in the microwave if you want to have one right away.
A quick and easy snack or treat, just waiting for you to devour!
Are carrot cake muffins healthy?
Not all carrot cake muffins are made the same, but these ones contain a lot less sugar than most recipes. Each muffin is less than 250 calories and contains 4 grams of fibre for a satisfying option.
They also contain vitamin C, vitamin A, manganese and potassium for a nutrient-loaded snack or treat.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
- Honey Bran Muffins
- Spinach Banana Muffins
- Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins
- Healthy Mini Carrot Zucchini Muffins
- Mini Sweet Potato Muffins
- Flourless Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a rating and review!
Carrot Pineapple Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 3 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup crushed and drained pineapple can use canned or fresh very finely chopped
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1/3 cup cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin or line with 10 silicone baking cups.
- In a large bowl, add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together, making sure to break up any chunks.
- Next, add the eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, crushed pineapple, and carrot. Mix until evenly incorporated. The batter will be pretty thick.
- Evenly distribute the mixture among 10 muffin cups or silicone cups. Use a spatula to smooth the surface.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, add the cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla to a small bowl and mix together until smooth and creamy.
- Using a knife, gently smooth frosting over the top of each muffin. Top with a sprinkle of chopped walnuts, if desired.
Notes
- There are a couple of different options for the pineapple used in these muffins. First, you can simply buy the canned crushed pineapple, which is what I did for ease and convenience. You'll just want to make sure that you strain all of the liquid REALLY well. I simply packed the desired amount of crushed pineapple into a measuring cup and pressed down on it as hard as I could over the sink to release the moisture. By squeezing out as much as possible, it will reduce the likelihood of the muffins being too moist.
- The second option is to chop up fresh pineapple REALLY finely, squeezing out any additional moisture. Either method will work out just fine!
- Place the cream cheese at room temperature for about 20 minutes or so before mixing it with the remaining frosting ingredients. This will get it soft enough so that it's easy to combine and spread onto each muffin.
- I highly recommend baking these muffins in silicone muffin liners to reduce the likelihood of them sticking. These muffins tend to stick to paper liners, so your best bet is to grease the tin really well or better yet, use the silicone liners for easy removal.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted April 2019 and was updated June 2021 to include more helpful tips and photos.
can I replace all the flour with just coconut flour or do I need to use the almond flour?
No, I wouldn’t recommend it. If you use all coconut flour, it will be too absorbent, which may result in dry muffins. You’d have to adapt the proportions of the dry/wet ingredients to make it work properly. Hope that helps!
These were excellent and I’m about to make them again! The only difference I did was used oat flour instead of coconut flour and added about a half cup each of raisins and chopped walnuts…YUM!
Love the modifications you made to the recipe! I’m glad to know that it works out well with oat flour too! I bet they were super tasty with the raisins and walnuts. Thanks so much for the feedback :)