These mini quinoa carrot cake muffins make a great light snack. They're delicately spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, plus they're full of grated carrot, making them a healthier version of a regular carrot cake muffin. With no refined sugar, they're so good you could even eat two. The quinoa also makes them slightly dense and wonderfully moist with a great texture.
Being a nutritious complete protein with all 9 essential amino acids, and being high in fiber, the quinoa gives loads of added health benefits to these mini quinoa muffins.
I always try to add in as many vegetables as I can to every meal (see my blog Veggie Desserts!), so for these muffins I've grated in a carrot. It makes them extra moist so they last for days and don't dry out. They're perfect for making on a Sunday and taking to work all week long.
I love using quinoa as oatmeal in the morning or to add into a salad. It keeps me full for longer and I love its delicately nutty flavor. Plus, it's so easy to make. Just simmer it one part quinoa to 2 parts water for 15 minutes and it's ready!
If you ever have any plain quinoa left over, then save it in the fridge. Leftover quinoa is perfect for these mini muffins. They're also a great way to use up carrots.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 4 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 large free-range egg
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups cooked quinoa, made from ¾ cup uncooked
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated (makes ½ cup grated)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin with oil or butter.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the banana, maple syrup, egg, oil and vanilla together for a few minutes until smooth.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and spices, then use a spatula to gently combine by hand. Add the quinoa and grated carrot and gently mix.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Bonnie Krebs says
Can you turn the muffin recipe into a cake ? Is so, what are the instructions? It sounds very delicious AND healthy! Many thanks!
Katie Trant says
Hi Bonnie, although we haven't tested baking this recipe as a cake, usually muffins can become loaves or single-layer cakes simply by increasing the baking time. If you test this out, please let us know how it turns out!
Bonnie Krebs says
I will give it a try. Thanks!
Karrie says
This recipe sounds great. Does it make mini muffins or do I use a regular sized muffin tin?
Katie Trant says
Hey Karrie! Just a regular-sized muffin tin is fine for these babies!
Cynthia says
Hi just discovered your website. I wondered if you publish nutrtion information along with the recipe and I'm just missing it.
Katie Trant says
Hey Cynthia, we don't publish nutrition information at this time, but we're looking into making the switch. In the mean time, there are lots of great online nutrition calculators you can just paste the recipe URL into to get the info you need, like this one for example: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
Kay says
These muffins sound delish! I'd like to make mini muffins. What temperature and time in the oven?
Katie Trant says
Hey Kay, we haven't tested them as mini muffins so can't say for sure. I'd keep the temperature the same and reduce the baking time by half, but watch them carefully. If you try this, let us know how it turned out.
Sue Cee says
I made these and cooked them as per recipe. They were very moist ( a bit runny) in the middle but quite tasty when straight out of the oven. They were browning too much on top other wise could of left them in for longer ( 25mins).
I didn’t have any ginger so used ground spice to substitute. I served them with a dob of Greek yogurt.
Amanda says
These are so flipping good! This recipe is exactly what I was looking for. I had quinoa and carrots left over from a recipe I was not excited about anymore. These muffins came together so quickly. I added a few twists of salt and 1/4 c chopped pecans. Baked for the full 25 mins. They satisfied my sweet tooth and are pretty filling, too.