Vegan Spiced Carrot Muffins

One of the most popular posts on my blog is a recipe for Hearty Spiced Carrot Muffins. I love these things, and — yay! — readers do, too. A nice dose of vitamin-rich veggies to kick-start your day? That’s a win right there.

But can I leave well enough alone? Of course not! The original recipe contains milk and eggs, and because I’ve really been enjoying vegan baking lately, I decided to create a vegan version.

“Vegan-izing” a muffin recipe is actually easier — and the results are tastier — than you might imagine. Dry, tasteless hockey pucks these are not. Just a few simple swaps, and you’ve still got a moist, tender, delicious muffin on your hands.

The swaps I make when I adapt a muffin recipe to make it vegan are pretty simple.

• Eggs: Instead of chicken eggs, I use flax “eggs” — flax meal mixed with water and allowed to sit for a few minutes to create a slightly gel-like consistency
• Milk: If a recipe calls for cow’s milk, I generally opt for almond milk.
• Oil/butter: The original recipe called for already-vegan vegetable oil, but I’ve happily jumped on the coconut oil bandwagon, so these muffins have coconut oil instead. (Coconut oil also makes a fine substitute for butter.)
• Banana/applesauce: And although I didn’t include either of these in this particular recipe, I might also add a mashed banana or some applesauce (or both!) for moistness and sweetness without added sugar.

Really, the only significant difference I’ve found between vegan muffins and non-vegan is that the vegan version tends to be more dense. But when we’re talking about a hearty muffin to begin with, I find I like that. One of these Vegan Spiced Carrot Muffins — along with a fresh, hot mug of coffee — makes for a nice, satisfying little breakfast.

So go ahead — go forth and vegan-ize! I’d be willing to bet you (and your taste buds) will be pleasantly surprised.

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