Grain Free Apple Carrot & Spice Vegan Blender Muffins
Is it really Friday already? Someone, please tell me where this week went. I have been looking forward to the weekends so much lately because of the tennis group I joined. Playing hours and hours of tennis brings me nothing but joy! I’m glad I found something that I genuinely like and it makes staying active so easy.
About two Thanksgivings ago, Kyle and I went down to Florida to visit his mom. We decided to play tennis in her neighborhood and I remember being a little nervous because I thought I was going to be so bad at it. See, my brother, he was a tennis star! He won so many awards in high school and even won at state. I was more of a theater kid. After we started playing, I was surprised at how “decent” I was at tennis. Since then, I’ve been so hooked. I watch videos on Youtube for advice, I’ve taken several lessons, joined different groups, played with my family, and now Kyle and I play multiple times a week. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m just really passionate and excited about the sport. 🙂
And you’re probably wondering what this story has to do with muffins…
I’ll tell you what it has to do with muffins. Last week, I needed to make a quick on-the-go snack to bring to tennis. I didn’t feel like stopping at the store, and for the first time in forever, I didn’t have any power bars at my house. I decided to make muffins. I started throwing some ingredients into the blender to chop up, and never expected the muffins to turn out so delicious.
They were oopsie muffins that I had to recreate!
I put them in the freezer to cool down and firm up after baking. When I got home from tennis and took a bite, my eyes lit up! I could not believe how good they were. They reminded me of banana bread, but apple pie, and ginger cookies all in the same bite. 
Now, these muffins are completely grain-free, gluten-free, no added sugars, dairy-free, and vegan! I also played around with my second batch and added oats for a thicker texture, and that worked out as well! You can make them either way, but they’ll both turn out the same in the delicious department.
**I apologize for the crummy photo quality below** -I didn’t have my nice camera at Kyle’s and there is no natural light beaming into the kitchen. I had to work with what I had. Not going to lie, I walked a little way up the street to get the shot of these muffins outside because I didn’t dare try to take their photo in the dark kitchen! I did it in a very sneaky and nonchalant way. No one saw me, otherwise, I would have felt super embarrassed, although I’m sure taking photos of muffins randomly on the street is very common these days…
Grain Free Apple & Carrot Spice Vegan Blender Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 Large Carrots
- 1 Large Honey Crisp Apple
- 1 Medium Ripe Banana
- 2 Tbsps Sunflower Oil (or your choice of oil)
- 7 Dates Without Pits
- 2 Tsps Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Tsps Vanilla
- 2 Tbsps Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Ginger
- 1 Tsp Nutmug
- 1 Tsp Cloves
- 1/2 Cup Ground Flaxseeds
- 1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 Tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin pan and set aside.
- Slice and peel the apple, chop carrots and add both to the blender. Add banana, dates, vanilla, sunflower oil, and pulse until blended. **you do not want to create a liquid, so do not blend on high**
- Pour the blended mixture into a mixing bowl. Add sliced almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, flaxseeds, baking soda, salt, and combine well.
- Evenly distribute the muffin batter into the greased pan. (about 1/2 cup in each)
- Bake 30 minutes.
- Place muffins in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool and firm. **For best results, store the muffins in the refrigerator.
Let’s talk about the carrots. Don’t let them scare you because I promise you will not be able to taste them at all. I taste-tested these on three people and not one of them guessed carrots were in them. They did say how good they were though! I’ve had to make several batches because they keep disappearing around here.
These muffins are a great way to sneak healthy fruits and vegetables into your diet, or your kid’s diet! I can’t wait to play around with this recipe and use all kinds of different vegetables and fruits. I have some mangos to use up before they go bad, so maybe I’ll do some vegan mango & carrot muffins! 
The dates, banana, and apple make these muffins so sweet! You definitely don’t need any added sugars, and they could totally cure your sweet tooth after dinner. Yesterday, I topped one of my muffins with peanut butter, and it was like heaven!
If you’ve wanted to make these with oats, you don’t have to change anything. Just add 2 cups of oats to the same recipe above! These muffins are so moist (sorrrrrry) that they can totally handle the oats on their own. I liked both variations! Another great idea for these is adding plant-based vanilla protein powder. I’ll be doing that today! 
Questions for you!
- Do you ever hide healthy ingredients in your baked goods?
- What blender muffin flavor should I try next?
- Have you ever made an accidental recipe that tasted so good?
These look awesome! I haven’t gotten too adventurous with hiding veggies in baked goods, I’ve only done the basic zucchini bread or muffins. I think mango would be interesting, or maybe cranberry orange? I’ve never made an accidental recipe, but there was one year around Christmas that I got together with my aunts and cousins to bake cookies and my aunt made an accidental cookie that turned out to be the best one of the day! There were 2 cookie recipes on the same page and she started the cookies with the first recipe but somehow ended up looking at the second recipe for some of the ingredients haha
Hi, Meghan!
Thanks so much 🙂
mmmm I love zucchini bread!! I may have to make a zucchini version of these.
I’m all for accidental Christmas cookies! That is so funny she did that because it sounds like something I would totally do!
Yum, the muffins sound so good (and healthy)! Thanks for the recipe as always, Taralynn! 🙂 ❤️
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Thanks, Charmaine!
I made black bean brownies and no one at work could tell. They were gone immediately. I’m excited to try these muffins!
That is awesome!!! Hope you enjoy these as well!
I’ve been looking forward to this recipe since you mentioned them in your other post (or IG, I can’t recall)!! Not in baked goods, but I love to sneak pureed veggies into whatever sauce I use for pasta. I also think a lot of my recipes are accidental or the result of just trying to use whatever I had in our pantry and refrigerator!
It was both! 🙂 You’re right!
Lol I totally feel ya on using everything up to make recipes! Story of all my recipes!
Something tells me this will come out really chewy!^^
Nope! Just moist and soft 🙂
Haha I was laughing over your muffin pictures in public comment! This is SUCH a perfect and unique recipe! I love all the produce thrown in there. Plus, I have recently fallen in love with blender recipes because it’s way better than having 7 dishes to clean after baking! I’m making these for snacks!
As weird as it sounds, I’ll sometimes throw cauliflower into a smoothie to thicken it up and add extra oomph, especially if it’s a meal smoothie. You can’t even taste it!
Lemon poppyseed blender muffins :).
I made these amazing vegan protein pancakes on accident and now they’re on heavy rotation on the weekends for us! Accidental recipes are the best because they make you feel so on top of life!
Hi, Susie!
Thanks! lol It happens and it’s much prettier than a dark kitchen shot 😉
Yes! I forgot about that as well. You’re right about not having all those extra dishes!!
I know a lot of people actually do that! I may have to try that. As long as you can’t taste the cauliflower, I’m down!
mmmmmm lemon poppy is one of my favorites!!
You’ll have to share that pancake recipe with me!
These muffins look fantastic, Taralynn!
I’ve never made blender muffins before but they look easier than a mixer.
How about chocolate peanut butter?
Thanks, Olivia!!
Chocolate peanut butter sounds like an awesome combo!
That flax seed meal from Trader Joe’s is my favorite! I love making blender muffins but I usually do them in my food processor only because I feel it does a better job blending lol. One of my favorites to make is banana with either some dark chocolate chips and oats, or I love making banana zucchini with cocoa powder and I’ll sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips on top for some sweetness. I also love to hide healthy things in regular food my husband isn’t that into veggies but I blend them and add them to sauces or smoothies and he has no idea.
Ohhhhh chocolate zucchini muffins would be amazing in the blender!!
I added oats as you suggested and my kids loved them. Of course, we had to add chocolate chips per their request.
That sounds delicious! We did muffins with chocolate chips last night too lol
The muffins were such a treat last night! Thank you, Taralynn
If anyone is interested, we added almond butter instead of banana!
So glad you enjoyed them, Gina!! Thanks for the swap idea 🙂 i will have to try that out 🙂
I may have to give this recipe a try. I’m always trying to find ways to get my husband to eat more fruits and veggies. Lol Plus they just sound so delicious!
I’ll have to try them once it cools down. Maybe do some midnight baking. Lol
Lol midnight baking is never a bad idea!!:)
These look delicious! I’ll definitely have to try them out. What a great way to sneak some additional veggies into your diet.
Thanks, Nikki! Hope you enjoy!!
Taralynn, these were so good! I made a batch of mini muffins with this recipe. I made just a few substitutions: 1/4 c. maple syrup instead of dates, I added the oats and I didn’t have sliced almonds so I just left them out, and I added 1/2 c. white chocolate mini chips.
My four and a half year old LOVED them and asked if I could make them everyday! And my husband said they were “excellent” and that they tasted like carrot cake (his favorite).
I’m actually a little embarassed, this is the first recipe of yours I’ve gotten around to making even though I’ve been reading your blog for years and years! It was just SO GOOD I’m so impressed. And hello, so easy! Can’t wait to make more, probably this afternoon as we went through the previous bath in just 2 days. Thanks, Taralynn. 🙂
This just puts a big smile on my face!!!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hi Taralynn,
Made these today and last week and they taste delicious! Unfortunately they didn’t rise as much as I wanted them to, is there anything I may be doing incorrectly? They seem to come out flatter than the ones in your photos. I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes, the no bake apricot and cranberry nut bars were loved by my family!
I followed the recipe exactly and these were gummy and like raw dough except for a slight crust on the outside. Also, it only made 7 muffins for me at less than 1/2 cup scoops. What could I do differently next time?
You may have over blended them?