Description
These vibrant Carrot Orange Muffins combine the natural sweetness of freshly grated carrots with zesty orange flavors and aromatic spices, resulting in moist, fluffy vegan muffins. Topped with a tangy vegan cream cheese glaze, they’re perfect for breakfast or a delightful snack. Made with wholesome ingredients like soy milk, olive oil, and vegan yogurt, they provide a healthy, dairy-free treat full of citrus brightness and warm spice notes.
Ingredients
Scale
Wet Ingredients
- 180 ml soy milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 60 ml orange juice (freshly juiced)
- 100 ml olive oil (or neutral oil like rapeseed or sunflower oil)
- 80 g vegan Greek-style yogurt (or vegan sour cream or thick coconut yogurt)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 200 g brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 2 tablespoons orange zest (freshly zested from 2 oranges)
- 280 g all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- â…” teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Additional Ingredients
- 240 g carrots (freshly and finely grated)
- 80 g toasted shredded coconut
Glaze Ingredients
- 50 g vegan cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon orange juice (freshly squeezed)
- 120 g powdered sugar
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 190°C (375°F) or conventional 210°C (410°F). Line half of the muffin tray cavities with muffin liners, filling every second cavity to promote high muffin tops. This recipe makes 10 large muffins; if using one muffin pan, bake in two batches, letting the pan cool between batches and refrigerate the batter in the meantime.
- Make vegan buttermilk: Combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a jug, stir, and let it sit for 5 minutes to curdle, creating a dairy-free buttermilk substitute.
- Rub the zest into the sugar: In a large bowl, add brown sugar and orange zest. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar thoroughly, releasing the oils and aroma.
- Mix the wet ingredients: To the zested sugar mixture, add the vegan buttermilk, orange juice, olive oil, vegan yogurt, and vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine all wet components evenly.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir to blend the spices evenly with the flour.
- Make the muffin batter: Add half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients bowl and gently fold the mixture until almost combined. Then add the remaining dry ingredients, grated carrots, and toasted shredded coconut. Fold again carefully until no visible streaks of flour remain; avoid overmixing.
- Fill muffin liners: Using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, evenly distribute the batter into the prepared muffin liners.
- Bake: Bake at fan-forced 190°C (375°F) or conventional 210°C (410°F) for 5 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to fan-forced 170°C (340°F) or conventional 190°C (375°F) and continue baking for another 15 minutes until golden and cooked through.
- Check doneness and cool: Test muffins by piercing with a toothpick or knife; it should come out almost clean with a few moist crumbs. Let the muffins cool in the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer them carefully to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
- Make the glaze: Whisk the vegan cream cheese and freshly squeezed orange juice until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and whisk until the glaze reaches your desired consistency, whether runny or thick. Drizzle the glaze over cooled muffins.
- Storage: Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days with glaze or 5 days without. Refrigerate for up to a week, allowing them to come to room temperature before serving. Muffins freeze well; thaw at room temperature for a couple of hours before serving.
Notes
- Use soy milk or another plant-based milk for vegan buttermilk; the apple cider vinegar curdles it, mimicking dairy buttermilk’s acidity.
- Fresh orange zest and juice enhance the muffins’ citrus flavor, so use fresh oranges rather than bottled juice or dried zest.
- Toasting shredded coconut adds nutty depth and texture to the muffins.
- Filling every second muffin tray cavity encourages muffins to rise higher with domed tops.
- Let batter rest in the fridge if baking in batches to maintain freshness and baking quality.
- Adjust powdered sugar in the glaze to control sweetness and thickness according to preference.
