These Healthy Carrot Muffins are loaded to the brim with flavor while being made with good-for-you ingredients. No dairy, no gluten, and no refined sugars!
PREP: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 12 cavities of a muffin pan with nonstick spray (muffin liners won't work well).
BLEND OATS: Add 2 leveled cups of oats to a large and powerful blender or food processor. Blend until the oats resemble flour -- a fine powder, about 60-90 seconds. If needed, stir and continue blending to break up larger chunks of oats.
BLEND OTHER INGREDIENTS: Remove the pits and coarsely chop the dates. Measure to get 3/4 cup and then add into the blender on top of the oats. Pour the melted coconut oil on top of the dates. Blend for 60 seconds, stopping the blender to scrape down sides as needed. Add in all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the carrots. Blend until smooth, about 60-90 seconds. Finally, add in the grated carrots and stir through. Then blend once more, about 30 seconds or until broken down and integrated. (Continue to stop the blender and scrape down sides as needed.)
FINISH BATTER: Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups -- the batter should fill exactly 12 cavities about 3/4 the way full. The batter is thick and sticky (and hard to work with), but scrape every bit of batter out into the pan. Smooth the tops of the muffins with a clean finger.
BAKE: Bake for 21-25 minutes or until no longer gooey/wet looking on top and the sides are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let stand in the pan for 3-4 minutes before gently removing (use the tines of a fork to gently coax out the muffins). Set muffins on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
ENJOY: Enjoy muffins warm; they are even better on the second day! Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. Best enjoyed within 2-3 days. Freeze leftover muffins.
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Notes
Note 1: Medjool dates: Remove pits and coarsely chop before adding to the blender. Once chopped, you should get 3/4 cup (117g) of dates. The softer and fresher the dates, the better these muffins work out! (Here’s a quick way to revive stale or hard dates if needed.) If the dates are too hard, they won’t blend up very well or integrate nicely into the muffins.Note 2: Carrots: Use whole carrots and grate them yourself on the largeholes of a grater. Measure to ensure you have a full 2 cups. Avoid packaged pre-shredded carrots; they are hard, dry, and far less flavorful. When you grate your own carrots you’ll notice how much more moisture the carrots have-- which is a must for the recipe to properly work (we're relying on that moisture!).