Carrot Cake Muffins *with Cheesecake Filling*
Soft. Moist. Decadent. An adaptation of my mothers delicious carrot cake loaf recipe, this Carrot Cake Muffins with Cheesecake Filling recipe is simple to make, perfectly moist, and filled with a surprise cheesecake centre!
To make this recipe you will need:
- Flour (All-purpose)
- Cinnamon
- Sugar (granulated)
- Cream Cheese (softened)
- Oil (vegetable oil, such as Canola)
- Eggs
- Carrots (shredded)
- Walnuts (roughly chopped)
- Baking essentials: baking soda, vanilla extract, salt
Your frequently asked questions answered!
How should I shred my carrot for this recipe?
If you have a hand held grater, this is often my go to. The one thing to remember is that grating carrots can be exhausting. It can instead be made into a stress-free and mindful process by going slow and grounding yourself in the moment! Similarly, if you have a food processor, you can chop your carrot into chunks and pulse it until it becomes shredded. Choose what is best for you!
Why does this recipe call for oil instead of butter?
Using oil instead of butter creates a soft and moist muffin that can last for days without loosing its quality. This carrot cake muffin is loaded with cinnamon, carrots and walnuts and so the flavour is just as rich and delicious without the need for butter!
Can I make this recipe gluten-free?
The only ingredient in this recipe that has gluten is the all-purpose flour. All-purpose flour can be substituted 1:1 with your favourite gluten-free flour mix. Carrot cake muffins are
Let’s make some Carrot Cake Muffins with Cheesecake Filling!
Preheat your oven to 350F (or 325F Convection bake). Line one or two 12-muffin baking tins with 12 paper liners (optional: to allow your muffins more room to rise, you can space 6 muffin liners in each of 2 muffin tins).
Cream Cheese Filling (optional)
In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Carrot Cake
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to sift and aerate mixture.
To the centre of the bowl filled with your dry mixture, add oil, vanilla, and eggs. Use whisk to mash eggs in the centre prior to combining all ingredients together. Mixture will be thick.
Add chopped walnuts and shredded carrots, folding with spatula until mixture is evenly incorporated (note: folding = using spatula to divide batter in half and lift up ingredients from the bottom to the top. Continue this process until a homogenous mixture is formed). Mixture will appear wet and speckled with shredded carrot.
Half-fill 12 lined muffin holders. Add ~1 tbsp of cream cheese mixture to each muffin. Top with remaining muffin batter. Sprinkle with additional walnuts to top.
Bake carrot cake muffins at 350F for ~45 min (40-48 min) or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 10 min in muffin tin prior to allowing to cool completely on wire cooling rack.
Enjoy!
Also check out:
- Easy Pumpkin Muffins {Fluffy & Moist}
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins {Easy & Stress-free}
- {Sweet & Juicy} The BEST Lemon Cranberry Muffins
Carrot Cake Muffins *with Cheesecake Filling!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) All-purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 tbsp Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup (235ml) Vegetable Oil such as canola or other flavourless oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Eggs large
- 3 1/2 cups (400g) Carrot shredded
- 1/2 cups (60g) Walnuts roughly chopped + additional for topping
Cheesecake Filling
- 1 package (8 oz or 225g) Cream Cheese
- 1/4 cup (50g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg large
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (or 325F Convection bake). Line one 12-muffin baking tin with LARGE paper liners (note: I used bakery style muffin liners however you can use any tulip cupcake liners as well).
Cheesecake Filling
- In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Moist Carrot Cake
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to sift and aerate mixture.
- To the centre of the bowl filled with your dry mixture, add oil, vanilla, and eggs. Use whisk to mash eggs prior to combining all ingredients together. Mixture will be thick. Add chopped walnuts and shredded carrots, folding with spatula until mixture is evenly incorporated. Mixture will appear wet and speckled with shredded carrot.
- Half-fill 12 lined muffin holders. Add ~1 tbsp of cream cheese mixture to each muffin. Top with remaining muffin batter. Sprinkle with additional walnuts to top.
- Bake carrot cake muffins at 350F for ~45 min (40-48 min) or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 10 min in muffin tin prior to allowing to cool completely on wire cooling rack.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- To allow more space for muffins to rise – you can use two cupcake/muffin trays instead of one – spacing out muffin liners so that only six are used in each tray)
- Only have standard cupcake liners? Not to worry. You can easily use regular cupcake liners and proportion the batter/filling accordingly. This will make twice as many muffins and the cook time will likely be 5-10 minutes less
- These muffins can be enjoyed up to 2 days at room temperature, kept in an air-tight container. Or in the fridge for 2 weeks.
- These Carrot Cake Muffins can be frozen in an air-tight freezer bag for up to 3 months! Simply defrost at room temperature, and warm for a few minutes in the oven for that freshly baked muffin warmth!
- Enjoy!
I made these muffins and they are really good. My muffins did not look like those in your photos, however. The cheesecake filling in my muffins was about half of what is shown in your photos. Also, my yield was about twice that given by the recipe.
The problem was I didn’t realize that the tall paper liners (sometimes called “tulip” muffin liners) are quite necessary. I used standard cupcake sized liners. In order to get the correct proportion of muffin batter to filling, I needed to reduce the amount of everything for each muffin. I ended up with twice the yield of muffins!
Following the instructions, I added batter to 12 liners, filling them halfway. Right away I knew I was in trouble. As I was using regular cupcake liners, there was little room left for the filling, not to mention the remaining batter. I needed taller liners. I didn’t have them on hand and opted to go with a larger yield.
It’s my fault for not observing the photos more carefully and obtaining tall liners before starting this recipe. However, it might be best to emphasize the use of tall muffin liners and perhaps even advise against the use of normal sized cupcake liners.
Nonetheless, as I have a good stock of regular cupcake liners already on hand, I may simply double the filling portion of the recipe, while keeping the original amount of muffin batter. I had more than enough muffin batter, but not enough filling for the increased yield.
Thank you so much for trying this recipe Belle! Your feedback is so helpful to hear and I have updated the recipe to better clarify the use of large cupcake liners 🙂 Happy Baking!!
Mine turned out beautifully. I used large tulip papers. They are beautiful and delicious.