Carrot Ginger Muffins with Cream Cheese Center
Sweet, Earthy, Tangy Muffins
These carrot ginger muffins with a cream cheese center are a perfect treat or start to the day! The muffins are super tender with a subtly earthy, sweet carrot flavor. The filling is tangy from the cream cheese and has the warming spice of crystalized ginger sprinkled throughout.
I love having a batch of muffins at hand for a side at breakfast or a quick grab snack in the afternoon. These carrot and ginger muffins are the perfect option for any time of day. They are just sweet enough to pair perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning. Or a wonderful mid-afternoon pick me up on a warm spring day. Make a batch to share with your friends and family!
Recipe Tips
When you make these carrot ginger muffins, here are a few tips to make sure they’re successful:
- Trust me, I know it’s tempting to buy the pre-shredded carrots at the grocery store instead of shredding them yourself. But I'm here to tell you to learn from my mistakes. You’ll have a more tender, flavorful muffin with the fresh carrots. It takes a few extra minutes, but you’ll love the end result more.
- To help add the cream cheese layer, the directions recommend melting the cream cheese first. When melting the cream cheese, warm it in the microwave for 15 second increments, giving it a good stir between each. It should only take about 30-45 seconds in total until it's creamy and malleable.
- The batter of this dough and the cream cheese are on the thick side. To help spread the batter to the edges of each liner, I like to use a silicone jar spatula. If you don’t already have one, these are incredibly handy little tools! They sell them at most kitchen supplies stores or you can pick one up on Amazon at this link (affiliate).
- If you have extra cinnamon sugar after making these muffins, don’t toss it! Save it and add a spoonful to your coffee or tea, roll a batch of cookies in it before baking, or add it to the rim of your next cocktail.
Recipe Details
Start the Carrot Ginger Muffins
Let’s get these muffins started! To begin, preheat your oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners. Next, add the dry ingredients for the muffins are mixed together in a large bowl. These ingredients include the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, melt the coconut oil so that no solids are left. Then whisk in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and two eggs. Add in the freshly grated carrots and stir to coat the carrots in the sugar mixture.
Pour the carrot and sugar mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir the two mixtures together until all streaks of flour are fully incorporated.
Assemble the Carrot Ginger Muffins
Before you begin to assemble the muffins, melt the cream cheese in a small bowl. This way, the cream cheese will be smooth and easily scoopable. Use a spoon or pastry scoop to add a tablespoon to the bottom of each paper liner. Divide the cream cheese onto the scoops of batter. Sprinkle a small amount of the cinnamon sugar onto the cream cheese. Add chopped pieces of crystalized ginger onto the cream cheese and then top with the remaining carrot muffin batter.
Bake and Enjoy
Add a generous sprinkle of the cinnamon sugar on top of each muffin. Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, until they are fully set. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool off completely. These muffins are best enjoyed the day of, but will last up to three days in an airtight container at room temperature.
I hope you love these carrot ginger muffins with cream cheese centers as much as I do! If you make these muffins, be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating - I can’t wait to hear how it goes. As always, tag me on Instagram or Facebook in your photos. It makes me feel like we’re getting to cook together.
Carrot muffins with a cream cheese and crystalized ginger center. These muffins are sweet, tangy, and have a bit of a bite from the ginger.
- 1 1/2 cup 1 ½ cups
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cup freshly grated carrot, about 3-5 carrots
- 4 oz cream cheese, melted
- 2-3 tbsp crystalized ginger, roughly chopped
- 1/4 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
In a large bowl, add the all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk together until just combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the melted coconut oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Stir the vanilla extracts, eggs, and shredded carrots into the sugar mixture until evenly distributed.
Pour the sugar and egg mixture into the large mixing bowl with the flour. Use a silicone spatula to mix the two together until the flour is just incorporated into the wet ingredients.
Spoon half of the ginger carrot muffin batter into the lined muffin tin.
Add a dollop of cream cheese onto the batter and use a spoon to spread it into a single layer. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and ginger pieces onto the cream cheese.
Spoon the remaining batter into each muffin liner, completely covering the layer of cream cheese. Top each muffin with another generous sprinkle of the cinnamon sugar
Bake the carrot ginger muffins for 25-27 minutes, until the muffins are set.
Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
