Carrot and Cranberry Muffins

Chia seeds need to be soaked first before baking. These muffins came out just fine. First of all, I soaked my chia seeds in half cup applesauce to make the gel and used this gel instead of the butter called for. (soak for 5 minutes) No white sugar, just added half cup brown sugar only. Next time will try honey instead. Carrots and banana give it a moist texture but next time will try different ingredients. Great basic recipe for a healthy muffin. Love those chia seeds!

Really, really good! My husband loved them, too. I used 3/4c honey instead of sugar, 1C applesauce instead of banana,1.5C of cranberries and ground them slightly in the food processor. I omitted the orange zest. I made two batches in one week they were so good! The first time I made 12 regular-sized muffins but had enough batter to also make 2 mini loaves. The second time it made 45 mini muffins. BEWARE- the batter is THICK. (like, want my husband to stir for me.)

I followed this recipe exactly except one tiny change. I used the pulp from juicing (carrot apple and orange) and it turned out incredibly delicious. Took them to work and everyone loved them. Thanks!!

Had to make a few mods... just used whole wheat flour, used coconut oil instead of butter, only the 1/2 cup of brown sugar, used two little snack cups of unsweetened applesauce instead of the banana, and had to use grated apple instead of carrot - they turned out great! This is my new fav muffin recipe. And you can definitely play around with adding other stuff too like nuts or seeds.

Very tasty! I thought these would not be moist enough, but they're fine. I used spelt flour and honey as the sweetener. Great muffins!

These were delicious! I left out the chia seeds but didn't change anything else.

I used coconut oil instead of butter....Love these, and making my second batch now,,,,

Great recipe. The kids loved them. The batter is very thick, but it bakes up quite nicely. Didn't have any bananas so used applesauce instead, and also substituted ground flax seeds for chia seeds.

Very forgiving recipe. Came out delicious in spite of the liberties I had to take due to the ingredients I had on hand.

I used a sweet potato instead of a banana and no chia seeds. Muffins turned out yummy.

10 Easy! Tasty!

I thought this was an OK muffin, but my husband loved it. I did add more milk per another users recommendation.

Being really conscious of what I eat the ingredients looked good in this muffin recipe. I thought the batter was very thick & that the muffins would be very heavy. To my pleasant surprise they were not that heavy at all. I will make them again & play around with other ingredients. Thank you.

I just made these muffins. I did add 1/2 cup additional shredded carrots. They are very moist And taste great!

The men in the house liked them more than I did although they were quite tasty, just not the texture I like in a muffin. I did find them a little dense for my liking. I will add applesauce to the batter next time. Otherwise, I did soak the chia seeds as recommended in other reviews, but it is completely unnecessary. I've baked with chia seeds many times, soaking doesn't make a difference. Didn't use white sugar and used cranraisins as that's what I had. I'll try these again for sure. Thanks for sharing your recipe briatherese.

Turned out great! I didn't bother soaking the chia seeds - I didn't read that review until after I had already added them to the dry ingredients - but they turned out wonderfully anyways! I used unsweetened applesauce instead of the white sugar and added a couple glugs of milk as the batter seemed really dry. Besides that I followed the recipe and my 2 and 4 year olds were gobbling them up! Thanks for a great recipe!

These are incredible! They were moist and had a wonderful flavor, can't wait to make them again.

These were great! The only change I made wad to use splenda instead of the white sugar . Sweet enough and healthy-ish. My daughter asked me to make sure that she got one in her lunch every day :) AR doesn't say how much fiber each muffin has but I bet it would be a lot.

Had no nutmeg or ginger; used 1/2 C applesauce in place of banana. Made 3 doz mini muffins for our morning coffee at our condo. These were a big hit. Will make again.

Delish! Subbed out flax for chia and only did brown sugar, but other than that followed recipe exactly. Thank you!

Just made this tonight... and its really good. I might tweak a little for moisture.

Good recipe! Used two eggs, no banana or orange, added more spice and 1/2 cup more flour. Used a sprinkle of milk to moisten. Yum!

I doubled this recipe for my son's 'heart healthy' Valentine's party at school. Instead of the sugars I used 1 cup of agave and about 4 tablespoons of juice from the orange I zested, so the little bit of sweetness comes from the fruit (note: it does lose the chewy texture without brown sugar but it was still moist). I love the crunch of the chia seeds in this recipe, and the cranberries look very festive! I made sure one cranberry was at the top of each muffin before baking.

I forgot the cranberries - until the muffins were in the oven. I subbed 1/4c oil & 2T milk for the banana. Soooo with adding the berries, I think this wouldn't have a dryness issue. They aren't dry, dry, dry. They're within the "normal" range, but tend to crumble. 'Not all that carrotty tasting, which I guess is okay. A pleasant spice muffin. If I were to make again - without banana - I'd add 1/3c oil, or more milk They are dense, but not heavy. With a big more oil/milk/banana, they might be sturdy enough for brown bags. :)

These are fantastic breakfast or snack muffins! They are extremely moist and dense. My toddler & husband devoured them. Definitely plan to make these again! Since this was my 1st batch, I stuck close to the recipe. I only used 1/2 cup sugar total (half brown & half coconut sugar) the batter was just-right sweet. Used spelt flour for WW. Omitted chia seeds. Substituted 2 Tbsp applesauce for 2 Tbsp of the butter. Used 1c fresh cranberries. Added 2 Tbsp of unsweet coconut flakes because I was slightly short of grated carrots. Had fresh lemon zest on hand and used that instead of orange. YUMMY!!! Yield was 9 regular size muffins.

Delicious! I made it in a 9x13 because I hate cleaning out muffin tins.

Loved it!

I followed the recipe and its a very easy recipe, I decided to double it and I'm glad I did as it only makes just 16 muffins. The batter is a bit thick so I also added one snack size container of applesauce, I think next time I would add two containers, it's a hearty muffin but not quite moist enough for me. I have also tried coconut water to moisten it up instead of applesauce. I further add sunflower, almonds and some pumpkin seeds with the cranberries. A very hearty muffin and our favorite so far. I also found the temperature a bit too high so I lowered it to 350 instead.

I used this recipe to clean out the pantry prior to moving, so quite a few substitutions. I zested and juiced an orange, omitted the banana, used 2 eggs instead of 1, and 1 cup vegetable oil instead of butter. I used ginger only as I didn't have the other spices, and increased to 1 tablespoon. I mixed the fruits and veggies, chia seeds, ginger, and wet ingredients to set while I mixed the dry ingredients separately. I used 1 cup coconut flour and 1 cup pancake mix, added 1/2 cup whey protein, used baking soda instead of baking powder. I used stevia instead of sugar. I mixed all dry ingredients separately. It turned out moist but crumbly, and the 12 year olds approved of it!!

I made quite a few changes because I wanted a relatively healthy base recipe to add me pulp from juicing. So I used some orange, carrot, and ginger pulp instead of a banana. I used the juice as well, so I had to add some flour to compensate for the extra wetness. I boiled and sugared my cranberries. I know I have no right to leave a review with all the changes I made, but this really made a great, easily adaptable recipe.

Like someone said, a very forgiving recipe. It is quite thick, so don't be concerned! I used all white flour because that's what I had on hand, I don't like wheat flour. I tried one batch using carrots plus an older, cheaper can of sweet potatoes...ick. I'll eat them but no one else in the family will. THEN I used carrots plus a 1/2 cup of applesauce and even a random dollop of sour cream, yuuuummmm!!!! I may or may not share some of these with my daughter's family, they're really really good! I didn't use any citrus, cranberries or chia seed, whatever that is. I could see using nuts or any number of ingredients with this recipe. Looks like it's going to be dry but it makes a moist, hearty, sweeter muffin. My new go-to muffin recipe.

These are very dry and sweet. I had to mix the ingredients by hand, as the batter was insanely dry. The taste is good but if your batter seems way too dry try adding another banana or 1/2 cup greek yogurt or something.

Good recipe for a flavorful and healthier muffin. I followed the recipe as exact and it turned out fine. Will experiment next time with applesauce and honey as replacements.

I thought it would be a good option for my picky eaters. I did substitute a few things. I only put 1 cup of carrots and added 1 cup of zucchini and 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple (no juice). I also didn't have oranges handy so I used mandarins instead for the zest. I really like them, they are very moist. The muffins came out of the oven after the boys went to bed but I truly hope my kids give them a try tomorrow.

It's hard to rate this recipe - I could tell the dough was very dry and I had no banana. Added 1.25 cups of OJ, doubled the chia seeds and they turned out very well. Of course this means it's not the actual recipe!

Followed the recipe to a T and they came out perfectly! A terrific and nutritious addition to my recipe box.

I will be making this recipe again. They are delicious! I only made a few changes...I used all brown sugar and instead of a banana, I used a purée of carrot and sweet potato (I was experimenting with a different recipe and it seemed like a good idea). These muffins are moist and not too sweet.

Left out the chia seeds. And like Maggi, instead of grating the carrots I used what was produced by juicing carrots: a very fine carrot "fluff" of which I used 2 1/2 cups in the recipe. I left out the banana and added a "cutie" orange (used juice and skin which also was passed through the juicer but removed pithy core). I mixed everything well by hand and added back a little of the carrot juice to make the consistency like PlayDoh. I scooped (did not roll by hand) the batter and made 24 mini muffins and 5 cupcake sized muffins.

These are out of this world. I was surprised at how moist they stayed for days after. Great treat. I replaced the white sugar with Splenda.

Very versatile! To cut saturated fat I replaced the butter with 1/4 c plus 2T of light olive oil. That reduces the saturated fat by more than 75 percent however does make them much more dense. I added just the brown sugar and eliminated the white adding 1T of honey. Didn't have chia seeds so I used poppy seeds and added chopped pecans. I will say they were good the day they were made but even better the next morning! If you are looking for a good breakfast to go with your morning coffee at work, this would work. Dense, filling, with lower sugar and saturated fat as I made them and lots of good natural vitamins with the carrots and cranberries.

Lovely breakfast muffin....just a teensy bit dry but with a little bit of margarine it was awesome and it's not even necessary. Only changes made were 1/8 of a cup of white sugar instead of 1/4 cup and I had to thaw a frozen banana instead of fresh so it probably helped with the mixing as it was more watery to start with than a fresh banana. I will definitely make this again. What a wonderful change for breakfast without feeling like I'm eating a dessert. Thanks so much for posting it!

I changed a few ingredients out of convenience and these still came out great! The orange peel and cranberries gave the muffins a great flavor.