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4.38 from 8 votes
A carrot cake muffin on a plate.
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Carrot Cake Muffins (With Cream Cheese Filling)
Prep Time
20 mins
 
Course: Breakfast, Brunch
Cuisine: American
Servings: 14 Muffins
Author: Vedika Luthra
Ingredients
For The Muffins
  • 1 ⅓ cups (6 ½ oz / 185 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ⅔ cup (5 oz / 142 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (4 fl oz/120 mL) vegetable oil
  • 2 packed cups (8 ½ oz / 240 g) shredded carrots (around 2 medium carrots)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cup (1.2 oz / 35 g) raisins, packed (optional)*
  • ¼ cup (0.9 oz / 25 g ) roughly chopped walnuts, packed (optional)*
For The Filling
  • 1 cup (8 oz / 226 g) cream cheese (room temperature)
  • 1 small egg
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
For The Streusel
  • ¼ cup (2 oz / 57 g) unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ cup (1 ½ oz / 43 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup (71 g / 2 ½ oz) all-purpose flour
Instructions
For The Muffins
  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (200°C) - Note that you will have to turn down the temperature later on in the recipe so make sure you read the whole set of instructions), and line muffin trays with 14 paper liners.
  2. Begin by whisking together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt until combined, then set aside.
  3. In another small bowl, combine the eggs, sugar and oil. Then set aside.
  4. Toss together the carrots with the lemon juice, then set aside.
  5. Next, add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. The batter will be quite thick.
  6. Then fold in the carrots, followed by the raisins and walnuts, just until combined.Set the batter aside while you prepare the streusel and filling.
For The Filling
  1. Combine the cream cheese with the egg, sugar and vanilla, and set aside.
For The Streusel
  1. Combine the melted butter with the sugar, followed by cinnamon, salt and flour, blending till you have a dry dough. Now you are ready to assemble.
  2. Line your cupcake trays with paper liner. This recipe makes 14 muffins, so you’ll need 14 cups.
Assembling The Muffins
  1. Add a dollop of the carrot cake batter to the muffin liner, followed by a tablespoon of the cheesecake mixture. Note that you will not use up all the cheesecake mixture. What you can do with the leftover mixture is make baby cheesecakes (add some crushed cookie crumbs to the bottom of a cupcake liner or ramekin, add the cheesecake batter, cover with a tiny piece of foil and bake alongside the carrot cupcakes).
  2. Add another dollop of the carrot mixture, trying to cover as much of the surface as possible. Then finish with the crumb mixture.
  3. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature from 425°F (220°C) to 350° F (180°C) and continue baking for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. In total it should take 20-23 minutes to bake.
  4. Let the muffins cool for around 10 minutes in the tin, before transferring them to a wire rack. Let them cool to room temperature before serving.
  5. You can store these for several days in the fridge if sealed properly. Bring to room temp before serving.
Recipe Notes

Feel free to add more raisins or walnuts as you see fit, or replace with nuts and dry fruit of you choice. You can also add chocolate chips if you like!