Giant Gluten Free Carrot Cake Muffins

Carrot cake is one of those cultural favorites that never fails to impress a crowd. So these giant gluten free carrot cake muffins, smothered in silky cream cheese buttercream, are certainly going to be the star of your next brunch or weekday breakfast (or afternoon snack!). These muffins are incredibly easy to make, packed with carrots, spices, golden raisins (inarguably better than ‘regular’ raisins), and a bit of shredded coconut for an extra incredible flavor and texture. I’ve got a go-to carrot cake that’s quite different than the traditional: no spices, dense, heavy on almond flour and vanilla, and with very finely grated carrots for a smooth texture, but I absolutely LOVED these and am now an official fan of traditional carrot cake!

For those of you just joining, we started creating GIANT muffin recipes about 5 months ago after reminiscing over the giant Costco muffins we used to eat (read: devour) as kids prior to getting diagnosed with Celiac. This giant muffin saga has now consumed our every free moment (not really but it’s exciting) and we continue to create new flavors with gusto. Back to the rest of the giant muffins! So far we’ve made these giant poppyseed muffins, giant blueberry muffins, giant chocolate chip muffins, giant double chocolate muffins, giant banana nut muffins, giant strawberry rhubarb muffins, giant apple streusel muffins, these giant lemon raspberry muffins, giant cherry chocolate chip muffins, these giant coffee walnut muffins, these giant pistachio apricot muffins, these giant orange marmalade muffins, these giant zucchini muffins, these giant mango muffins, these giant peach muffins, these giant chocolate zucchini muffins, these giant lavender earl grey muffins, these giant lemon saffron muffins, these giant ube white chocolate muffins, these giant chocolate orange muffins, these giant cinnamon chip muffins, these giant pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, these giant toasted almond muffins, and these giant black sesame and white chocolate muffins!

Tips for the Delicious Giant Gluten Free Black Sesame Muffins:

A few tips for getting these to turn out perfectly:

• Use the right-size of pan! Apparently, Costco keeps their giant muffin pans as a trade secret because we can’t find them ANYWHERE on the internet and you can find EVERYTHING on the internet. Bravo, Costco, for a secret well-kept. However, we’ve found a way to crack the code and gone ahead and just used these brilliant 4-inch cake pans because, after careful inspection, we’ve discovered that Costco muffins are exactly 4-inches in diameter! HA! Take that, Costco-bakery-lords. I never thought I’d be regularly using 4-inch cake pans but here we are. I’ll just need to make a bunch of tiny cake recipes next!
• Get that flavor! Black sesame can be hard to find depending on where you live, but this is the black sesame paste and black sesame powder that we found online that you can order – and there are plenty of other online options if you can’t find any in stores near you!
• Don’t over-mix your batter! Muffins need a lot of lift, especially these giant ones, and if you over-mix your batter, you’ll end up with sunken muffins which is no fun.
• Use a good 1-1 gluten free flour mix! We use the Bob’s Red Mill one (the baking mix), though we’ve heard good things about Cup-4-Cup. We’ve only tested this recipe with this one so if you want them to turn out exactly like ours, we recommend snagging a bag of that specific 1-1 gluten free flour.
• Do NOT open the oven door during baking time. Tape it shut if you have to! You can certainly turn on the oven light and peek and the gloriousness that is a set of rising muffins nearly-ready to be devoured, but do not open that door! Opening the door will immediately lower the oven temp and prohibit your muffins from rising correctly. If you’re in the last few minutes of baking and need to test to see if they’re done, open the oven just a tiny bit and reach in and just tap the top of one – if it springs back it’s done, if it presses in like a foam mattress topper, it’s not and needs a couple more minutes!
• These will keep in an airtight container (or in ziplock baggies) for a week or so – and they freeze REALLY well! So if you want to make a batch and save a bunch, put them in a sturdy plastic container or a freezer plastic bag and pop them in there. Then microwave for about 30-45 seconds (from frozen) before eating! I even like popping mine in the microwave for 10-15 seconds from room temp to get them all warm and floofy again before eating.

Print Recipe

Giant Gluten Free Carrot Cake Muffins

These classic carrot cake muffins, but giant!, are topped with silky cream cheese icing

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Cooling time20 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: breakfast, carrot, carrot cake, costco muffins, cream cheese frosting, easy, gluten free, muffins, simple

Servings: 6 giant muffins

Calories: 450kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Six 4-inch round cake pans (link below to the ones we use)
• Cookie sheet

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 Cup oil
• 1/4 Cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 1/2 Cups white sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (link below to the one we use)
• 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 Cup packed blanched almond flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 Cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 Cup chopped raw pecans
• 1/2 Cup chopped raw walnuts
• 1/2 Cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 Cup golden raisins

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 4 oz cream cheese room temp
• 1/4 Cup salted butter room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 Cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp milk

Instructions

• First, make your muffin batter! It will need to rest for 30 minutes before baking. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Then carefully stir in the gluten free 1-1 flour mix, almond flour, sweet rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Finally, fold in your shredded carrots, pecans, walnuts, shredded coconut, and golden raisins. Do not over-mix or your muffins won't rise. Let the batter sit at room temp for 15 minutes before baking.
• Once the batter has rested preheat the oven to 325° Fahrenheit and place your six 4-inch cake pans on a cookie sheet. Grease each pan with cooking spray, then spoon batter into each one evenly (they should be about 3/4-5/6 full). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (do NOT open the oven while baking or the muffins will not rise fully, only open the oven a tiny bit to check if done). Let cool nearly-completely before turning out and glazing.
• While the muffins are cooling, make your cream cheese frosting/glaze! In a medium-small bowl, use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix together the room temp cream cheese and butter until smooth (this will take some working). Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix together until thicker and smooth, then add in the milk to get an easily-spreadable mixture.
• Then use a butter knife to spread the frosting on the muffins, or scoop into a piping back and cut a 1/4 inch hole to pipe onto the muffins, and serve! These keep in the fridge or freezer for up to a week in an air-tight container. Best-served slightly warm, so pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds from room temp!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your muffins!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber