These healthy Banana Carrot Muffins are packed with vitamins, fiber, and proteins perfect as a kid’s breakfast or afternoon snack.
Plus, these healthy banana muffins are also refined sugar-free with an egg-free option.
What Are Banana Carrot Muffins?
These banana muffins with carrots are the best kid breakfast ever! An easy one-bowl recipe packed with nutrients and vegetables to start the day with all kids need.
These healthy banana muffins are naturally:
- Dairy-free
- Refined sugar-free
- Low sugar with 9 grams of sugar per muffin, mainly from bananas and carrots.
- Egg-free option
How To Make Banana Carrot Muffins
This is so easy to make banana carrot muffins in less than 15 minutes.
Ingredients
All you need are:
- Mashed ripe bananas – choose the ripest bananas possible with black spots on their skin. This boosts the sweetness and adds moisture to the muffin.
- Maple syrup – or any refined sugar-free liquid sweetener you like including agave syrup, brown rice syrup, or honey.
- Almond milk or any milk you have on hand.
- Melted coconut oil – measure the oil melted and make sure it’s lukewarm, not burning hot, or it cooks the egg.
- Large egg– at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract
- Whole-wheat flour – these are whole-wheat banana muffins for a healthy twist! In fact, whole-wheat flour is higher in protein and fiber, so much more fulfilling and nourishing.
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Shredded carrots
- Old-fashioned rolled oats – totally optional but great for boosting protein and fiber if you want to serve these as breakfast muffins for the kids.
Making The Banana Muffin Batter
First, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Next, line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases and lightly oil it with oil spray to prevent the batter from sticking to the paper.
Wet Ingredients
Start by peeling the ripe bananas and mash them into a thin puree on a chopping board. It’s fine to have some bites and pieces of bananas in the mash. This actually makes the muffins ultra-moist. Measure the amount called by the recipe and place it in a mixing bowl.
Whisk the mashed banana with egg, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
Dry Ingredients
Now stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, including the shredded carrots and rolled oats if used. Stir until the flour is well incorporated, but don’t over-mix the batter or the banana carrot muffins come out dense and packed
Baking The Muffins
Fill each muffin hole with about 1/3 cup of batter or until 3/4 of the level of the muffin cup is filled.
Bake on the center rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top gets golden brown and the center is cooked through. You can insert a pick in the center of the muffin. If wet, keep baking. Overall, you should bake these carrot banana muffins for 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool them down immediately on a wire rack.
Storage
These banana carrot muffins are perfect for meal-prepping healthy breakfast during the week. You can store the muffins in the fridge in a sealed box to keep them moist.
Or you can freeze them in ziplock bags and thaw them the day before at room temperature.
Serving
These kid banana muffins are delicious plain or with some of the healthy breakfast spread below:
- Peanut butter
- Almond butter
- Greek yogurt
- Grass-fed Butter
- Chia seed jam
Add-Ons
You can use this healthy banana muffin recipe to create a range of flavors and different breakfasts each week.
For example, you can add half shredded carrots and half shredded zucchini to make carrot zucchini banana muffins.
Another idea is to add shredded apples to make apple banana carrot muffins, also known as ABC muffins. These are great for little kids as it adds a variety of fruits and vegetables to their menu.
Or add 1/3 cup of:
- Dark chocolate chips
- Chopped walnuts
- Dried raisins
- Shredded coconut
Allergy Swaps
The good news is that you can swap some of the ingredients in this recipe to fit any food allergy your family might have.
- Vegan option – replace the egg with a flax egg or 1/4 cup of applesauce.
- Gluten-free option– replace the whole-wheat flour with an all-purpose flour blend that contains added gum.
- Sugar-free – you can replace the maple syrup with sugar-free syrup or a sugar-free granulated sweetener like erythritol. For babies, you can skip the sweetener and replace it with unsweetened applesauce.
Healthy Carrot Muffins
These are healthy carrot muffins because they are made with wholesome ingredients:
- Refined sugar-free – maple syrup contains a lot more nutrients like potassium than white sugar.
- Low in sugar – They contain half the sugar of regular banana muffins. Regular muffins contain about 20 grams of sugar, but these muffins have only 9 grams of sugar per serving.
- Unrefined flour – whole-wheat flour adds a higher fiber and higher protein content that is good for stabilizing blood sugar levels, keeping your little one full for longer between meals.
- Dairy-free – coconut oil or olive oil is better for your oil. They contain less saturated fat and a good omega-3 and omega-6 ratio.
More Muffin Recipes
These banana muffins contain some sweetener, and therefore they are more suited to kids above 1 year of age. For baby muffin options without added sweetener, try the options below:
Have you made these banana carrot muffins? Share a review or comment below to let me know how they turned out!
Carine
Banana Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 â…“ cup Mashed Ripe Bananas about 3 large bananas
- â…“ cup Maple Syrup
- 1 large Egg at room temperature (or 1 flax egg)
- â…“ cup Light Olive Oil or melted coconut oil, measure melted, lukewarm
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 ½ cup Whole-wheat Flour or all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Shredded Carrots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180C). Line a 12 hole muffin pan with parchment paper. Slightly oil with oil spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mashed banana, maple syrup, egg, olive oil, almond milk, and vanilla.
- Stir in the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, shredded carrots, and rolled oats.
- Stir until just combined. Don't over mix, or the muffins will be dense and packed.
- Fill each muffin cup up to 3/4 level and sprinkle some oats on top of each banana carrot muffin.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the muffins down immediately on a wire rack.
Storage
- Store up to 4 days in the fridge or freeze for later in ziplock bags.
