Banana carrot muffins are a healthier take on two favorites – banana bread and carrot cake. Perfectly spiced, naturally sweet and made with 100% whole grains, you can feel good about serving these yummy muffins to your family!
As soon as my kids started eating solid foods, I started collecting healthy muffin recipes. Muffins are a convenient and portable snack for car trips, a great breakfast option before school, and universally loved by my kids and their friends.
The problem is that many muffin recipes are packed with sugar, lacking in “good-for-you” ingredients, and should really be classified more as “dessert” than anything else. Well… not these healthy banana carrot muffins!
These muffins are made with 100% white whole wheat flour for healthy fiber, and olive oil for healthy fat. They have a lot of natural sweetness from bananas and fresh-grated carrots, which means less added sugar. They are moist and fluffy and full of warm spices. Kids will love these, and parents will love serving up something healthy and crowd-pleasing! For more healthy muffin recipes, check out my pumpkin chocolate chip protein muffins.
You Will Love This
- With fruits, vegetables and whole grains in every bite, you can feel good about feeding these muffins to your family!
- These muffins are super moist, thanks to mashed banana and grated carrot.
- A perfect portable snack or on-the-go breakfast.
- Muffins freeze beautifully, making them perfect for meal prep.
Ingredients
Gather up your ingredients! For these delicious banana carrot muffins, you will need the following simple ingredients (exact measurements are in the recipe card below).
- Overripe bananas: The more brown, the more sweet flavor they have! Don't let those neglected bananas go to waste.
- Whole carrots: You will want to grate your own carrots for this recipe. Don't use pre-shredded carrots.
- Olive oil: I love baking with olive oil. It adds healthy fats, and keeps baked goods moist for longer than butter.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar is a perfect sweetener for these deliciously spiced muffins, with a deeper more robust flavor than white sugar. Either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work. You can also substitute pure maple syrup if you prefer a natural sweetener option.
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Milk: I used 2% in this recipe, but nonfat or whole milk will also work
- White whole wheat flour: White whole wheat flour is my favorite flour for healthier baked goods. White whole wheat flour is still 100% whole wheat with all the good-for-you fiber and nutrients, but it's a specific variety of wheat that is lighter in color and milder in flavor than regular whole wheat flour. Feel free to substitute all-purpose flour in this recipe if you prefer.
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Spices, including salt, cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg: Typical carrot-cake spices give these muffins a delicious fall flavor.
Substitutions
- Feel free to use all-purpose flour in this recipe, but if you've never tried white whole wheat I totally recommend it. My kids and I can barely tell the difference!
- You can substitute maple syrup in this recipe instead of brown sugar for a natural sweetener alternative.
Instructions
Step One: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the meantime, use a fork or potato masher to mash bananas in a large mixing bowl. Peel carrots and grate them into the mashed bananas on the large holes of a box grater.
Step Two: Mix all the wet ingredients (olive oil, egg, vanilla and milk) together in the bowl with the mashed bananas and shredded carrots. Stir in the packed brown sugar.
Step Three: In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg).
Step Four: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Don't over-mix.
Step Five: Line a muffin tin with liners, or grease each cup. Use a large cookie or ice cream scoop to spoon the batter into the muffin liners.
Step Six: Put the muffin pan on the center rack of the oven. Bake approximately 23-25 minutes, until the top of the muffins are golden brown and spring back when touched. A toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins should come out clean. Let the muffins cool for a few minutes, and then remove them from the pan to a cooling rack.
Storage
- Muffins will keep for several days stored at room temperature. Make sure they are fully cooled, and then put them in an air tight container in a single layer for optimal freshness. Making sure the container is airtight will keep the muffins from drying out. Store the container in a cool dry place.
- If storing muffins for longer than 3-4 days, put them in a heavy-duty ziplock bag and pop them in the freezer. Muffins will last for up to three months in the freezer. When you are ready to eat, just remove one and let it come to room temperature, or microwave it unwrapped for 20-30 seconds.
Recipe
Banana Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 overripe bananas
- 2 large carrots
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the meantime, use a fork or potato masher to mash bananas in a bowl. Peel carrots and grate them into the mashed bananas on the large holes of a box grater.
- Mix all the wet ingredients (olive oil, egg, vanilla and milk) together in the bowl with the mashed bananas and shredded carrots. Stir in the packed brown sugar.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg).
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Don't over-mix.
- Line a muffin pan with liners, or grease each cup. Use a large cookie or ice cream scoop to spoon the batter into the muffin liners.
- Bake approximately 23-25 minutes, until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Tony
These muffins are really good. The kids loved them!