Make these banana carrot muffins over the weekend and enjoy them all week long! They are the perfect finger food for busy mornings and such a great way to get the nutrients from carrots into bodies.
Why I Love This Recipe
Banana carrot muffins are one of my all-time favorite breakfast foods to make for about a million reasons. I'll tell you my top seven:
- It's like carrot cake and banana bread had babies! The perfect combination.
- I have picky children. I love packing nutrient-dense foods such as carrots into recipes.
- These easy muffins can be made at any time, easily stored and enjoyed throughout the week.
- Banana carrots are impossible to mess up. If you get a few measurements wrong, the recipe will be forgiving and create delicious bites anyway.
- This is a great breakfast for the whole family on busy mornings. Warm them up in the microwave, throw a pat of butter over the top and enjoy.
- They're not just for breakfast! Think delicious snack for after school.
- Delicious banana carrot muffins require just a few simple ingredients, all of which are probably hanging out in your kitchen as we speak.
Recipe Ingredients
Butter - I'm personally a huge fan of using salted butter in my baked goods, but unsalted works just as great.
Flour - To make this a gluten free recipe, substitute all-purpose flour with almond flour, oat flour or your favorite gluten free flour.
Note that flours containing xantham gum work better to produce fluffy banana carrot muffins than ones without this ingredient.
Brown sugar - Use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for this recipe.
Granulated sugar - Turn these into healthy banana carrot muffins by decreasing the amount of sugar used by half (or more). You can also replace any or all of it with other sweeteners such as honey, agave nectar and pure maple syrup for a more natural sweetness.
Vanilla extract - Change up the flavors by replacing vanilla with almond extract.
Eggs - Ideally your eggs should be at room temperature when adding them to the mixing bowl. Allow them to sit out for about 30 minutes prior to starting the recipe.
Milk - Allow the milk to sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes or so prior to starting the recipe.
Feel free to replace milk with a dairy free variety such as almond milk or oat milk.
Baking soda - Make sure your baking soda has been stored properly and is fresh, for best results.
Cinnamon - Consider adding other warm spices such as nutmeg or ground allspice in addition to the cinnamon.
Salt - Any variety of salt works great, such as sea salt, table salt or kosher salt.
Bananas - Use ripe bananas that have been mashed with fork tines or a potato masher.
Carrots - Shred 4 medium carrots, either by hand using a box grater or using the shredding attachment on your food processor.
Two cups of shredded carrots will seem like a lot, but I promise it will work and taste delicious.
Prep This Banana Carrot Muffins Recipe Ahead of Time
- Either prepare the entire batch of muffins before the week begins, then store in an airtight container and pull out throughout the week.
- Or you can shred the carrots and mix the dry ingredients, which will expedite the baking process when you're ready to make these.
How to Make Banana Carrot Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Set aside.
Prepare the Crumble
In a small bowl, make the crumble. Combine the 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
Mix with a fork until crumbly.
Prepare the Muffins
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla using an electric hand mixer. Add the eggs and milk. Mix until combined.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. Gradually add to the butter mixture until combined. Fold in the mashed bananas and shredded carrots.
Pour muffin batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling each 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the tops of the muffins.
Bake in the preheated oven for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The top outer edges will be a nice golden brown.
Serve warm with butter!
Recipe Notes
- Shred your own carrots or purchase pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store.
- Add up to 1 cup of extras to add texture and flavor! Options include raisins, chocolate chips, coconut flakes or any dried fruit.
How To Store Homemade Muffins
Store leftover homemade muffins in an airtight container, in a single layer, at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Or you can freeze them in a heavy duty freezer bag for up to 3 months for best results.
Grated vs Shredded Carrots
Grated carrots are smaller in size than shredded carrots and are hard to identify when adding them into recipes such as carrot cake, bread or muffins.
Shredded carrots are longer and more distinguishable due to the size of the blade that has cut them.
What To Do With Ripe Bananas
- Add overripe bananas to your next batch of cookies.
- They taste delicious in just about any baked good such as these Easy Banana Bars or these Banana Crumb Muffins.
- Add them to pancake batter.
- Throw into a blender with other smoothie ingredients.
- Stir into oatmeal with other favorite toppings.
Best Muffin Recipes
Banana Carrot Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
Crumble
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Muffins
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk at room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 bananas ripe, mashed
- 4 medium carrots shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Set aside.
Prepare the Crumble
- In a small bowl, make the crumble. Combine the 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Mix with a fork until crumbly.
Prepare the Muffins
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla using an electric hand mixer. Add the eggs and milk. Mix until combined.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. Gradually add to the butter mixture until combined. Fold in the mashed banana and shredded carrots. Pour into the prepared muffin tins, filling each 3/4 of the way full.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the tops of the muffins and bake in the preheated oven for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm with butter!
Notes
- Shred your own carrots or purchase pre-shredded carrots from the grocery store.
- Add up to 1 cup of extras to add texture and flavor! Options include raisins, chocolate chips, coconut flakes or any dried fruit.
Leave a Reply