Banana Carrot Muffins
These Banana Carrot Muffins are a delicious grab-and-go breakfast or snack. They are sweet and satisfying with a great texture. This recipe is made gluten-free and dairy-free with a vegan option.
Make these healthy Banana Carrot Muffins this weekend for an instant pick-me-up! Family members always love the smell of muffins baking in the oven, and these gluten-free muffins can be served as an easy breakfast, snack, or dessert.
Babies, toddlers, and adults all love these moist and sweet muffins.
Why You Need This Recipe
They are reminiscent of carrot cake and banana bread, but not so sweet and made without frosting. This recipe is also great because it’s gluten-free and includes a serving of vegetables!
If you have picky-eaters in the house, you might try giving him or her one of these muffins. They’ll never guess that there are shredded carrots inside. See my list of the best vegetables for picky eaters.
Each Banana Carrot Muffin has approximately:
- 185 calories,
- 7 grams of fat,
- 3 grams of fiber,
- 4 grams of protein,
- and 11 grams of sugar.
Whether you’re planning a weekly meal plan or you just want to bake something healthy and delicious, then you are going to want to make these muffins ASAP.
Key Ingredients
Gluten free flour blend – Be sure to use a gluten free flour that contains xanthan gum since it helps give the muffin a gluten-like texture. I like to use Bob’s Red Mill’s 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour for it’s taste and texture. If you aren’t on a gluten free diet, simply use regular all purpose flour in its place.
Shredded carrots – The shredded carrots soften as they bake. They add natural moisture and great flavor to baked goods and taste delicious in these muffins.
Mashed banana – Mashed bananas are a healthy way to sweeten muffins and cakes. Bananas are naturally very sweet with a creamy texture perfect for muffin batter. Just make sure your bananas are ripe!
Coconut oil – Coconut oil keeps the muffins moist and tender. You can use butter, ghee, or canola oil if you prefer.
Maple syrup – A half cup of maple syrup alongside the mashed banana is all this recipe needs to be perfectly sweet.
Eggs make the muffins moist and fluffy. You can use an egg-replacer like a flax egg or chia egg if you need to avoid eggs.
Recipe Steps
Step One
The first step in making these muffins is to shred your carrots. This is the hardest part to making these muffins.
If you have a food processor with a shredding plate, then this step will only take a few minutes. If you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need to use a cheese grater to shred the carrots.
You’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of tightly-packed carrots from 3 or 4 medium carrots for this recipe. Place them in a large mixing bowl.
Step Two
Next, add your flour to the shredded carrots and stir them together. You can use whatever flour you like. I used Bob’s Gluten-Free 1 for 1 Baking Flour.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
Step Three
Combine your wet ingredients in a bowl, including the mashed ripe bananas, eggs or flax eggs, vanilla extract and the other ingredients.
Stir them into the dry ingredients.
Step Four
Divide the batter between the wells of a muffin tin. I used paper liners in the muffin cups, but you don’t have to.
Bake the muffins for between 25-28 minutes. They will turn a golden brown on top when they are done.
Step Five
Let the muffins cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before enjoying warm or at room temperature.
As mentioned above, these healthy muffins make for a super delicious snack, dessert, or breakfast. They can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to several days.
Recipes Tips & Substitutions
- Store any leftover baked Banana Carrot Muffins in a tightly-sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Or, place any leftovers in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
- Use coconut oil instead of ghee for dairy-free diets.
- You can substitute applesauce for the mashed bananas, if you prefer.
- Don’t use pre-shredded carrots from the store for this recipe (they will be too dry). Shred your own using the shredding disk on a food processor (or a large cheese grater).
Recipe FAQs
Yes, just replace the eggs with flax or chia eggs, and be sure to use melted coconut oil and not ghee.
Yes, you can! Just increase the baking time to 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Yes! Just swap out the gluten-free flour with all-purpose flour or regular whole wheat flour.
Yes! Place them into a freezer safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost leave on the counter until they reach room temperature or microwave in ten second intervals until warmed through.
Yes! This muffin recipe is toddler approved. It’s the perfect way to get them to eat vegetables without them even knowing it.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate Chip Sweet Potato Muffins
- Cinnamon Flax Muffins
- Gluten-Free Apple Muffins
- Gluten-Free Strawberry Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Air-Fryer Mini Blueberry Muffins
Or, check out all of my healthy muffin recipes.
Don’t Miss These Banana Recipes
Banana Carrot Muffins
These Banana Carrot Muffins are a delicious grab-and-go breakfast or snack. They are sweet and satisfying with a great texture. This recipe is made gluten-free and dairy-free with a vegan option.
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 3/4 cups gluten-free baking flour (I like Bob’s 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour)
- 1 1/2 cup tightly-packed shredded carrots (from 4 or 5 medium carrots)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs, beaten (use two flax eggs or chia eggs for vegan*)
- 1 cup mashed banana (from 3 medium-sized ripe bananas)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup coconut oil or ghee, melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Spray a muffin tin lightly with nonstick oil and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and shredded carrots. Stir to combine.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Stir and set the bowl aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the eggs, mashed banana or applesauce, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and melted coconut oil or ghee. Stir to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Divide the batter between the muffin wells. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let the muffins cool for a few minutes before removing them from the muffin tin. Serve warm, or at room temperature.
Notes
- Store any leftover baked muffins in a tightly-sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Or, place any leftovers in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
- *To make 2 flax or chia eggs, combine 2 tablespoons of ground flax or chia seeds in a bowl. Add 6 tablespoons of water. Stir and then let the mixture sit for 5 minutes before using.
- If you aren’t on a gluten-free diet, you can use regular all-purpose flour instead.
- Use coconut oil instead of ghee for dairy-free diets.
- You can substitute applesauce for the mashed bananas, if you prefer.
- Don’t use pre-shredded carrots from the store for this recipe. Shred your own using the shredding disk on a food processor (or a large cheese grater).
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 185
- Sugar: 11.1 g
- Sodium: 130.7 mg
- Fat: 7.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.9 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 3.7 g
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
Keywords: carrot cake muffins, carrot applesauce muffins, gluten free banana carrot muffins
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These look like a great option for my kindergartener’s lunchbox. I think i’ll add some raisins in too!
Awwww thanks Natalie! I hope your little one enjoys the muffins! 🙂
My GF flour blend does not contain xanthan gum. How much would I need to add?
I think you’ll be okay without it. The muffins might be a little denser but they should still be really delicious.
These muffins turned out sooooo well. The texture is perfect and I loved the flavor.
★★★★★
A very interesting recipe. Will try this soon.
Thanks Carrie for sharing!
★★★★★
I can’t wait to make these muffins! They sound and look amazing. Also, your photos are gorgeous… I can’t stop my mouth from watering!
They look wonderful Carrie, I’ll give them a try. A muffin in the morning, or anytime will hit the spot for me.