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Home » Recipes » Breakfast » Muffins » Banana Carrot Muffins

Banana Carrot Muffins

By Taesha Butler January 25, 2022 (Updated March 15, 2022) 6 Comments

Servings10 muffins
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time22 mins
Jump to Recipe
5 from 3 votes

These Banana Carrot Muffins combine the beautiful flavors of banana bread and carrot into a light, fluffy, and moist muffin! Made with whole wheat flour, oats, and naturally sweetened, they are a healthy breakfast recipe or the perfect snack for a busy day.

A carrot banana muffins on a plate with nuts scattered around and a butter knife with butter on it. The cooling rack with muffins and a small tin of butter is blurred in the background

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 Healthier homemade muffin recipes are always on my weekly meal prep list. I love to quickly throw together a batch and bake them so they are ready to go when we need them. Plus, they are great for stocking my freezer.

My Cinnamon Zucchini Banana Muffins are frequent flyers in our house. However, sometimes I don’t have zucchini on hand, since it is more of a summery vegetable. But you know what I always have one hand? Carrots! Literally, there is always a bag of them in my crisper and they often make a great replacement of zucchini in many of my veggie-loaded muffins. So, it seemed high time to make an official Banana Carrot muffin recipe for the pages of TNN.

This recipe is…

In case you don’t know, carrots and banana together are just pure magic! (check out m Carrot Banana Bread). These Banana Carrot muffins are fluffy, tender, perfectly moist, and will make your taste buds sing. They are made with whole grains, naturally sweetened, and can easily be made gluten free and dairy-free. And since they are mixed all in one bowl and are done baking in under 25 minutes, they won’t suck up a big chunk of your day if you opt to make them for meal prep.

Process shots of how to make banana carrot muffins.

Frequently Asked Questions

I only have quick oats. Can I use those instead of rolled?

Yep! You can swap the quick oats for rolled oats one-to-one in this banana carrot muffin recipe.

Can I make these egg-free?

Yes! I find that flax eggs work great in these banana carrot muffins in place of chicken eggs.
To make a “flax egg”, I use the ratio of 1 tablespoon ground flax meal + 2.5 tablespoons water = 1 egg.

So, for this recipe, I use 2 tablespoons of ground flax meal + 5 tablespoons water to replace the eggs. Be sure to let the flax/water mixture sit for about 5 minutes to allow it to “gel” before adding it to the batter.

How can I make these carrot muffins dairy-free?

Simply use your favorite non-dairy milk. I have made these with oat milk and unsweetened almond milk with great success.

I need these to be gluten free. How can I do that?

Use a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend (I like this one) in place of the whole wheat flour and make sure that the oats you are using are certified gluten free.

How do you grate the carrots for these banana muffins?

I use the large holes of a box grater and it works perfectly. You do not need to squeeze out any of the excess moisture before adding the carrots to the muffin batter, either. The moisture from them adds to the lovely texture of these banana muffins.

Can I replace the flour in this muffin recipe with almond meal or coconut flour?

I haven’t tried these banana carrots muffins with almond flour, almond meal, or coconut flour, so I can’t speak to how successful they will turn out when swapping the flours.

In my experience, almond flour can often be used in place of whole wheat flour, however it creates for a much denser baked good. Coconut flour is a much thirstier flour and absorbs a lot more liquid than almond flour or wheat flour. I do not suggest using coconut flour in this recipe.

The batter for carrot banana muffins in a bowl after mixing and then being portioned out into a muffin tin.

Suggested adaptations

Make them gluten free by using a cup-for-cup flour blend (I like this one) in place of the whole wheat flour and make sure that the oats you are using are certified gluten free.

Reduce the sweetener in these muffins to 1/4 cup. The bananas offer up a lot of sweetness on their own, so you might find you don’t need as much maple syrup or honey, depending on your taste preference.

Make them dairy-free by using your favorite plant based milk.

Replace the banana with applesauce. If you don’t have bananas on hand or just prefer applesauce, they can be swapped in this muffin recipe.

Make these banana carrot muffins egg free by using flax eggs.

Banana carrot muffins on a cooling rack.

Tips and tricks

  • Let banana carrot muffins cool for at least 15 minutes. Muffins (and all baked goods) continue to bake even after they are removed from the oven and will firm up as they sit. Let the muffins sit in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack. And then let them cool there for another 10 minutes before enjoying. TIP: If you are not using liners when baking your muffins, let them cool the full 15 minutes in the muffin tin….otherwise they might stick or fall apart.
  • Use parchment paper muffin liners. I love this brand and find they are the best for easy peeling muffin liners. Another great (no waste) option is silicone muffin liners. Also a little oil in the muffin tin compartment works great for preventing these healthy carrot muffins from sticking.
  • Make sure the bananas are ripe. For best results in baked goods, bananas should be brown and spotty. As bananas ripen they get sweeter and softer. Ripe muffins also add moisture to these carrot muffins. Using bananas that are green or just barely ripe in this recipe may lead to dry, less sweet muffins.
  • Don’t over mix your batter! Mixing activates the gluten in the flour and can make for a really heavy, dense muffin. So mix your muffin batter until JUST combined. That is the key to fluffy muffins!

How to store these carrot banana muffins

These muffins can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to to 2 days. After that, I suggest storing them in the fridge or freezer to prevent molding and keep them as fresh as possible for days to come. They freeze beautifully and make for a great breakfast or snack to stock up on!

Other veggie-loaded muffin recipes you will love

  • Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with veggies!)
  • Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins
  • Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
  • Healthy Zucchini Lemon Muffins
  • Mini Butternut Squash Blueberry Muffins
  • Healthy Lunch Box Muffins
  • Healthy Morning Glory Muffins

Did you try these banana carrot muffins and now you’re hungry for more? 

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A banana carrot muffin on a plate, cut in half. Half has butter on it and there is a butter knife on the plate too. The rest of the muffins are on a cooling rack next to the plate.
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Carrot Banana Muffins

These Banana Carrot Muffins combine the beautiful flavors of banana bread and carrot into a light, fluffy, and moist muffin! Made with whole wheat flour, oats, and naturally sweetened, they are a healthy breakfast recipe or the perfect snack for a busy day.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time22 mins
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Keyword: banana, carrot,, whole wheat flour
Servings: 10 muffins
Calories: 185kcal
Author: Taesha Butler

Ingredients  

  • 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
  • 1 cup grated carrots
  • 1/4 cup avocado oil or olive oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup milk of choice
  • 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour  or sub cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins optional add-in

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a muffin tin with liners or grease with a little extra oil.
  • Place very ripe bananas in a medium bowl and mash until smooth.
  • Add carrots, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, honey/maple syrup, and milk to the bowl with the banana. Mix.
  • Add flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. DO NOT over mix or your muffins might lose their lovely fluffiness.
  • If adding nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips, fold in at this time. This is an optional step.
  • Portion batter into prepared muffin tin. Top with add-in of choice (optional).
  • Bake for 22-24 minutes, or until muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one muffin comes out clean. Allow them to cool in pan for 15 minutes before enjoying.
  • Once cooled completely, store in fridge for 4-5 days or in freezer for up to a month.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 185kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 188mg | Potassium: 185mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 2204IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg

The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!

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Filed Under: Meal Prep, Muffins, Nut-Free, Snacks, Vegetarian Tagged With: carrot

Previous Post: « 30-Minute Minestrone Soup (vegan)
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kevina

    February 7, 2022 at 9:30 pm

    Hi Taesha out of all the recipes I made this one for some reason didn’t work out in terms of cooking. After 30 mins cooking it’s still like moist inside. I measured everything as per your recipe. Also please have a YouTube channel, a lot of people need your recipes.

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      February 7, 2022 at 10:27 pm

      Hi Kevina! I am so glad you enjoy my recipes so much. I have definitely thought about a YouTube channel, but I am still a one woman show over here and there are only so many hours in the day! 😂 Maybe someday!

      As for these muffins, I just pulled a batch out of the oven for my daughter’s lunches this week. They baked up as written, so let’s do a little trouble shooting because a failed recipe is a bummer!

      It sounds like you have made my muffin recipes before, but just in case, did you let them cool? Muffins and other baked goods can still be baking once they are removed from the oven and firm up as they cool.

      Also, did you happen to swap the flours? I have made these with GF flour blend and whole wheat flour and they are perfect. But I do have a sneaking suspicion that these would be too wet if APF was used. It just doesn’t soak up as much moisture as whole wheat or gluten free flours do.

      Okay, last thought. Any chance your oven could be baking at a lower temperature? I’ve baked in a lot of older ovens and sometimes they SAY they are cooking at one temperature but really they are not. I had to buy an internal thermometer to keep in my oven so that I could be sure my oven was cooking at the proper temp.

      Reply
  2. Karen F FitzGerald

    March 30, 2022 at 2:55 pm

    These are so yummy. Very moist. I gave one to my co worker (he doesn’t like any thing banana . He loved them . I put chocolate chips in them. He said they we so good.

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      March 30, 2022 at 3:00 pm

      5 stars
      Yay! I am so glad, Karen! Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
  3. Ralph @ Bakell Edible Glitter

    April 8, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    5 stars
    Hi, these look great! How would I substitute sugar in place of the maple syrup? Thanks

    Reply
    • Taesha Butler

      April 10, 2022 at 9:34 pm

      You can swap it out 1:1 and it should be fine! Enjoy!

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Taesha! I help busy people fall in love with healthy eating with my simple, family-friendly, veggie-loaded recipes. I believe vegetables can and SHOULD be delicious. Here, let me show you how!

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