Banana Carrot Muffins

These banana carrot muffins are soft, fluffy, and so easy to make! Packed with fruits and vegetables, warm spices, and perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a snack. No mixer required and ready in under 30 minutes!

I love muffins for grabbing a quick snack on the go, and it's an added bonus when a muffin has hidden fruits and veggies (like zucchini muffins or banana protein muffins).

These banana carrot muffins have a full cup of carrots in them, so they're a perfect way to sneak in some healthy vegetables.

These muffins are equally delicious fresh out of the oven or reheated after freezing! They're kid approved, easy to customize, and taste even better slathered with butter or nut butter.

Why These Banana Carrot Muffins Work

• These banana carrot muffins can be made with all purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, or regular whole wheat flour. You can also use a combination of white and whole wheat!
• The carrots in the muffins can be grated as thin as you'd like if you really want to hide the carrots in them (perfect for picky eaters!)
• You can add chopped walnuts, pecans, raisins, cranberries, or even chocolate chips to the muffins to bring them up a notch!
• These muffins freeze extremely well, so they are perfect for meal prep or after school and after work snacks.
• These carrot banana muffins are such a good way to sneak in healthy fruits and vegetables for toddlers and kids of all ages.
• This recipe is so easy, there are just a handful of steps, you don't need a mixer, and it uses simple ingredients.

Ingredients Needed

• Butter: you can use regular dairy butter, or dairy free butter. You can also use an equal amount of oil (any neutral oil is fine) or unsweetened apple sauce.
• Carrots: you need 1 packed cup of shredded carrots (around 3-4 medium carrots). They can be peeled or not, and you can shred them as finely as you'd like.
• Banana: this recipe calls for 1 cup of mashed banana. The riper the better, and I often use frozen bananas and thaw them. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the muffins will be.
• Sugar: These banana carrot muffins use mostly light brown sugar, and just a little bit of white granulated sugar. You can replace the granulated sugar with more brown sugar if desired. For a healthier option, you can use coconut sugar.
• Flour: The recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but you can also use white whole wheat flour, regular whole wheat flour, or a combination. Texture will be affected slightly when using whole wheat flour, as it is denser.

Step By Step Instructions

Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a muffin tin with a light coating of cooking spray or muffin liners. Whisk together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.

STEP TWO: Shred the carrots and mash the bananas and set aside. Melt butter in a large microwave-safe bowl, then add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix. Mix in both sugars, then add bananas and carrots.

STEP THREE: Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl slowly and mix until just combined.

Fill the muffin liners ¾ of the way full, then bake for 15-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

FAQs and Expert Tips

Expert Tips

• Properly measure your flour: I recommend using a kitchen scale for all baking, but you can also use the scoop and level method if you don't have a scale. Too much flour will lead to dry muffins. If you are using whole wheat flour, I recommend substituting by weight, instead of cups.
• Don't over-mix the batter: Mix the batter just until the last specks of dry ingredients have disappeared. This is one of the keys to fluffy muffin texture!
• Keep an eye on the bake time: Bake times can vary in different ovens, so check on them early to avoid over-baking.
• Fill the muffins to ¾ full to avoid the batter spilling over!
• These muffins go really well with semisweet chocolate chips or chopped nuts (I love using walnuts!).

Storage and Freezing Instructions

The banana carrot muffins will be good for 2-3 days at room temperature in an airtight container, but I like to freeze them in a ziploc freezer bag as soon as they have cooled completely.

When ready to serve, I take them out (individually if it's just for me) and microwave it for 20-30 seconds for warm muffins, or let the muffins thaw at room temperature.

More Muffin Recipes You'll Love

If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!

Banana Carrot Muffins

Gabby

These banana carrot muffins are soft, fluffy, and so easy to make! Packed with fruits and vegetables, warm spices, and perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a snack.

5 from 10 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Bake 16 mins

Total Time 26 mins

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 12 muffins

Calories 175 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  Muffin tin
• ▢
  Mixing Bowl

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ ⅓ cup butter, melted (regular or dairy free)*can sub oil SEE NOTES
• ▢ 1 cup mashed bananas (around 3-4 bananas) SEE NOTES
• ▢ 1 cup grated carrots
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoon granulated sugar (SEE NOTES)
• ▢ 1⅔ cup all purpose flour (or white whole wheat flour)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a muffin tin by spraying it with a light coating of cooking spray or lining it with muffin liners. Whisk together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.
• Shred the carrots (peeling first is optional) and measure out 1 cup, packed. The carrots can be shredded as small as you'd like. Mash the ripe bananas, measure out 1 cup, and set aside.
• In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, then add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix. Add in both sugars, and mix again. Stir in the in bananas and shredded carrots.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
• Fill the muffin liners ¾ of the way full, then bake for 15-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
• Let cool on a cooling rack then enjoy!

Video

Notes

PLEASE NOTE: I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your dry ingredients. Metric measurements are found above under the "Metric" tab.

BUTTER: Butter can be substituted with an equal amount of a neutral oil or unsweetened apple sauce.

BANANAS: You can use bananas that have been previously frozen and thaw them out at room temperature before mashing, or  you can use bananas that aren't frozen. Overripe bananas are best, and the more overripe they are the sweeter the muffins will be.

SUGAR: For sweeter muffins, add 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, for a total of 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar.

MEASURING FLOUR: Properly measure your flour using the scoop and level method or a kitchen scale. 

SUGAR SUBSTITUTIONS: The sugar can be substituted for coconut sugar at a 1:1 ratio, or with maple syrup. If using maple syrup, use around ⅔ cup (or ½ cup if you like the muffins to be less sweet). Because maple syrup is liquid, you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons of flour to balance out the liquid.

It is important to note that any substitutions to the original recipe will slightly change the texture of the muffins. This includes different sweeteners and flours.

OPTIONAL MIX INS: I like to add in chopped walnuts, pecans, raisins, cranberries, or chocolate chips to these muffins. I usually use around ½  cup.

TO MAKE INTO BANANA CARROT LOAF: To make these muffins as a loaf, use a 9x5 loaf pan, and bake at 350°F for around 50-60 minutes, or when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Storage and Freezing Instructions: Store muffins for 2-3 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

Freezing is my favorite way to have fresh muffins on demand! Freeze the cooled muffins in a ziploc freezer bag for up to 2-3 months.  When ready to eat, take one out of the freezer and microwave it for 30 seconds (which makes them taste fresh out of the oven), or let it thaw at room temperature.

Nutrition

Calories: 175kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 3gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 191mgPotassium: 145mgFiber: 1gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 2074IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.