Banana Carrot Muffins
These Banana Carrot Muffins are incredibly soft, fluffy and flavorful! They taste like a mix between carrot cake and banana bread. The warm spices make these gluten free muffins extra cozy. These muffins are easy to make and great for quick breakfasts, on the go snacks, and even healthy desserts!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- These banana carrot muffins have the perfect fluffy texture.
- They are moist and not dry!
- These gluten free muffins are freezer friendly.
- They are great for both kids and adults. Kids love these Mini Banana Muffins too!
- The warm spices make them so cozy.
- Molasses adds such a depth of flavor!
- These muffins are gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free.
- Check out these Banana Muffins with Almond Flour for a similar Paleo option.
- These Pumpkin Banana Muffins are another delicious recipe too!
Ingredients & Substitutions
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for banana carrot muffins. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions.
Use ripe bananas for added natural sweetness. The riper the better!
The eggs are vital to this recipe. I do not recommend using flax eggs, chia eggs, or a Vegan egg replacement. For an egg free and Vegan muffin recipe, check out these Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins!
Light tasting olive oil is the baking fat used. Light olive is much more neutral tasting than its extra virgin counterpart. I use and love Pompeian light olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil can also be used.
The vanilla extract adds a nice flavor to these muffins.
Pure maple syrup adds the best sweetness! I recommend using a high quality maple syrup for best results.
Molasses is the secret ingredient to these muffins! It adds a warm and cozy flavor. If you do not have molasses, feel free to use more maple syrup in its place.
Gluten free 1 to 1 flour is a great alternative to all purpose flour. I regularly use King Arthur Flour. If you are not gluten free, all purpose flour works great too.
Baking soda is the leavening agent. It helps these banana carrot muffins rise while baking.
Cinnamon and ground ginger are the warm and cozy spices! The ginger complements the molasses really nicely.
Finely grate carrots. Once grated, place carrots between two towels or paper towels. Wring out all excess moisture. Then measure out 1 cup.
Shredding the Carrots
Shredding the carrots is very important! Carrots naturally contain a lot of moisture. If not squeezed out, they add too much moisture to the muffin batter.
After shredding, place carrots between towels or paper towels. Wring out all water.
Once wrung out, measure 1 cup of carrots.
Taste & Texture
These banana carrot muffins have the taste of a carrot cake and banana bread. They are warm, sweet, and have a nice cinnamon flavor.
Their texture is soft, fluffy and moist. These muffins are not dry at all!
How to Make
Step 1
First, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Heavily spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray.
Step 2
Grate carrots. Squeeze out all excess moisture from carrots. Then measure 1 cup. Set aside.
Step 3
In a large mixing bowl, combine mashed banana, eggs, light olive oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup and molasses. Stir to combine.
Step 4
Once combined, stir in all remaining ingredients except grated carrots.
Step 5
Then, fold in carrots.
Step 6
Scoop batter into sprayed muffin pan. Fill each cavity about ¾ of the way full.
Step 7
Bake for 15 to 16 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Step 8
Finally, remove from oven. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer muffins to a cooling rack.
Expert Tips & Tricks
Heavily spray muffin pan with nonstick spray. This really helps to prevent sticking.
Use light olive oil instead of virgin olive oil.
Squeeze out all excess moisture from grated carrots. This step is very important.
Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Do not over bake! Mine took only 15 minutes.
Allow banana carrot muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing. This gives them time to slightly cool and maintain their shape.
How to Serve & Store
Serve banana carrot muffins once they have cooled. They are delicious with butter, peanut butter, almond butter, and jelly!
Serve with a mug of coffee, milk or hot chocolate.
Store muffins covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store in fridge for up to 7 days.
These muffins freeze well! Freeze for up to 2 months and thaw as needed.
Variations & Add Ins
Here are some fun add ins! Fold these ingredients into the banana carrot muffin batter before baking if desired.
Dark chocolate chips
White chocolate chips
Mini chocolate chips
Dried cranberries
Walnuts
Pecans
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Freeze for up to 2 months.
These muffins taste like a mix between carrot cake and banana bread. Try this Gluten Free Carrot Cake too!
Sure!
No, these muffins will not work without eggs.
You May Also Like
If you make this banana carrot muffins recipe, I would really appreciate a review! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I would love for you to follow along! For more ideas, check out these Breakfast Recipes.
Get the Recipe: Banana Carrot Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed bananas, about 2 bananas
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup light olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 ¾ cups gluten free 1 to 1 flour, or all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 cup grated carrots
Instructions
- First, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Heavily spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- Grate carrots. Once grated, place carrots between two towels or paper towels and squeeze out all excess water. Then measure out 1 cup. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add mashed bananas, eggs, light olive oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup and molasses. Stir to combine.
- Then, add in all remaining ingredients except grated carrots.
- Fold in carrots.
- Scoop muffin batter into sprayed pan. Fill each almost to the top (about ¾ of the way full).
- Bake for 15 to 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Finally, remove from oven. Allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes in pan then remove to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Heavily spray muffin pan with nonstick spray to prevent sticking.
- Use light olive oil, not extra virgin. The oil should be mild tasting.
- If you don’t have molasses, replace the 2 tablespoons molasses with 2 more tablespoons of maple syrup.
- After grating carrots, squeeze out all excess moisture.
- Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Love these banana carrot muffins? You can sign up here to receive healthy meal plans, exclusive new recipes and updates!
31 Comments on “Banana Carrot Muffins”
I found these muffins amazing. They were perfect! I made up some cream cheese frosting for the top. Unfortunately I did not have any edible flowers to decorate the top. I will make them again.
Thank you so much, Jane! I am so glad you enjoyed these banana carrot muffins!
Wondering if you mistakenly put baking soda instead of baking powder in your instructions? My muffins came out bitter. The texture was perfect, but unfortunately they don’t taste good because of the bitterness. I read that if you use mistakenly use baking soda instead of baking powder, it will come out bitter and that’s the only thing I can think of why it would be bitter. Any ideas?
Hi Tianna! Sorry to hear that. Is your baking soda old or expired? That would contribute to the bitter flavor.
These banana carrot muffins are such a great on the go snack! The perfect blend of flavor and fuel.
What a great muffin! I love the subtle flavor of the banana and it pairs so nicely with the carrot. Kids gobbled them up!
These were so moist and delicious! Super simple too, and excited to make them again!
These came out so good! Love the moist texture and subtle sweetness. The molasses was an interesting addition but definitely brings out the flavor in the muffins.
These muffins had the perfect taste and texture with the right amount of sweetness. I enjoyed it with a cup of hot chocolate.
Hello, these look great and my daughter has been asking for carrot muffins 🙂 can I substitute the molasses for something else?
Thank you.
Sure thing! You can use maple syrup or honey in its place. It just adds a little something extra! Hope you and your daughter love these muffins.
Hi, these look great! Could I substitute the olive oil for coconut oil? Thanks
Hi Ralph! Thank you. I have not tried using coconut oil, but it would need to be in liquid form. Melted coconut oil may work, but vegetable oil or avocado oil would definitely work. Hope this helps!
Can I use almond or coconut flour in this recipe?
Hi Irina! Almond flour and/or coconut flour would not work in this specific recipe. I suggest you make my Almond Flour Banana Muffins instead. You could use half cup mashed bananas and half cup grated carrots in that recipe to get the banana carrot flavor. Hope you enjoy them!
https://organicallyaddison.com/banana-muffins-with-almond-flour/
Thank you! I will try the other recipe 🙂