These healthy banana carrot cake muffins are going to be the fluffiest, moistest, decliousest muffins you may have ever had. They’re packed with wholesome ingredients and based on the taste you’d never guess they take hardly any time to make, are vegan, and can be made in just 1 bowl!
You know that time around 3pm where you want something to snack on to hold you over until dinner but you don’t want something too sweet but ok maybe a little sweet and it’s also gotta be convenient because whose got time to make something now, like RIGHT now because as you think about what you want to eat you’re just getting hungrier? Well these super moist, super delicious, super healthy banana carrot cake muffins are the perfect solution for this problem! Not only can you grab one or pack one to take with you on the go but the batch makes about 9 muffins so your 3pm dilemma is solved for the whole week!! That’s a major win (& time saver & brain malfunction saver) in my book!
WHAT MAKES THESE MUFFINS SO GOOD?
They’re packed with nutritious and wholesome ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen, so you could probably go make them right now! They’re kind of like a fruit cake, but made with actual fruit 😉 The bananas and carrots give them the perfect amount of sweetness so you don’t even have to add ANY sweetener! Plus they’re made with spelt flour, which is a whole grain flour, so combined with that and the fruit and veggie you’ve got a delicious treat that will leave you satisfied and energized and feeling good!
WHAT DO THEY TASTE LIKE?
Even though they have bananas in them, they’re actually not too banana-y in flavor. So if you’re looking for something distinctly banana flavored, check out this banana flour fruit bread or this blueberry banana bread. This could also be a great introduction to banana goodies if you’re not a fan already!
WHAT TEXTURE DO THEY HAVE?
They are like puffy little clouds but ones that are dense enough to sit on. They’re that super hard to explain combo of being light/sort of airy, yet substantial enough that you get a good bite but not so much that you’d call them dense, ya know? Ok yeah, you probably don’t. But make them and come back and tell me this isn’t the exact description for them! ;P
SO HOW DO YOU MAKE THESE BANANA CARROT CAKE MUFFINS?
Super quickly, that’s how, because they’re so easy to make! You can mash the bananas with a fork, a potato masher, or even with your hands. The carrots can be grated with a box grater, pulsed a few times in a food processor, or just buy shredded carrots! Then add those things, along with the other wet ingredients, into a large bowl and give it a good stir. Add the dry ingredients right in to that same bowl and stir until almost all the dry ingredients are incorporated. That’s when you’ll add your mix-ins and finish stirring. Plop the batter into some prepared muffin cups and patiently (or as patiently as humanly possible) wait for them to be done! Easy as pie! Or since pie’s not really that easy to make, easy as healthy banana carrot cake muffins!
WHAT SUBSTITUTIONS CAN BE MADE?
The banana could be swapped out with pureed sweet potato or pumpkin.
You can use any sort of nut or seed butter in place of the almond butter. I’d go with a natural one (or homemade one) without any added ingredients (like sugar or salt). And also having a drippy consistency will really help in this recipe.
The vanilla extract is just for flavor and won’t affect how the recipe turns out, so you can leave it out if you don’t like it, but it adds a great extra layer of flavor!
Spelt flour does have gluten, so you can swap it out for any other flour with gluten, like a whole wheat or white whole wheat. A gluten free flour blend will probably work if it has a gum (like xanthan) added to the mix. A straight gluten free flour (like buckwheat) will result in a much denser muffin, but if you like that buckwheat would add a great nutty flavor!
The raisins and walnuts can be eliminated all together, or swapped out for equal amounts of any sort of thing you’d like! These are your muffins after all, let your (freak) muffin flag fly!
Kaylie | Healthy Hacks
Yields 9 muffins
Vegan; Egg Free; Dairy Free; No Added Sugar; Easy
20 minPrep Time
15 minCook Time
35 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- ½ cup banana, mashed
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 3 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup spelt flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/3 tsp salt
- ½ c raisins
- ½ c walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line 9 cups of a muffin pan.
- You’ll want small pieces of carrots for the muffins. You can either grate the carrots or pulse them a few times in a food processor.
- In a large bowl, add the chopped carrots, mashed banana (about 1 large banana will get you ½ a cup mashed), almond butter, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract, and stir together.
- Add the spelt flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and stir until the dry ingredients is almost fully incorporated.
- Add the raisins and walnuts and stir just until all the dry ingredients are mixed in.
- Evenly distribute the batter into 9 of the muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven for 14 -17 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for about 10 min in the pan and then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Or if the smell has taken over your whole house and you can’t wait, just cool them on the rack long enough so that you don’t burn your mouth when you eat them 😉
- These muffins can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week or in the freezer for a few months.
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