Banana Carrot Muffins (1 Bowl, No Eggs, No Dairy)

These Banana Carrot Muffins are moist carrot cake muffins with delicious banana flavor. It’s a great recipe to use ripe bananas and enjoy carrot cake flavors.

Table of contents

+ View More- View Less

You know how much I love healthy carrot recipes for Easter, but I also love simple muffins with bananas, like my 3-Ingredient Banana Muffins or Oat Flour Banana Muffins. That’s why I created this new muffin recipe. It’s a combination of two of my favorite flavors: carrot cake and banana muffins.

To create this recipe I inspired myself from my previous eggless banana muffin recipe, in which I added carrots.

I tweaked the recipe a little because it is never as simple as adding carrots to a banana muffin recipe to get the right texture. My first attempt at making this recipe used maple syrup, but the texture of the crumb was dry and dense.

So, I retested the recipe a few times until I found the perfect combination of ingredients that delivers moist banana muffins with all the flavor of a regular carrot cake recipe. I hope you will enjoy them as much as we do!

Why I Love These Muffins

• Vegan – it means they are egg-free and dairy-free
• Refined sugar-free and low-sugar
• Super easy to make – the batter takes 10 minutes to prepare.
• Perfect to meal prep healthy breakfast

Ingredients and Substitutions

• All-Purpose Flour – You can also use white spelt flour or white whole wheat flour. These three flour options work very well. However, the recipe won’t work with almond flour or coconut flour. I didn’t test the recipe with all-purpose gluten-free flour, so I can’t guarantee the results.
• Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats – This is optional but it adds texture and fiber. You can swap it for more flour instead.
• Baking Powder – This adds a lovely fluffy texture to the banana carrot muffins.
• Cinnamon – Anything carrots taste better with a pinch of cinnamon! You can also try pumpkin spices instead for a lovely fall flavor.
• Salt – This is optional but balances the sweetness very well.
• Mashed Bananas – You can use yellow or ripe bananas but the riper the bananas, the sweeter the muffins. I recommend mashing the bananas and measuring the amount in measuring cups for precision.
• Almond Milk – You can pick any plant-based milk like oat milk, soy milk, or cashew milk. The only one I’d avoid in this recipe is coconut milk as it would flavor the recipe too much.
• Coconut Sugar or brown sugar – both are the best crystal sweeteners to add a lovely nutty caramel sweet flavor to your carrot muffins. However, you can swap for white sugar if that’s all you have at home. I don’t recommend skipping the sugar. The texture of the muffins would not be as fluffy.
• Vanilla Extract – for flavor
• Light Olive Oil – You can also use melted coconut oil, or canola oil. I didn’t try an oil-free option for this muffin recipe. But, you might want to experiment with dairy-free yogurt, or applesauce instead of oil.
• Shredded Carrots – I peel and trim carrots and use a food processor with the smaller grating tool. But you can also cut the carrots into slices and pulse them into pieces in a food processor like in my vegan carrot cake recipe.
• Chopped Pecans – optional but delicious. Also, nuts can be a choking hazard for small kids, so skip the nuts for kids under 1 year old. You can replace them with chocolate chips or skip them.

How To Make Banana Carrot Muffins

1. First, peel and mash the ripe bananas on a chopping board and measure the exact amount required by the recipe. Set aside in a bowl.

2. Next, trim the carrot ends, peel off their skin, and discard it (in the compost). In a food processor, using the thinner grater tool, shred the carrots. Measure the amount needed in the recipe and set it aside in a bowl.

3. In a mixing bowl, place the mashed bananas with almond milk, vanilla extract, shredded carrots, and olive oil. Stir to combine.

4. In another mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together: flour, oats, baking powder, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

5. Finally, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a lightly thick muffin batter forms.

6. Lay 12 muffin paper cups into a 12-hole muffin tin. Spray some oil in the paper cups to prevent the batter from sticking to the paper. Fill each muffin paper liner up to the top with the banana carrot muffin batter.

7. Bake the muffins in the center rack of the oven at 355°F (180°C) for 35 -45 minutes.
8. Insert a pick in the center of one muffin to check if they are ready to come out of the oven. If the pick comes out with little to no crumb on it, it is baked through.
9. Cool the muffins on a cooling rack for at least 1 hour to enjoy their best flavors and texture.

Expert Tips

• Use ultra-ripe bananas – This increases the moisture in the muffins and their sweetness. The crumb will be very moist and the banana flavor more intense.
• Add chocolate chips – fold in 1/2 cup of dairy-free dark chocolate chips. This tastes amazing.
• Add crunch with nuts and seeds – fold in 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, or sunflower seeds. These add a nice crunch and omega-3 fatty acids to the muffins.
• Grease muffin paper liners a lot – Banana muffins stick to the paper way more. Make sure you use a good amount of cooking oil spray in the muffin liners.
• Drizzle royal icing on top for a boost of sweetness – Use my vegan royal icing recipe on top of the cooled banana carrot muffins.

Storage Instructions

You can store the muffins in an airtight muffin box in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the muffins and thaw them at room temperature the day before eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Banana Recipes

Ripe banana recipes are very convenient for using leftover bananas sitting on the kitchen counter. It’s also a great way to naturally sweeten baby recipes without adding sugar.

Below I listed my favorite ripe banana recipes for you to try.

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Banana Quinoa Muffins

Oatmeal Banana Bread

Banana Popsicles

Banana Bread Overnight Oats

Banana Carrot Muffins

These Banana Carrot Muffins are moist carrot cake muffins with delicious banana flavor. It's a great recipe to use ripe bananas and enjoy carrot cake flavors.

4.80 from 15 votes

Print Review Save Saved!

Share on Facebook Pin Save in Email

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 40 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 153 kcal

Author: Carine Claudepierre

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 1 ¼ cup Mashed Banana - about 3 medium ripe bananas
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups All-Purpose Flour - (note 1)
• ▢ ½ cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats - (note 2)
• ▢ 1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk - (note 3)
• ▢ ⅓ cup Light Olive Oil - (note 4)
• ▢ 2 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ▢ ½ cup Coconut Sugar - (note 5)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• ▢ 1 cup Shredded Carrot

Optional

• ▢ ½ cup Chopped Walnuts

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-hole muffin pan with muffin paper cups and spray the liner with oil to prevent the muffins from sticking to the paper. Set aside.
• Mash banana, pack in measuring cup, sweep off excess, and measure exactly 1 cup + 1/4 cup. Place in a mixing bowl. with oil, almond milk, vanilla extract, and shredded carrots. Stir to combine. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, rolled oats, coconut sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• Slowly stir in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in chopped nuts if used.
• Fill each muffin paper cup up to 3/4 of their level.
• Bake in the center rack of the oven for about 35 minutes – 45 minutes, or until a pick inserted in the center of the banana carrot muffins comes out clean.
• Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool for a few hours to enjoy their best texture.

Notes

Note 1: You can swap all-purpose flour for white spelt flour or white wholewheat flour. I didn’t try all-purpose gluten-free flour and can’t guarantee it will deliver the same texture. The recipe won’t work with almond flour, oat flour, or coconut flour.

Note 2: You can swap oats for more flour.

Note 3: Any plant-based milk can be used, such as coconut milk, oat milk, or soy milk.

Note 4: Any oil can be used, but light flavor oil works best.

Note 5: Any crystal sweetener like sugar, coconut sugar, or brown sugar works.

Storage: You can store the muffins in a cake box in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze them.

Share on Facebook Pin Recipe

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 153kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 157mg | Potassium: 158mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1795IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg | Magnesium: 16mg | Phosphorus: 25mg | Zinc: 1mg