Carrot Banana Muffins

I wanted to pair carrots with something other than raisins for once, so here’s a tasty twist on basic banana bread. I also removed the nuts and reduced the sugar and oil significantly from most of the recipes I found online, and increased the fiber. The result is flavorful, but not too sweet, so it’s more of a breakfast food than a dessert bread. For those of you with a greater sweet tooth, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup white sugar.

[DF] Dairy-free

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup applesauce
  • 1 Tbsp. canola oil
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 oz apple juice (about 1/2 a juice box)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana
  • 1 cup grated carrots
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats

Equipment

  • Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
  • Food processor is very helpful but not required
  • Muffin pan (recipe makes 12 muffins)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin or loaf pan, or use muffin cup papers.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine applesauce, oil, brown sugar, and honey using the electric mixer.
  3. Add eggs and applesauce. Mix until smooth.
  4. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until smooth. Add baking soda, salt, and spices, and mix until smooth.
  5. Add vanilla and mashed banana. Mix until smooth, still using the electric mixer.
  6. Stir in carrots and rolled oats. Stir by hand until evenly distributed.
  7. Pour batter into pans and bake until done. For muffins, bake about 22 minutes. For a loaf, it should be about 55-65 minutes, but I haven’t tried it myself.

Source

Inspired by Beulah Starkweather’s recipe for Carrot Banana Bread and the posted comments on AllRecipes.com.