Who says easy treats can’t be nutritional, too? Don’t forgo breakfast due to hectic mornings or compromise health with pre-packaged afternoon snacks. These butternut banana mini muffins are packed with fruits, veggies, and whole grains for natural nourishment on-the-go.
This recipe was shared with us by Wilton; they make those cool mini muffin tins! They also offered some tips, which I’ve modified to fit dairy-free diets, for ensuring that both you and your kids sneak in nutrition whenever possible:
- Pump Up with Probiotics. Keep guts healthy by using dairy-free yogurt as a fruit dip or pick an unsweetened variety to sub for mayo or dairy-free sour cream in dressings or dips. You can even substitute it for eggs or some of the oil in baking recipes to reduce calories and fat.
- Make it fun. Let kids get creative by using cookie cutters on whole grain bread, tortillas, or nutritional bars (mini cutters are great for bite-sized!) to build their own snacks. Or, have them make funny faces using natural peanut butter, raisins and fruit, like sliced bananas, apples or pears.
- Sneak in veggies. Bakers are using veggies more than ever before in new, inspirational baked treats. Many vegetables have a natural sweetness, so your family won’t taste the difference during snack time. Try these butternut banana mini muffins or carrot and zucchini cookies.
Special Diet Notes & Options: Butternut Banana Mini Muffins
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, and vegetarian.
For egg-free, vegan, and plant-based butternut banana mini muffins, you can use 1 egg replacer (such as Ener-G or Bob’s Red Mill) or flax egg. Recipes like these banana mini muffins one are fairly forgiving without eggs, since they get extra binding from the pureed fruit and vegetables.
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (can sub whole wheat pastry flour or white-wheat flour for heartier muffins)
- 1 cup quick oats
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1¼ cups butternut squash puree (can substitute pumpkin)
- ¾ cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)
- 1 egg (see notes in post above for egg-free options)
- 2 tablespoons non-GMO canola oil (or baking oil of your choice)
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease mini muffin pans.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
- In medium bowl, whisk together the squash, sugar, banana, egg and oil. Make a well in center of the flour mixture; whisk in the squash mixture until just combined. Stir in the cranberries.
- Fill the muffin tins ⅔ full with batter. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.
