These Healthy Banana Carrot muffins are a delicious way to eat some fruits and vegetables! These super easy to make muffins are gluten free, vegan, paleo and AIP compliant.
This recipe is also coconut free and cassava free to be the most allergy friendly as possible. It can also be made with no added sugar: just follow the instructions for that!
These Healthy Banana Carrot Muffins are quick and easy to make. They make a perfect breakfast, snack or dessert that everybody will love!
Notes about the ingredients
Tigernut flour (or almond flour if you are not on AIP)
If you don't know what is tigernut flour and want to learn all about it, you can read The complete guide to tigernut flour.
If you are on AIP and still in the elimination phase, you have to use tigernut flour (because almond flour is not AIP compliant).
Those who are not on AIP nor allergic to nuts can use almond flour instead of tigernut flour.
Are there any AIP compliant substitutions?
Unfortunately there are no possible substitution for the tigernut flour if you are on AIP and still in the elimination phase. Why? Because all the other AIP compliant flours have very different texture and they all need their own amount of liquid. So it is not possible to replace the tigernut flour with another flour without altering the entire recipe.
Nut allergy?
Good news if you have a nut allergy and need a nut-free version, you can make these muffins with tigernut flour. Because tigernut is not a nut! Again, if you want to know more about tigernuts you can read The complete guide to tigernut flour.
Bananas
In this recipe, you can use bananas at any stage of ripeness (from yellow to black). I mostly use ripe bananas with many black spots but I've also made these muffins with bananas that were just beginning to get spotty.
Keep in mind that the more ripe the banana, the sweeter it is and the stronger taste it has. You can also use frozen bananas, fully thaw them first before using them.
Grated carrots
I recommend grating the carrots yourself rather than using pre-shredded carrots. There's nothing better than freshly grated carrots.
I use the fine shred on my food processor to have thin grated carrots.
Arrowroot
Arrowroot is a starch. If you are not cassava intolerant, you can substitute it with tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour). Both arrowroot and tapioca starch are paleo and AIP compliant.
Other possible substitutions, only if you are not on AIP nor Paleo diets: you can use potato starch or corn starch instead of arrowroot.
How to make these muffins
- Peel the bananas, break them into pieces and place them in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Add the maple syrup, olive oil, lemon juice (or ACV) and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. If you want, you can also use a small blender to do this.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, arrowroot, baking soda and cinnamon). Stir.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until well combined.
- Add the grated carrots and stir again.
- Line or lightly oil a muffin pan. Fill each muffin cup with batter, you should get about 8-9 muffins depending on your pan.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes.
Can I make no sugar muffins?
Yes! If you want to make no sugar banana carrot muffins, replace the maple syrup with same quantity of oil or coconut milk.
Also note that the riper the bananas, the sweeter they are. So if you need to watch your sugar intake, even when the sugar comes from fruits, you should use bananas that are not overripe.
Can I make a loaf instead of muffins?
Yes! If you don't have a muffin pan or simply don't feel like having muffins, you can make this as a loaf instead of muffins.
Use a rectangular 4x8 inches (10 x 20 cm) baking tin to make a banana and carrot bread. And cook it for about 35 minutes.
Can I freeze these muffins?
Yes! They freeze extremely well. Which is so convenient!! So nice to have a delicious snack or dessert that is ready to be eaten in the freezer (well, it just needs to be thawed).
About thawing one of these delicious muffins: you can either take it out of the freezer a few hours ahead or pop it in the microwave oven (if you still have one, like me, and yes I know that they are very controversial health wise but nobody's perfect lol) for 1 minute or pop it in the oven for a few minutes.
Other tigernut/almond flour recipes you might also like
- Coconut free Banana bread (AIP, paleo, vegan)
- Paleo pumpkin muffins (gluten free, AIP, vegan)
- Carob zucchini bread (Coconut free, AIP, paleo)
- Fudgy brownies (Coconut free, AIP, paleo, vegan)
- Banana blueberry muffins (Coconut free, AIP, paleo)
- Zucchini and pesto muffins (AIP, paleo, vegan)
- Zucchini and tuna bread (Coconut free, AIP, paleo)
Healthy Banana Carrot Muffins (gluten free, vegan, paleo, AIP)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 240 grams mashed ripe banana (about 2 large bananas)
- 150 grams grated carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
- 150 grams tigernut flour (or almond flour if you are not on AIP nor nut free)
- 50 grams arrowroot or tapioca starch (see notes below for other substitution options)
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup (see notes below to make no sugar muffins)
- 60 millilitres extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 360° F (180° C)
- Peel the bananas, break them into pieces and place them in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Add the maple syrup, olive oil, lemon juice (or ACV) and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. If you want, you can use a small blender for this step.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, arrowroot, baking soda and cinnamon). Stir.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spoon until well combined. Add the grated carrots and stir again.
- Line or lightly oil a muffin pan. Fill each muffin cup with batter, you should get about 8-9 muffins depending on your pan.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes. To make sure that they are cooked, insert a thin bladed knife into the centre of one of the muffins. The knife should come out clean. Wait for the muffins to cool down before removing from the pan. And voilà!Bon appétit !
Notes
- Although I spend quite a lot of time converting all my recipes to cups (yes, manually, in my kitchen!) I highly recommend using a scale and measuring for weight rather than using cups. The reason for this is, apart from the whole debate on accuracy, the density of certain gluten free flours and starches differ a lot from one brand to another. Also keep in mind that all cups are not the same size all around the world which makes another good reason to use a scale so you won’t get this issue.
- Arrowroot substitutions: If you are not on AIP nor Paleo diets you can use potato starch or corn starch instead of arrowroot.
- No sugar muffins: If you want to omit the maple syrup you can replace it with the same amount of oil or coconut milk.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is calculated using a nutrition facts calculator. It is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
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