Delicious banana cinnamon muffins for babies, toddlers and kids! These are entirely fruit sweetened (no sugar) and use a blend of whole wheat and oat flours. Fill your freezer with these healthy mini muffins and you will always have home made snacks for your baby or toddler to hand.
Sooo, snacks are really no joke when you’re a toddler parent. I’d always heard whispers about kids and snacks, but I never truly appreciated how relentless the need to provide endless streams of food would be.
I just can’t seem to keep up. So I confess that Odette eats a lot of pre-packaged snacks. Things like crackers, puree pouches and cereal. While I have a freezer stash to ensure that her meals are generally home made, snacks have always snuck up on me.
<Dramatic pause>
Until now!!!!
I’ve finally got myself together and started making batches of these toddler muffins. Total winner. Odette loves them, they freeze well, they travel well, they’re as healthy as muffins get.
I have a freezer stash so I can pull them our for snacks at home, or pack them in lunch bags for outings (letting them defrost en route).
Sometimes if I have no food in the house I will center her lunch around them, giving her 2 or 3 mini muffins + some slices of cheese + a veggie packed squeeze pouch. She’s happy as can be with a little snack plate.
Why these muffins are perfect for babies & toddlers
100% fruit sweetened. No added sugar, or concentrated sweeteners – all of the sweetness comes from whole and pureed fruit. And yes I know fruit contains sugar, but it also contains the necessary fiber to stop it from giving you a big glucose rush, and you get all the benefits of the fruit alongside it.
A mix of light wholemeal flour and oat flour. Oats are amazing for babies, toddlers and kids! Full of slow release energy, fiber and iron.
So. Much. Cinnamon. And cinnamon is a great spice to get your kids enjoying, because it allows you to flavor all sorts of foods without sugar.
They work well as a finger food breakfast for baby led weaning tots.
They are delicious! So if your tot rejects the muffin, you’ll be happy enough to eat it yourself.
Making these Muffins for baby led weaning
Muffins are a great finger food to try for baby led weaning. They’re soft and can be sucked on and gummed down.
If your baby does better with larger chunks of food that they can grab onto, try baking these muffins in mini loaf tins or square muffin tins and cutting them into strips.
Making these Muffins for toddlers
This are a great base recipe which can accommodate lots of add ins like blueberries, chopped strawberries, or chopped nuts.
If you are happy for your toddler to have a little refined sugar, you could add some chocolate chips, or glaze them with a cream cheese and honey mixture.
… And with toddlers too!
Since this is an easy one bowl recipe, you could even get your older toddler involved with baking their muffins!
How to freeze your baby & toddler muffins
These are safe to freeze for about 6 months and defrost really nicely.
However, they can be prone to freezer burn if you place them in a sandwich bag, especially if you bake in silicone and don’t use paper cases. So if you won’t be using them up really quickly, try stacking them in a tupperware with parchment paper between each layer to keep the freezer burn at bay.
Looking for more oaty breakfast recipes for your baby or toddler? Check out my Banana Coconut Baby Oats!
Healthy Baby & Toddler Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 medium bananas, mashed
- ¼ cup (4 Tbsp) coconut oil or butter
- â…“ cup (80 ml) unsweetened applesauce*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup (110 g) light whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup (70 g) oat flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 175C or 350F.
- In a large mixing bowl, mash your banana. You want a few chunks in there, but it should be mostly smooth.
- Melt your butter or coconut oil in the microwave, and whisk it into the bowl with the mashed banana.
- Add the applesauce, milk and vanilla to the bowl and whisk everything together.
- Add the eggs and whisk until combined.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon and baking soda on top of the liquid mixture and whisk to incorporate.
- Finally add the wheat and oat flour, and stir until just combined.
- Spoon into mini muffin tins lined with cases (or alternatively use silicone muffin molds sprayed with a nonstick oil spray).
- Bake for about 12 minutes, until the muffins are springy and a toothpick comes out clean.
Love these muffins, they were easy to make and snacks are sorted for weeks now!
ikr they are so good and my baby brother loves them and so do i! they are so yummy! 😀
Can you use regular flour instead of whole wheat?
I haven’t tried but you shouldn’t have a problem doing this, add an extra tablespoon of flour though (wheat flour is denser so you need a little less of it).
Hey! I used 1 cup of regular flour and it worked!
That’s great to know, thanks so much for the feedback!
What is light whole wheat flour?
Sometimes white wholemeal flour or light brown flower, it’s just a whole wheat flour that is a little more delicate and fine. You could use normal wholemeal, perhaps mix in some white flour too though to keep things fluffier.
these are great, wondering how long they last out the fridge in tupperware? also if not freezing how best to store them?
Sorry for the delay! I think they’d be good for a few days in the fridge, or in a cake tin?
How long would you bake these muffins if you made regular-sized instead of minis?
Hmmm, maybe try adding 5 minutes and then check on them?
They are fluffy and yummy, not to mention healthy on top of all that. Thanks!
Yay! So glad you liked them. Thanks so much for coming back to let me know 🙂
Made these for my 10month son this morning, with all whole wheat flour (couldn’t find oat flour in our supermarket)…they are soft light and going down a treat with little one. Thanks 🙂
Sooo happy to hear this! Yay!
What could be an substitute for eggs, as i am vegentarian.
Maybe a flax egg? I haven’t tried it before but if you google flax eggs you’ll get lots of tips.
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Tried this with my 11 mo old. He loved it. Thank you for the healthy recipe.
I am so happy your little one enjoyed this! Thank you for your feedback!
Made these today for my kiddos. They were excellent! My 9 year old ate 6 of them when she got home from school! I love trying new healthy muffin recipes. I used 3/4 cup of quick oats instead of oat flour and added a bit of maple syrup for more sweetness. Thank you!
Amazing, so happy to hear this! Thank you very much for coming back to share your experience!
What can I use to replace the whole wheat flour (I ran out!). I have buckwheat flour, almond flour, and oat flour. Also what would be the ratio or do I use it as same amount for the whole wheat?
According to King Arthur Flour buckwheat flour is fairly interchangeable with whole wheat so that may be your best bet! Definitely not almond – that’s super tricky to bake with!
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/guides/baking-with-ancient-grains/buckwheat-flour/
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Will try this today so wish me luck 🙂
As I don’t have oat flour available around would you recommend any replacement?
Thanks x
I am SO sorry for the delay in responding here, another reader recently commented that they used all wholewheat flour because they didn’t have oat. So I’d suggest doing that?
Hello Chef Christine,
I have recently written a video blog on Muffin Recipe for Kids and wanted to know your thought about it.
Please visit>>
https://www.theblueingredientcompany.com/blogs/news/muffin-recipe-for-kids
Regards,
Nikhil Kapoor | Director | Blue Ingredients Private Limited
E: [email protected]
I made these muffins for my 10 month old son and they are pretty darn tasty! I altered the recipe slightly because he is allergic to eggs. Instead, I used 2 tbsp of chia seeds soaked in 4 tbsp of water. I also used all whole wheat flour because I didn’t have oat flour. I think this is going to become a top snack choice for everyone in the family. 😊
YAY! So happy to hear that and great work on making these egg free!
I’ve never baked for my baby so this will be a first! She’s 9 months old; and has only had breastmilk; never cows milk. Is it okay to use cows milk in this recipe for a breast fed baby?
Yes it’s absolutely fine to use cow’s milk as a cooking ingredient as long as it’s just there as a part of their solids diet and not a milk replacement.
Just took these out of the oven and my 15 months old had one and loved it. Kept asking for more 🙂 thanks so much for the recipe! We will be making these again! I used whole wheat flour only and they are still fluffy and yummy!
Where do you recommend storing these? I froze some but should the rest go in the fridge or will in an airtight container in the pantry be fine? Thanks my daughter loves them!
Pantry would be OK if it’s not too hot but I generally use the fridge to extend the shelf life a little more!
Hi im wondering if i can just make my own oat flour with oats? I have everything else on hand
Absolutely, oat flour is just ground oats so you could use a food processor or blender to make them!
Thank you so much! My son loves these! (And so did I :)) I didn’t have whole wheat flour, so did 3/4 cup white and 1/4 cup hemp, chia, and flax seed meal. Also only had one banana, so I increased the applesauce to 2/3 cup and added in a baby food container of mango, pineapple, carrot purée…. so moist!
I want to make these for my son’s birthday in a cake form, but am not sure how that would work out? You mentioned baking these in loaf pans…. did you adjust the time for that?
So sorry for the delay! I’ve never tried making these in full sized loaf pans, my suggestion was those mini loaf pans which make teeny single serving loaves! Muffins don’t always translate well to cakes but you could totally try it with a longer cook time on a lower heat.
I love these and so does my little guy! Considering using this recipe for his 1st bday cake. Do you think it would work in a cake format?
It might, but I wouldn’t be able to advise on cooking times unfortunately because I haven’t tried. You would want to do a test run with a lower oven temp and longer cooking time.
Thanks for the recipe! My muffins came out not very muffin like. Instead of a crumbly muffin texture, they kinda were chewier, reminded me of pancakes. What could I have done wrongly? I didn’t overmix as I was careful about that. Any tips?
It may have been due to the texture of your flour (was it a finely ground wholewheat flour?) but also I think baking without added sugar does tend to yield a chewier muffin – mine don’t generally turn out very crumbly or cakey either.
I just made these for my kids (8 months and 2.5 years) and they loved them. (I also enjoyed them). I didn’t have oat flour but I had oats so I put them in the vitamix for a few minutes and made oat flour. I also used spelt flour instead of whole wheat. One slight issue was that they stick to the muffin paper quite a bit and I’m not sure if this is because of the spelt or the banana. It wasn’t such a problem that would prevent me from making them again though. Maybe someone can suggest something the make them less sticky?
Thanks so much for the feedback! You could try using a silicone muffin tin with no paper instead, and they would just pop out?
Hello! I don’t have applesauce, I should the recipe fine without it? Thanks.
The applesauce is a sweetener and moisture source for the muffins so I wouldn’t leave it out but you could replace it with another pureed fruit! Do you have any other baby food to hand?
Easy, quick and delicious! Mine just went out of oven and I can’t wait to let my baby try them tomorrow! Mom did test and 😉
Mine came out rubbery and tasted horrible, don’t know where I went wrong but followed the recipe
I’m so sorry Eleanor. Overmixing the batter can lead to rubbery muffins, did you use a mixer or did you mix by hand? An electric mixer might be too aggressive for this batter. The fact there’s no refined sugar and we’re using wholewheat and oat flour will always mean the muffins come out less fluffy and cake-like, but it sounds like something else was amiss here on top of that. I am sorry again, I know how limited time is when you have a little one so it’s incredibly frustrating when kitchen projects don’t pan out.
I substituted oat flour for coconut flour because that’s what I had on hand! They turned out great! Very soft and perfect for baby (and me!). What a delicious snack or breakfast idea!
Hi there,
I have just made these with buckwheat flour and a little oat meal as I didn’t have any oat flour.
I’m not sure where I went wrong but the consistency was more bread like and very little flavour or sweetness? Any ideas what I can do to improve?
Hi Val, I am sorry it didn’t work out. I’ve never tried buckwheat flour or oat meal with this recipe so I can’t be sure but I am guessing that is where things went awry. When swapping flours around you don’t always want the same quantities and some flour types would need more sweetener to cut through.
hi there! this may be a silly question but can i substitute oat flour with my baby’s oatmeal cereal? does it need to be further ground down or is it ready to go this way? thank you so much!
Hard to say without knowing the texture and grains included in the baby cereal but if you give it a try, let me know how it turns out! It will be a different texture but could still work out great.
These turned out great! I used olive oil instead of butter and added some shredded carrots for extra veggies. My 9 month old loved them!
If we dont have bananas can we substitute another fruit?
I don’t know of anything else that I could be sure would work here, sorry!
These are so delicious! I added just a few chocolate chips (both white and semi-sweet since I had them on hand) in each muffin and oh my, I ate 3 right away. My toddler loves them too 😉 I didn’t have oat flour on hand so I just used my vitamix to grind up rolled oats, and also used white all purpose flour (1 cup).
Instead of the flour listed, I used some gerber multigrain baby cereal (1 cup) and 3/4 cup all purpose flour and Omg… made these for my 11 month old twins but I’m really struggling to not eat them all myself!! Lol
Great idea, I am so happy to hear that worked out and I hope the twins enjoy them (if they get a chance to… haha!)
Thanks for the muffin recipes. Very informative.