Free from the Top 10 Major Allergens, these mini school safe banana muffins contain some hidden carrots which make them the perfect healthy snack for school lunchboxes. Bake up the batch on a Sunday and you’ll have enough to last the whole week. Gluten, dairy, egg, soy and nut free, vegan and take less than 25 minutes from prep to plate.
Why I Made This Recipe
As a busy parent, I am always looking for quick and simple treats that I can make in advance to add to our kids lunch throughout the week. Yay for batch baking and easy ingredients. These muffins will stay perfectly moist all week and they are definitely a favourite with our kids.
Why You Should Make These
If you’re looking for a delicious allergy free snack to add to your kids lunchboxes, this is the recipe for you. These mini banana muffins have hidden carrots and are free from the Top 10 Major Allergens listed by Health Canada which also makes them school safe in Canada. As always, please check your local school board to confirm whether homebaked goods can be sent in with your child.
Ingredients and Substitutions
This is a dairy, gluten, tree nut, soy, and egg free recipe. For ingredient recommendations, continue reading below and check out my FAQ for more recipe suggestions.
Dry Ingredients
Flour: I am using gluten free flour in the banana bread to ensure that it is allergy safe for those who are gluten intolerant. If you are not gluten free, substitute with all purpose flour.
Brown Sugar: I adore the caramel undertone that brown sugar adds to muffins. If you don’t have brown sugar, you could sub with golden or white sugar. You can also substitute with coconut sugar. I like to sprinkle extra sugar on top of the muffins to add an extra crunch.
Baking Powder and Salt: Baking powder helps the bread rise. Remember that baking powder adds PUFF to a recipe which is exactly what we want here. Salt is added to enhance the flavours.
Wet ingredients
Bananas: we like to leave our bananas to ripen until the skins are fully brown. This creates a sweeter taste. Bananas are a wonderful binding agent and if you like even more chunks in your bread, throw in an extra banana.
Apple Sauce: this adds moisture and also replaces egg in our recipe. If you prefer to use egg instead of apple sauce, sub with 2 eggs if you are not vegan.
Plant Based Butter: I use room temperature unsalted butter. You can sub with dairy butter if you prefer.
Plant Based Milk: my go-to milk in all of my baked goods is almond milk, as it adds extra creaminess. Feel free to sub with whichever milk you prefer, plant based or dairy. The milk is needed for additional moisture. You can sub with water if you do not have milk available.
Carrots: our hidden veggie adds moisture and little pops of colour to the muffins. I bet your kids won’t even notice! Win win.
How to Make Banana Muffins
Preheat oven to 350°F and gather all equipment and ingredients. Allow the butter and milk to come to room temperature before starting the recipe. Grate a small carrot, using the smallest grater holes. Pat the grated carrot dry with kitchen paper if the carrot seems excessively wet.
To Make the Batter
Add two bananas to the mixing bowl and beat lightly with the hand mixer until softened. We like to allow our bananas to ripen until they are just starting to darken so that they will be nice and soft. Extra sweet as well.
Add 100g apple sauce, 75g room temperature butter and 60ml milk to the bowl. Mix to combine.
Add 240g gluten free flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 0.5 tsp salt and 140g brown sugar and mix to combine.
Add grated carrot and stir in to the batter.
Let’s Bake
Add the mini cupcake cases to the cupcake pan then add scoops of batter, using an ice cream scoop (less messy). Here’s a link to the scoop in my Amazon Storefront. I honestly wouldn’t bake muffins without it!
Sprinkle additional brown sugar on top, if desired.
Bake at 350°F for 16-18 minutes until well risen and lightly golden. The banana muffins will feel slightly firm on top with a slight spring to them.
Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Allergen Free School Safe Banana Muffins
Let’s have a close up look at one of these mini morsels of yumminess. You can just see some of the carrot peeking through but honestly, even if you have picky eaters, I doubt they’d notice.
Common Questions
Absolutely! This recipe bakes 12 large muffins. Increase baking time to 20-25 minutes.
Once completely cool, store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Definitely. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months and allow to defrost at room temperature before eating.
Yes. I have made this recipe with all purpose flour and it turns out wonderfully. You can do a straight substitute and use 240grams of all purpose flour.
Other Flavour Suggestions
This is a very versatile recipe and you can play around with the add-ins to create your own flavour combinations. I’ll often add dried fruit and even chocolate chips for an extra special treat.
And as this recipe is so easy to make, why not get your kids involved in the process. Ours love to help weigh out the ingredients and sneaking a few chocolate chips when we add them! I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as we do. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Looking for More Small Treats?
Check out my other school safe and mini treat snacks below:
- My allergy friendly granola bars are a great snack to have on hand
- How about some mini chocolate donuts for an mid week treat (vegan)
- Kids will love these allergy safe rice krispie treats (dairy free)
Allergen Free School Safe Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 Banana
- 100 grams Apple Sauce
- 75 grams Plant Based Butter (unsalted)
- 60 ml Plant Based Milk
- 240 grams Gluten Free Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 0.5 tsp Salt
- 140 grams Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Grated Carrot (small carrot)
- Additional brown sugar for topping
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and gather all equipment and ingredients. Allow the butter and milk to come to room temperature before starting the recipe.
- Grate a small carrot, using the smallest grater holes. Pat the grated carrot dry with kitchen paper if the carrot seems excessively wet.
To Make the Batter:
- Add two bananas to the mixing bowl and beat lightly with the hand mixer until softened.
- Add 100g apple sauce, 75g room temperature butter and 60ml milk. Mix to combine.
- Add 240g gluten free flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 0.5 tsp salt and 140g brown sugar and mix to combine.
- Add grated carrot and stir in to the batter.
Let's Bake:
- Add the mini cupcake cases to the cupcake pan then add scoops of batter, using an ice cream scoop (less messy).
- Sprinkle additional brown sugar on top, if desired.
- Bake at 350°F for 16-18 minutes until well risen and lightly golden. The banana muffins will feel slightly firm on top with a slight spring to them.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
- For accuracy, I always weigh my ingredients rather than use cup measurements. This ensures that my bakes turn out exactly the same every time.
- Prefer muffins? This recipe bakes 12 large muffins. Increase baking time to 20-25 minutes.
- Once completely cool, store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
- Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months and allow to defrost at room temperature before eating.
- Check out the full recipe post to adapt the ingredients for your own dietary requirements.
- Nutrition information is based on 1 muffin per serving with approximately 36 servings per recipe. Please note that nutrition information is calculated based on the ingredients in this recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
Hi, I love the taste and all the fabulous ingredients. However, they are mushy inside. I measured all the ingredients and add 10 min to the recommended time to bake. Still the inside is mushy.
Please, any suggestions. I really want to bake them right.🙏
Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that they didn’t turn our correctly for you. I bake this recipe regularly for my kids lunch treat and have never experienced that. Are you drying the grated carrot? The ratio of dry to wet ingredients shouldn’t cause a mushy texture so I’m wondering if its either the carrots or one of your measurements was slightly off. Do let me know if you try the recipe again.