This toddler muffins recipe makes fluffy, perfectly moist muffins. They’re full of carrots and zucchini, and sweetened with flavors of cinnamon, maple syrup and vanilla. These mini muffins are sure to become a favorite of both kids and adults!
Looking for a toddler muffin recipe packed with wholesome ingredients? Check out this recipe for a gluten-free muffin all ages will love.
These mini muffins are a treat for toddlers, but they are an ideal choice for adults as well. Homemade muffins are great as a quick breakfast choice on busy mornings. In the afternoon, they make a convenient and nutritious snack for those on a gluten-free diet.
Kids love toddler muffins because their size makes them perfect for little hands to hold. Their light sweetness will make children forget they’re eating vegetables.
Meanwhile, adults won’t be able to stop reaching for veggie muffins.
While carrots and zucchini have a natural sweetness, there’s also an extra shot of flavor from cinnamon, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Who can resist?
Needless to say, you’ll definitely want to make a double batch!
Ingredients in Mini Carrot Zucchini Muffins
A quick glance at the ingredient list will give you an idea of how delicious these healthy muffins are.
Aside from gluten-free flour and nutritious vegetables, there is also a fantastic balance of flavor! The end result is a delicious recipe that’s always an allergy-friendly hit.
- Ground cinnamon: Cinnamon adds a layer of delicious, comforting spice that’s reminiscent of your favorite carrot cake of zucchini bread.
- Coconut oil: Coconut oil adds healthy fats and brings moisture to these muffins.
- Maple syrup: No need for refined sugar in these muffins—maple syrup brings the perfect sweetness and depth of flavor.
- Egg: Egg acts as a binder and adds protein to these muffins.
- Vanilla extract: Every muffin recipe is made better with a bit of vanilla extract!
- Carrots: Even if your toddler doesn’t like to eat raw or cooked carrots, they’ll love these muffins—and won’t even know they’re there! Carrots add potassium, antioxidants, and beta-carotene to a toddler diet.
- Zucchini: Zucchini adds moisture and nutrients like vitamin A, manganese, and vitamin C.
- Almond flour: Almond flour is a gluten-free flour alternative that makes for delicious toddler muffins!
- Gluten-free 1:1 baking flour: Choose a high-quality 1:1 baking flour for this recipe, or use brown rice flour instead.
- Salt: Salt enhances the flavor of the muffins and actually makes them taste sweeter!
- Baking powder and baking soda: Both baking powder and baking soda help these muffins to rise and have a light, tender crumb.
How to Make Toddler Muffins
- Mix together the almond flour, brown rice flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- Combine together (in a separate bowl) the coconut oil, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract, stirring until completely mixed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Then stir in the shredded vegetables.
- Fill the muffins cups ¾ of the way full and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Storage Instructions
If you store them in an airtight container, the mini muffins will stay fresh up to two days at room temperature. Or, store them in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you want the muffins to last longer than a week, I recommend freezing them.
How Do You Freeze Muffins?
This is a great recipe to make ahead in large batches and freeze. This way, you can thaw a lot of muffins at one time, and have them ready for breakfast or as a handy snack.
To freeze the muffins:
- Prepare the batter and bake the muffins as instructed.
- Transfer the muffins to a rack and allow them to cool completely.
- Place the muffins in a single layer on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet into the freezer.
- Freeze for one to two hours, or until the muffins are solidly frozen.
- Transfer the muffins into a freezer bag. When closing the bag, be sure to remove as much air as possible. Store in the freezer for up to two months.
FAQs
Most babies can start eating muffins around 6 months old. At this stage, they should be able to pick up small pieces of the muffin and feed themselves. These muffins are packed with healthy ingredients like carrots and zucchini, making them a nutritious snack!
There are many quick, easy, and healthy things you can bake for a toddler—including these carrot zucchini toddler muffins, which are sweetened with natural sugars! My kids also love banana bread, zucchini bread, oatmeal breakfast cookies, baked oatmeal, and homemade granola bars.
Yes! Bran muffins are packed with fiber and can be a great snack option for toddlers—especially for picky eaters who may not be getting fiber from vegetables.
English muffins are usually a safe snack for a one-year-old. Depending on how many teeth they have, they can either suck on the muffin or use their pincer grasp to pick up small pieces of the muffin off of a tray.
These carrot zucchini muffins make a great breakfast for a 12-month-old. Some other healthy options include whole grain pancakes or waffles, oatmeal, eggs, or yogurt with berries.
Though toddlers should be eating a wide variety of nutritious foods, there are still certain foods they should avoid. Whole grapes, hot dogs, large pieces of meat, and cough drops can present choking hazard and should be avoided (or cut into small pieces). Hard foods like nuts, popcorn, chips, and seeds can also present a choking hazard.
By two years old, a toddler should be eating at least three nutritious meals per day, as well as a couple snacks. These foods can be the same as the adults—with modifications like cutting into bite-size pieces or limiting spices. Toddler muffins are a great way to pack in some nutrients and take on-the-go!
Expert Tips & Tricks
- I like to use mini muffin pans to make these muffins. It makes the perfect healthy muffin bites for babies and toddlers, and clean-up is a breeze! Alternatively, you could make larger muffins for adults.
- If you only have zucchini or only have carrots, you can just double the amount of one vegetable. You could also try making these healthy toddler muffins with yellow squash.
- Add chocolate chips to these muffins for an extra delicious treat!
- No need to use muffin liners, if you don’t have them. Just spray the muffin pan and they’ll come out of the pan easily.
Other Muffin Recipes to Try
With the recipe for the best toddler muffins under your belt, you may want to bake more muffins for a healthy snack!
For an easy, perfect breakfast choice, I definitely recommend my easy Coconut Flour Banana Muffins or my Buckwheat Muffins. And if you’re craving something a bit more sweet and decadent, how about a Chocolate Almond Butter Muffin?
I hope you love these family favorite muffins as much as we do! If you try these muffins, be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
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Toddler Muffins {with Carrots and Zucchini}
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup gluten-free 1:1 baking flour, or brown rice flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup grated carrots, from 1 medium peeled carrot
- ½ cup grated zucchini, from 1 medium unpeeled zucchini
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a mini muffin pan with liners or oil lightly with coconut oil. I like to use a mini silicone muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, brown rice flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract. Pulse until thoroughly combined. Add the dry ingredients and pulse until well incorporated. Stir in the shredded vegetables with a wooden spoon.
- Fill the muffins cups ¾ of the way full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Recipe originally published in August 2013. Updated in February 2020.
Alex says
These are a godsend. My toddler will not eat a single vegetable, but she loves these! They’ve become a staple in our house. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Curious though, has anyone added pureed raw spinach to this? I have another recipe I use to make spinach muffins, but she prefers the flavor of these so if there’s some way I could combine them…
For anyone else curious, I use all almond flour, honey instead of maple syrup, and add a mashed banana and they come out perfectly.
JESSICA SUSSEX says
These are the best carrot/zucchini muffins I’ve ever made or tasted!! All healthy ingredients and they taste like a cupcake, no joke! Love these and making a ton of them.
Erin Collins says
I’m so glad you like them! 🙂
Ashley says
Newbie here, when recipe calls for 1/4 cup coconut oil..is that in the solid form or liquid form? thanks
Erin Collins says
If it is rock hard solid – melt it a little. It just needs to be softened or melted!
Robin Renée says
These are so great!! Sneakin’ those veggies in for kiddos too! I used all almond flour and subbed 1/4 cup of applesauce for the 1/3 cup of coconut oil. We are also primarily plant-based so next time I will try to sub the egg with Bob Red’s Mill egg replacement, banana, or ground flax. Thanks so much for this recipe inspiration!
alana says
do you wring out liquid from zucchini and carrot before adding to batter?
Breann says
Delicious! The two toddlers I watch love them. I did use regular flour (1 1/4c) instead as it’s what we have on hand. They are a little dry but I don’t mind. Will definitely make them again.
Amanda says
Delish! The flavor is spot on! I did not have brown rice flour on hand so I used all almond flour and added an additional egg as suggested. The muffins were a little “slack” but to be fair I did not follow the recipe exactly. I’ll have to experiment next time but I will be adding this recipe to my repertoire for sure. Yum!
Cassandra says
This recipe is delicious. I used flax egg in place of egg. I used ALL oat flour and agave syrup instead of maple. It came out perfect. I made them twice in two days because my family gobbled them up.
Virginia A Dickinson says
I really want to try these but dislike maple. Do you think Honey or Applesauce could replace it and which would work better. I like the idea of applesauce.
Kate says
These are seriously the BEST!! They taste more like carrot cake to me than healthy, gluten/dairy-free muffins for my LO! I give them to him, and then eat one myself. I’ve passed this recipe on to 3 family members in just 24 hours. Will keep for years to come!!!!
Janelle says
These muffins are AMAZING! I just made them and they are heavenly. Thanks for the recipe.
Sunita says
Hi Erin,
What are the nutrition facts. Carb, protein content in your muffins? I am diabetic and need to count carbs etc. Would be really helpful too.
Thanks!
Maddi says
These are my kids favorite! I love sneaking in extra veggies.
Kristie says
Are there baking instructions using this same recipe but for standard size muffins (12)??? Baking temp and duration? I don’t want to have to buy mini muffin pan just to try this recipe
Erin Collins says
Great question! I would add 5 minutes to the bake time then check the muffins for standard size. They probably need a few more minutes than mini muffins.
Rebecca says
Made these muffins tonight and they were delicious!! I know my 11 month old with gobble them up. How do you recommend storing them (Fridge/counter)? Also have you ever tried freezing them?
Tanitra Scorza says
So good!! My only regret is that I didn’t triple the recipe.
Nathan Collins says
They go fast at my house too! 😉