This post was written in paid partnership with Manitoba Egg Farmers. As always, all opinions are our own.
Muffins can almost always be included on your mental list of “foods my baby will eat”. Am I right? Right! We’ve created a few baby muffin recipes in our ebook, Whole Food Recipes for Your Baby, and they’ve been a hit for so many of you. So, we set off in our kitchens to create more recipes that you, your baby, and even your toddler can enjoy.
While we were scheming up the perfect baby banana muffin recipe, we wanted to achieve a few things:
First, to prepare a recipe that was going to be nutrient dense with iron and healthy fats.
Secondly, ensure it was yummy without the use of refined sugar.
Lastly, safety. We wanted this recipe to be safe for a little eater who is starting out at 6 months or even an 8 month old baby who is embarking on their transition to finger foods.
Mama nation…We. Did. It.
Welcome to a baby banana muffin that’s:
- Designed to meet your growing baby’s nutritional needs (nod to our dear friends, iron and fat)
- Crumbly and dissolvable so that it doesn’t gum up in baby’s mouth
- Loved by ALL ages! The adults and children in our families all adore this muffin!
Why bake for baby with fortified infant cereal?
Substituting flour for fortified infant cereal is a great way to boost the iron content of baking recipes for your baby. You’ll notice this is included on our ingredient list. We’re the type of mama-Dietitians that are all over infant cereal. Moreover, we encourage you to use it in fun ways like baking, adding it as a thickener to soups or adding some to baby friendly smoothies (yes, that’s a thing!).
Eggs contain a lot of nutrition
Eggs also help contribute a significant source of iron to this recipe. After multiple attempts and kitchen testing, we agreed that three eggs would be perfect – this allowed us to produce a muffin that not only includes iron but other key nutrients such as:
- Fat: required for your baby’s rapid growth and development
- Protein: important for building and repairing muscles, organs and other body tissues. Protein is also a building block for hormones, enzymes, and antibodies
- Iron: a critical nutrient that helps carry oxygen to all your baby’s cell; between 7 and 12 months, your baby’s iron needs are especially high
- Choline: plays a vital role in cognitive development and processes that help your baby’s body produce and repair DNA
- Vitamin B12: helps to keep the body’s nerve and blood cells healthy
Purchasing eggs means big time local love
If you live where we do, smack in the middle of Canada in a city affectionately known as Winterpeg aka Winnipeg, Manitoba, then it’s soooooo important for you to know this: the eggs you typically purchase at your local grocery store are likely supplied by an egg farmer who isn’t too far away. Eggs found on the shelves in Manitoba are produced in Manitoba. We definitely think that’s special. After all, farmers feed the world!
Eggs are a staple food for many families, and certainly for families with a young baby, eggs are an economical way for you to offer your baby a host of nutrients!
A few more noteworthy considerations about this baby banana muffin
We know…we get excited about our new recipes. But we just can’t help but gush! It was really important for us to create a muffin recipe that was sweet tasting without the addition of refined sugar or other syrups. If you’ve been through our Start Solids Confidently e-course, you’ll know that we discourage these sweets until your kiddo is closer to age two.
So, what’s a mama to do? Rely on naturally sweet fruits and vegetables! In this case, we use the powerful properties of ripe bananas and cinnamon to enhance the sweetness.
Lastly, shredded coconut…make sure you don’t skip out on this ingredient. The coconut not only enhances the fat content of the muffin but it also helps contribute to the exact texture we were after!
Thanks again to Manitoba Egg Farmers for partnering with us to bring you this recipe!
Coconut Baby Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed mashed ripe bananas about 3 bananas
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup white or whole wheat flour
- 1 cup iron fortified infant oat cereal
- ⅓ cup quick cooking oats
- ⅓ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
- Grease mini muffin tin or insert paper cups.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the bananas, oil, eggs, and vanilla with a fork.
- In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, infant cereal, quick oats, coconut, baking soda, and cinnamon. Create a well with these ingredients.
- In the well, add in wet ingredients. Combine everything without over mixing.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full.
- Bake muffins for 20 minutes (for mini muffins, longer for full size muffins), or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Err on the side of over baked as you want to ensure the crumb is crumbly, not gummy, for your baby.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool.
- The muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
52 thoughts on “Coconut Baby Banana Muffins”
Could we use old fashioned oats instead of quick cooking?
Definitely!
Any substitute for canola oil?
Sure! You can use any liquid cooking oil you like: olive oil, avocado, etc. Just don’t use something hard like coconut oil.
Great recipe, thank you! I keep seeing in resources about starting solids that you can give babies muffins but didn’t want to do that with all the added sugar in most.
And these are still quite naturally sweet with the infant cereal and bananas. Love your account, thanks again!!
Awesome! We love these muffins even as adults! Turns out we didn’t need to much added sugar anyhow 🙂
I want to try this but I don’t like using infant cereal. Is that where the iron comes from? Is there a substitute for the infant cereal?
Thanks!
There’s also iron in the eggs but yes, the reason we strategically used infant cereal is for the iron content. It’s like an iron-boosted flour!
My little one is a picky eater, but she loves the muffins. Can I sneak in some green peas, even bits of shredded chicken just to see if I can trick her into eating it?
We caution against trying to “trick” kids into eating foods as that can erode the trust they have in you. But you can be transparent with her and say “hey, today there are peas in your muffins!”
We caution against trying to trick our kids into eating foods they don’t feel safe around yet as that can erode the trust they have in you and further aggravate picky eating. What you can do though is put the peas in the muffins and then say “hey, today there are peas in your muffins!”
Hiii super interested to try this , can I sub canola oil with applesauce?
P.S baby custard and baby pancakes were a biiiiig hit, thanks for the great recipes
Glad your baby is enjoying the recipes! We haven’t tried it ourselves but I think applesauce should work. Let us know how it turns out!
thanks for the recipe. they say babies shouldn’t eat salt upto 1 year. however how baking soda and baking powder is ok to use ? the Google also says both are not recommended for babies. please clarify that for me please. can I omit the baking soda ?
Hi! Salt (more specifically the sodium in salt) is recommended to be limited in babies up to 12 months but their bodies/kidneys can handle a small amount. The little bit of sodium in the baking soda/baking powder is small enough we feel comfortable offering them to babies.
Absolutely love this recipe! Delicious for both adults and children. This is my second time making them.
Woo hoo! We love them at all ages in our families too! Thanks for sharing.
I just made these with my toddler and we all (baby too) enjoyed them, it’s a keeper! the batter was a little bit thick but when baking with my little measurements aren’t always perfect. I added a touch of water to loosen with no ill effect. plus some chopped frozen strawberries, yum.
No doubt – baking with littles can yield some interesting results! haha. The strawberries sound like the perfect addition!
A great muffin for the whole family—and I don’t even like coconut. I used whole wheat flour which left them a little denser tasting; I’ll probably stick with all-purpose next time. My baby gobbled them up and my 6yo had no complaints. I baked regular-sized muffins at 375° at 23 minutes and they were done.
Love your content (and the course). All the recipes have been great.
That’s awesome when a coconut recipe converts even a non-coconut fan! Glad your family enjoys the muffins 🙂
These are our households favorite muffins! I love the fluffy texture the baby infant cereal does to them and the fact they have no sugar. We use melted coconut oil and they come out find. Thanks for an amazing recipe.
So happy to hear your household loves these muffins! That’s interesting that the coconut oil worked for you – we tested it and it hardened before integrating completely. Do you allow your eggs to come to room temperature before using in the recipe?