[Welcome to recipe #1 of Oat Week – Easter Edition! This post is sponsored by my wonderful friends over at Bob’s Red Mill – we’re using their Gluten Free Oat Flour and their Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats for these Banana Bread Carrot Cake Muffins!]
So, I’ve been keeping a secret from you.
I knooow. I’m sorry. Not cool, Alexa. Not cool.
BUT. Does it help that I’ve been dyyyyying to tell you ever since I got word of it actually happening a couple of weeks ago? Like, I’ve wanted to tell pretty much everyone and anyone that would listen. So, today is big.
I’m working for Jessica from How Sweet It Is!
Gahhhh I KNOWWW. It doesn’t even seem real!
I reached out to her back in the fall of last year, and we met up at a restaurant here in Pittsburgh to chat about this awesome little corner of the internet that we call food blogging. She was actually the one who invited me to one of the best nights of my life. She has been an incredible resource for recipe, photography, and blogging inspiration, and I am completely honored that I get to call her my boss!
I still have my full-time job, but right now I’m helping with the How Sweet It Is social media! And…
I’m alsooooo helping her with a mini-BRUNCHSHOP at DeLallo Foods on April 16!! It’ll be a morning full of food photography, entrepreneurial tips, and eating delicious food, so, needless to say, I’m super excited! Be sure to grab the details and sign up over on How Sweet It Is today (but hurry, spots are limited!).
PHEW. Now that that knowledge-bomb has been dropped, let’s dive into this flavor bomb right here: Banana Bread Carrot Cake Muffins.
Are mashups still cool? I know they were all-the-rage when Glee was a thing, but is it still something that people do?
Related: is saying “all-the-rage” still cool?
If mashups aren’t cool anymore, they SHOULD be. Because we’re mashing up the king and queen of fruit and veggie-stuffed baked goods: banana bread and carrot cake.
I modeled this recipe after my Banana Nut Muffins, which are super-crazy moist, totally flavorful, and full of healthy ingredients like almond flour, nut butter, coconut oil, and oat flour! The only real difference is that we’re adding some nutmeg and carrots! I used my microplane grater to grate the carrots (I ended up with a beautiful orange carrot…mush), and I threw the grated carrot into a towel and wrung it out to remove some of the excess water. It still adds some carrot flavor without overpowering the banana or weighing down the muffins with extra liquid!
And if that wasn’t enough, we’re topping it with STREUSEL! (<– I can’t spell that word for the life of me) Making streusel is as easy as mixing wet and dry ingredients together, and it probably is my favorite part of these muffins. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour and Old Fashioned Rolled Oats in my streusel today, which made it unbelievably light, nutty in flavor, and totally addictive. The streusel added such a fun texture to these muffins, so while you could totally skip it, I highly encourage you dooooo eeeet.
These muffins aren’t overly sweet, so I prefer them with a nice drizzle of maple syrup – it really rounds out all of these warm and comforting flavors! Ahh and could you imagine serving them up at your Easter Brunch?! Seriously, the beeest.
PrintBanana Bread Carrot Cake Muffins
- Yield: 5 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup + 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour, divided
- 3 Tbsp. coconut flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. + 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- ~1/2 cup milk of choice (see instructions)
- 4 Tbsp. coconut oil, divided
- 1 Tbsp. nut butter
- ¼ cup mashed ripe banana (~1/2 of a large banana)
- splash vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup, divided
- 1/4 cup freshly grated carrot (not packed)*
- 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray/grease a muffin tin and set aside.
- Add almond flour, 1/4 cup oat flour, coconut flour, baking powder, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and salt to a large bowl and whisk to combine. Be sure to whisk out any large clumps of flour.
- Add apple cider vinegar to a 1/2 cup measure. Fill the rest of the measure up with milk. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, or until it starts to curdle. This is your homemade buttermilk.
- Add 2 Tbsp. coconut oil to a small microwave-safe bowl, and melt in the microwave. Add almond butter, banana, vanilla, and maple syrup and mix well to combine. Add “buttermilk,” and mix well to combine.
- Place carrot into a towel and wring to remove excess liquid. Save liquid for smoothies or drinking, and add carrots to your liquid ingredients.
- Make your streusel: Melt remaining 2 Tbsp. coconut oil in a small bowl. Add 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and mix to combine. Add 1/2 cup oat flour and oats, and mix until crumbles form. Break up the big crumbles with your fingers.
- Add liquids to your dry ingredients and mix well until combined. The batter will be thick and fluffy.
- Fill muffin cups all the way to the top. Top with streusel, and gently press to make sure it sticks. You’ll probably have some leftover, but it’s a yummy snack!
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees F. WITHOUT OPENING THE OVEN DOOR, lower the oven temperature to 375, and bake for an additional 9-10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. This method gives these muffins optimum rising power.
- Remove from oven and allow to sit in the muffin tin for 10 minutes. Remove muffins and place on a cooling rack to continue cooling.
- Enjoy slathered with nut butter or drizzled with maple syrup.
Notes
*I used my microplane grater, so I had carrot mush instead of carrot strands. But I’m thinking it’ll still work if you have strands.
A very special thank you goes to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post and for supplying me with some of their delicious products that I love for this recipe! All opinions are my own.
Affiliate links were used in this blog post. “Affiliate” is just a fancy way of saying that I get some money if you click on and purchase the products that are linked! The money I earn will go directly back into Fooduzzi, so I’d really appreciate you helping me “feed” my blogging efforts!!
THAT IS AMAZING!! That’s seriously so cool, I was just swooning over that Brunch-shop.
These muffins are just as amazing as well <3 banana bread, carrot cake, AND a streusel topping. too much greatness for my brain to handle.
Thank you so very much, Leah!! I’m so freakin’ excited! And I hope you get a chance to try that streusel!
Totally signing up for that workshop today aaaanad I feel like we should get coffee sometime? Like, we might even be neighbors?!
EEP! I can’t wait to be at the workshop with ya ;)
CONGRATULATIONS ALEXA!! That is phenomenal! :) I wish I could go to the workshop, but I’m so excited to see the rest of the recipes for this week, aka best week EVERRRR. Have a beautiful day girly! <3
Thank you, Marina! You’re totally right – oat week is the best week ever <3
Jessica rocks! How fun!!!!
And these muffins rock too!!! Everything you could ever want!
I totally, agree! I’m super excited!! Thank you so much, Rebecca :)
Congrats on your new job! It sounds super fun :) I love this mash-up of banana bread and carrot cake- two of my favourite baked goods!
Thank you so much, Mel!! I totally agree – banana bread and carrot cake are the BEST!
Congrats on your job! I love How Sweet it is! I think every muffin deserves a streusel topping (you are right that word is hard to spell.)
I love How Sweet It Is, too! Thank you so much, Megan :) And I totally agree – is a muffin even worth it if it doesn’t come topped with streusel?
I’m so happy for you I want to cry. You stinking rock, lady, and you deserve all these awesome things that are happening to you! Go get ’em, tiger. Wish I could come to the workshop, sounds like it’ll be a blast!!!
Aw, Lucia! You’re so so sweet <3 Thank you very much, chia :)
First of all, THIS IS SO EXCITING!!! Congrats girl– you seriously deserve this incredible job! I wish I could be there to go to this workshop— it sounds like SO much fun!! Eeeeee! Secondly, these muffins. Oh my goodness they look AMAZING! Can’t wait to try them!!
Thank you so much, Liz!! Your support is so appreciate :) And I hope you get a chance to try these muffins soon!
OH MY GOSH, CONGRATULATIONS!! This is HUGE!! I’m so excited for you, and hope you can give us lots of updates :)
PS this recipe looks BOMB. Love that drizzle shot!
Ahh, thank you so much, Jess!! You know the updates will be coming ;)
Congrats! That’s super exciting! and Oh my gosh, these muffins are literally the BEST things ever!
Thank you so much, Rachel!! These muffins are pretty delish ;)
What fun news!! Can’t wait to see what you two make together!
Thank you so very much, Dani!! :)
Yay! Congrats on the new gig! Doing big things over here! And these muffins look delicious as usual!
Thank you thank you thank you, Kerri!! I hope you get a chance to try the muffins!
CONGRATS!!! That is WAY exciting!! I’ve been following her blog for years which is how I found your blog (which I L-O-V-E)!!! That crumb topping looks LEGIT! Love it! :)
OMG me, too! Thank you so much, Laura :)
Congratulations! I can only imagine how excited you are! I’m also in the Pittsburgh area and just went to sign up for the workshop but sadly, it’s sold out. Womp womp :( Next time.
Ahh next time for sure! I’m definitely going to have a blog post all about it after the fact, so stay tuned!
These look awesome! I love the combination of banana and carrot cake!
Thank you so much, Shannon! I love the combo, too!
First, OMG ALEXA that is so awesome!!! I can only imagine how excited you must be. Second, these muffins are bomb. How did you know streusel is my weakness???
Ahh I’m SO excited, Emilie! Thank you :) And I only knew it was your weakness because it’s MY weakness, too ;)
So so so so soso freaking amazing. So happy for you. I cannot wait to hear all about your food blogging adventures <3 YOU ROCK!!
Thank you so much for your support, Christina! You are wonderful <3
Can you say awesome?! I already said it on Facebook but twice is better than once: Congratulations, Alexa!!! This is huge.
And it’s funny about the streusel: for once a word that’s super easy to spell and pronounce for me – because I’m German :). Just don’t ask me about certain English words …
You are so very sweet – thank you so much!
And you totally rocked my streusel-lovin’ world with this comment – I took 5 years of German in high school, so streusel is 1000% easier to spell now that you made that connection in my head for me. haha thank you!
Hi there. I’m wondering if I can make this recipe worth normal wheat or whole wheat flour?
Hi, Hannah! Unfortunately, GF baking is finicky, so changing up recipes with different flours 1:1 doesn’t work very well. Kate, from Cookie and Kate, has some Healthy Banana Muffins made with whole wheat flour that you could probably add some shredded carrots, cinnamon, and nutmeg to!: http://cookieandkate.com/2015/healthy-banana-muffins-recipe/ Let me know if that works out for you!
Banana bread AND carrot cake in a muffin…I may have died and gone to heaven YUM!
Ahh the BEST. Thank you so much, Diana! I hope you can give these a try soon :)
Ahhh! That is some seriously awesome news! I am sooo excited for you right now. Also, very excited for these muffins! I haven’t had very good luck with muffins lately so I am very much looking forward to these!
Aw thank you so much, Rebecca! I hope you enjoy these muffins! :)
Alexa congrats that is so amazing! I wish I were still going to be in PA that weekend, I would freaking love to come!! So so excited for you. Love Jessica and How Sweet Eats. I may have to pick your brain one of these days… details to follow. I have a secret too *speak no evil monkey*
Thank you so much, Ashley! Can’t wait to see what you’re up to ;) Email me any time!
Alexa this looks so good. Happily pinned for menu planning.
Thank you so much, Jill! I appreciate the pin :)
I love your Web site fooduzzi. I can’t wait to make your Banana Bread Carrot Cake Muffins..