Pumpkin Zucchini Carrot Muffins {no refined sugar, no butter}

If you are in need of a HEALTHY pumpkin muffin with extra veggies, whole wheat, no added sugar and no butter? you have come to the right place!

When Theo became of age…the age of eating accountability–he was about 9 months old. Still no teeth and still nursing like a sucking banshee but he needed something to gum on. (Or actually I needed him to have something to gum on.)

I tried to give him a “puff”. It failed. It failed so badly that his lips turned purple from choking on it. My flight or fight instinct kicked in, I ripped him out of his chair, flipped him over, slapped his back, tipped him upside down and it popped out. Phew. Puff bullet dodged.

We had done bread before, and he would do good with it! However, since plain old bread doesn’t really have many nutrients, I wanted to maximize his bread experience. So, in thinking through my options…I remembered this healthy pumpkin zucchini muffin recipe! I had made it before and I made it with Theo.

And Perfect timing with fall at hand and pumpkin season ever so present:)

I have made these particular pumpkin muffins before for jude when he was little and every so often since.

The upsides/downsides about this recipe is it–

requires a good amount of ingredients

• pumpkin puree
• shredded carrots
• bananas– I like to smash my bananas and them measure them as opposed to counting the number of bananas
• shredded zucchini – don’t forget to really squeeze out the excess water from the zucchini. Place the shredded zucchini in between paper towels and just press down with your palm. Repeat until the majority of the water is out

• whole wheat flour
• oat flour – I make my own by blending oats! You can just use oatmeal if you want…the blended oat flour is to make the texture more smooth
• maple syrup/unsweetened applesauce
• coconut oil – if you have ever used coconut oil, you know that it clumps together when it becomes cold. So, either heat up the maple syrup and coconut oil together and then mi the eggs in slowly, or use room temp eggs. You can also just be fine with a clumpiness.
• cinnamon
• pumpkin pie spice
• eggs
• baking soda
• salt
• vanilla

STEPS:

#1: Shred your veggies– [zucchini and carrots], measure your mashed banana.

#2: Puree 1/2 the veggies/banana until smoothish. The only reason to do this is to make the muffin less grainy. If you don’t want to take this extra step, I’m sure it would be fine and they would still turn out good! Either use your food processor or your blendtec!

#3: Don’t over mix! – This is what makes people have bad muffins

the upsides– This recipe is great because you know your children and you are getting a healthy muffin with vegetables and fruits with no refine sugar and no butter. but —–

the downsides – you have to plan in advance to make these muffins because there are quite a few ingredients. wawa.

Although the prep work and ingredients can be slightly time consuming…its worth it!

The other plus about this recipe is that I didn’t have to drag my Kitchenaide from under the sink. Mixed it in a bowl with my hand. ya. one bowl wonder.

 You’re welcome. A trip down memory lane. No toddler muffin would be complete without being scooped by a toddler. These pictures are from jude when he was just a tiny toddler. In his jammies…at 3 pm.  I mean, if I’m make muffins then something else has to give. In this case, it was changing my toddler out of his pajamas….and cleaning my house. Ok, so a few things have to give if I am to make muffins. Oh well.

….he chewed like the old man from the short pixar film of up. You know, that baby gum chew. 

Like many other things i like to make, these are freezer worthy!!!! so i just pull them out of the freezer and stick them in my bag for on the go. A no fail for sure. Happy fall!!

Print

This is the updated version of my once toddler who is now a larger toddler…yet eating the same muffin. With teeth:)