VT Mamateurs

A couple of weeks ago, as I was searching for healthy lunchbox options, I came across these “toddler muffins” on Allrecipes.com:

photo credit: AllRecipes.com

Benny is pretty good about eating his veggies, but if I can squeeze in a few extra bites of carrots and squash, I figured it was worth a shot, if only to change up the meal regiment a bit. So, last weekend I whipped up a batch of these badboys, and let me tell you- the little guy LOVES them. They definitely earned a stamp of approval from the munchkin…and the hubs Another bonus: most of the ingredients for these you probably already have in your kitchen.

Always “sharing”

Again, I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com (right here), but if you are not one for clicking over, I’ll reiterate it for you:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar, or to taste
• 2 large bananas, mashed (I used 2.5, and mine we deliciously moist)
• 1 (4.5) oz. jar of squash baby food
• 2 carrots, grated (I used 3)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of oat bran (I didn’t have this on hand, so I used oatmeal)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

The How-To:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pan- 12 standard, or 24 mini-muffin
• In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth
• Mix in the mashed ‘nanas, squash, carrots, and eggs
• Stir in the flour, oat bran/oatmeal, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt until just combined
• Pour evenly until muffin pan
• Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean
• Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack

These little love muffins can be stored at room temp for a couple days, or frozen for a hectic-scrambling-to-get-out-the-door day

Enjoy!

-J

For anyone who tries this out; let us know if your kiddos love ‘em too! Could they tell they are eating veggies?

**UPDATE: I made these again recently and substituted the squash for applesauce (didn’t have any squash on hand ) and threw in a hearty handful of raisins….they were DE-LI-CIOUS!!**