Mini Banana Nut Muffins

Perfect for little hands, these Banana Nut Muffins are a smaller spinoff of our favorite Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins. They’re packed with both flavor and nutrition, and have nothing in them except fruit, nut butter, oats and chia seeds.

The first time I made these for Ben, I was floored by how many he ate. He shoved them in his mouth so fast, his cheeks looked like they might explode. But when he finally decided to swallow, he smiled so big, I knew I had found a winner. He loves practicing his pincer grasp using pieces of these tasty muffins, and I love that they’re virtually mess-free.

I make a big batch of these Banana Nut Muffins every Sunday evening so I have a bunch on hand during the week, when I want to give him homemade, healthy meals, but don’t have a single second to spare.

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There are three things I love about these Banana Nut Muffins (aside from the fact that they’re ridiculously tasty–I admit, I always sneak a few of them as Ben enjoys his!):

1. They are perfect for little hands. Older babies can enjoy them cut into bite-sized chunks, toddlers and older kids can enjoy a few of them at breakfast or in their lunch boxes.
2. They are completely customizable. Since these are so healthy and so easy to make, I like to make a batch every week. But because I want to be sure Ben is eating a diverse diet, I swap out the apple for blueberries, peaches, strawberries, etc. And sometimes I’ll replace the chia seeds with flax seeds. I’ll also switch between peanut, cashew and almond butter. If your little one has a nut allergy, you can easily sub in sunflower seed butter for the nut butter.

Here’s how to make these Mini Banana Nut Muffins:

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup nut butter of choice (sunflower seed butter is a great replacement for those with nut allergies)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 Tbsp. chia seeds
• 1/2 medium apple, diced finely

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas using the back of a fork. Then stir in the remaining ingredients, mixing until blended.
3. Divide mixture evenly among muffin tin cups.
4. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until slightly firm.