Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins are the perfect whole-grain muffin with Greek yogurt, hidden veggies and a DHA milk based beverage-Enfagrow Toddler! Totally kid-friendly and they make the perfect breakfast or snack.

I received product and compensation from Mead Johnson Nutrition to create this post written by All experiences and opinions expressed in this post are my own and not those of Mead Johnson Nutrition. You can contact Mead Johnson Nutrition with product related questions or comments toll free at 1-800-BABY-123 (1-800-222-9123).

Right around the time that Oliver turned one, he was seeming to become a pickier eater. He has always been a huge fan of carbs but was starting to leave his veggies and fruits behind. Well, in our household, we eat our produce, so this was not going to fly! We are in the process of working on getting Oliver to eat more vegetables. When they are mixed into baked goods it seems to go really well. I made these Peanut Butter Banana Muffins for my kids and they went crazy for them.

One day after nap, I gave Oliver a mini muffin to try. He ate the whole thing and immediately signed for more. I gave him another with peanut butter drizzled on top. He ate that muffin plus one more. Little did he know that these muffins were whole-grain and loaded with shredded zucchini, carrots, peanut butter, bananas and Greek yogurt. I feel great as a mom giving these to him and he enjoyed them a ton. My three-year-old also loved them.

These muffins are quick to bake and make quite a bit. This recipe made 24 mini muffins and 6 regular sized muffins. You can make some of each or either the mini muffins or regular sized ones. I used 1/4 cup of sweeteners for this recipe and it was slightly sweet. If you prefer a sweeter muffin, I would add 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup brown sugar. I didn't mind it less sweet plus since I was giving it to the kids, I didn't want them to be too dessert-like so that I could serve them for breakfast.

As I've talked about quite a few times, Oliver has had a hard time gaining weight. He is currently in the 2nd percentile and as a mom, I am always a little worried about him and make sure to provide him with nutrient-dense foods. These muffins fit the bill!

To sneak another source of nutrition, I added in some Enfagrow® Toddler Next Step™ which has DHA to help support healthy brain development as well as prebiotics to help support immune health and other important nutrients.. It is a milk-based drink for toddlers 1-3 that has DHA.

Did you know that 85% of brain growth happens in the first three years of life? Crazy! Therefore, it is important that kids get DHA to help support brain growth. It is recommended that toddlers get 70-100 mg/day of DHA to support early brain and eye development.

On average toddler's diet only provides 25% of the DHA amount experts recommend. Some sources of DHA are fish, chia seeds and flax seeds. We try to do chia seeds in our house most days to help give DHA to our kid.

Anything that helps support brain development is important to me! He is at a fun age where he is finally wanting to let us read him a book for a few minutes as opposed to wiggling away right away. I want for him to be able to learn words from the book and it helps to teach him that words are associated with different things.

Other things that we do to help brain development is work on teaching him sign language, pointing at different things and telling him what they are, playing little games with his hands, singing songs, etc. It is all so much fun to see a toddler grow and develop. Soon enough, I will have him in the kitchen with me helping me make these muffins!

Yield: 12 regular muffins or 24 mini muffins + 6 muffins Author: Amanda Hernandez

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins are the perfect whole-grain muffin with Greek yogurt and hidden veggies! Totally kid-friendly and they make the perfect breakfast or snack.

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 15 MINStotal time: 25 mins

INGREDIENTS

Wet Ingredients:
2 large ripe bananas, mashed well
1 small zucchini, finely shredded
1 large carrot, finely shredded
2 tablespoons maple syrup (can increase to 1/4 cup if desired)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons Enfagrow Toddler
1/2 cup peanut butter

Dry Ingredients
1 3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Optional: chocolate chips and peanut butter to top

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line muffin tins with muffin liners- can use mini muffin tins or regular.
In a large bowl, mix together wet ingredients. Mix in dry ingredients and stir as little as possible to avoid tough muffins.
Scoop batter into muffin cups and bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees. If desired, add chocolate chips to the tops of muffin batter.
Turn heat down, keep muffins in the oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees. If cooking mini muffins, cook for another 5 minutes. If cooking full-sized muffins, cook for 10 minutes. Cook until you stick a toothpick in muffins and it comes out clean.
Top with drizzly peanut butter if desired.

*Stores well at room temperature for 3 days. These freeze really well for a few months.
**If making these for adults or older children, use milk instead of water and omit Enfagrow Toddler.