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    Home » Baby Led Weaning

    Banana Pear Muffins

    By Robyn | Published: Jul 26, 2018 | Modified: Mar 5, 2022

    TO THE RECIPE
    sugar free mini banana muffins on blue and yellow patterned paper on white background
    Soft, sweet and so easy to make, these naturally sweetened banana pear muffins are a hit with babies, toddlers, kids and adults!
    banana muffins on circular wire cooling rack with rolling pin in top right hand corner
    Banana Pear Muffins

    I originally came up with the recipe for these sugar free muffins as a baby led weaning banana muffin recipe, when I was looking for portable blw snacks. (Hence the recipe makes 24 mini muffins rather than larger ones.) Since sharing them, these banana and pear muffins have been the most popular blw recipes on the blog, and for good reason.

    They are so easy to make, which is pretty important when you have one hand or making them during nap time! Just two bowls: one for the dry ingredients, and one for the wet (including the bananas and grated pear.)

    I would say these easy banana muffins are about as healthy as banana muffins can get:

    • They’re naturally sweetened with banana and pear rather than loaded with refined sugar.
      • Note: The riper the bananas are, the sweeter the muffins will be.
    • They are made with olive oil, rather than using butter or margarine, which makes the muffins tender. You can’t taste the olive oil.

    Muffins make such a great portable snack, and I continue to make them a lot, along with these other baby led weaning snacks that have since turned into favourite kid snacks:  Vegan Blueberry Muffins, no added sugar Pear Flapjack and nut free Spinach pesto pinwheels

    Tips to make these healthy banana muffins the best they can be:

    1. Mash the bananas well, especially if making mini banana muffins, as the chunks of banana can seem quite squishy and not popular with babies and toddlers that have texture issues.
    2. Stir the baking powder and bicarb of soda into the flour well. I didn’t do this once and the bicarb stuck in clumps and there were brown bitter clumps in the muffins.
    3. Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, DON’T overmix. This can make the muffins heavy. It is best to leave a few small lumps of unmixed flour.
    bowl of banana muffins with slices of banana dotted amongst them
    No Added Sugar Banana Pear Muffins

    Do these sugar free banana muffins freeze?

    Yes, they do. Make sure they are cold, then wrap well and put in a container or bag. Take out as many as you like to defrost. They will keep up to 6 weeks, after that they can become dry.

    Substitutes:

    Pear: use a grated apple instead.

    Mixed Spice: Use the same amount of ground cinnamon (You can also leave out the spices altogether)

    If you like this recipe, you may also like:

    Savoury Pumpkin Pancakes

    Frozen blueberry yogurt drops

    Savoury Pinwheel hearts

    3 Ingredient Porridge Bites

    Avocado and Egg Sandwiches – the simplest and tastiest egg sandwiches!

    banana muffins on white background with banana in bottom left hand corner
    Banana Pear Muffins

    Banana Pear Muffins

    Author: Robyn

    Easy no sugar banana muffins that are a great baby led weaning muffin and healthy kids snack
    4.42 from 24 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Course baby led weaning, baking, Snack, Snacks | Lunchbox
    Cuisine International
    Servings 18 mini muffins

    Ingredients
      

    • 90 g wholemeal plain flour
    • 50 g plain flour
    • ½ teaspoon mixed spice
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼ teaspoon bicarb of soda
    • 2 medium to large very ripe bananas mashed
    • 1 egg beaten
    • 70 ml olive oil
    • 1 medium ripe pear or apple, peeled

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat the oven to 170˚C/340˚F
    • Mix the flours, mixed spice, baking powder and bicarb together in a large bowl.
    • In another bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the egg and olive oil. Finely grate the pear (or apple) straight into the egg mixture, to capture any juice that comes from grating the fruit.
    • Lightly mix the wet and dry ingredients together – if you mix too much it can make the muffins heavy.
    • Spoon into a mini muffin tray – about 1 heaped teaspoon mixture per muffin (they should be quite full).
    • Bake for 15 minutes, until golden and springy to touch.
    • Leave in tin a couple of minutes then move to wire rack to cool completely.
    Keyword baby led weaning pear, dairy free muffins, dairy free recipe, no added sugar muffins

    HAVE YOU MADE THIS RECIPE?

    I'd love to see your creation!

    Tag me! #atmrsjoneskitchen
    Tag me! @atmrsjoneskitchen

    Or just leave a comment below!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Helen Tonkinson says

      February 15, 2022 at 3:38 am

      5 stars
      Delicious – I didn’t have a muffin pan to make individual ones so baked it a little longer in a loaf tin – it worked a treat

      Reply
      • Robyn says

        February 16, 2022 at 9:01 am

        Thanks Helen 🙂 what a great idea to bake it in a loaf tin!

        Reply
    2. Alex says

      February 12, 2021 at 3:37 pm

      5 stars
      These are fantastic – we love them for an easy and healthy breakfast!

      Reply
      • Robyn says

        February 13, 2021 at 8:36 am

        They are delicious for breakfast – and portable too for those breakfasts on the run!

        Reply
    3. Jaimie says

      May 06, 2020 at 8:40 pm

      5 stars
      These look divine! Ive never thought to add pear to banana bread, cake or muffins… what a great idea!

      Reply
      • Robyn says

        May 07, 2020 at 12:50 pm

        Thanks Jaimie, it adds a lovely sweetness without adding sugar 🙂

        Reply

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    Robyn Jones, Recipe Developer & Food Photographer

    Robyn Jones

    Recipe Developer | Food Photographer | Writer

    Hi! I'm Robyn, a toddler mum with a passion for all things food! Having moved internationally 7 times in the past 12 years I have developed a love of making international recipes into family friendly ones you can make in your own home, with local ingredients; wherever you live!

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