These Healthy Muffins For Toddlers are the ultimate “everything but the kitchen sink” snack. Packed with real fruit, healthy fats, and just the right texture for little hands. They’re naturally lightly sweet, soft, and made with nourishing ingredients you can feel good about serving.
"Yum! Love the waste-free cups. And yay for toddler-friendly snacks that are actually healthy!" -Rachel
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ⏲️Ready In: 1 hr
- 👪Serves: 12 Muffins
- 🍽 Calories and Protein: 133 kcals and 2 grams of protein
- 📋Main Ingredients: Dates, banana, fruit, gluten-free 1:1 baking flour, and Chia seeds.
- 📖 Dietary Notes: Dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, toddler-friendly.
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: These muffins are naturally sweet, soft, and perfectly sized for little hands. Made with real fruit and no added sugar, they’re ideal for toddlers, picky eaters, and parents who want a wholesome snack that feels like a treat without the sugar crash.
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These bite-sized healthy muffins for toddlers with no sugar are the kind of snack that takes the stress out of snack time and keeps little ones happily munching. Made with real fruit and healthy fats, this is one of my favorite toddler snack recipes because they're soft, naturally sweet, and perfectly sized for tiny hands, just like my nourishing avocado protein pudding. When I’m juggling snacks between meals, these muffins are one of the first things I bake because they’re wholesome and disappear fast.
I make a batch almost every week because nothing beats knowing my kids are eating something real instead of packaged snacks. Plus, they're made with all the "random" things in the cupboard, so perfect to use up stuff. Simple to prep (like these frozen yogurt banana bites), kid-approved, and actually nourishing, these muffins make snack time a win for everyone.
Jump To
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- 💭Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flavor Variations
- How To Make Healthy Muffins For Toddlers
- Expert Tips To Make It
- Healthy Toddler Muffins FAQs
- Don’t forget to pin these “kitchen sink” healthy toddler muffins!
- More Healthy Toddler Recipes
- Healthy Sugar-Free Toddler Muffins
💭Why You'll Love This Recipe
Naturally sweetened: These sugar-free toddler muffins use fruit and applesauce to keep them sweet.
Bite-sized: They're a soft muffin so great for toddlers and made for little hands.A toddler muffin recipe that is based on all the leftover stuff from the fridge, this one will soon become a staple- along with these 3 ingredient banana oatmeal muffins.
Healthy: Made with simple ingredients like these banana oatmeal muffins, the muffins are dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan.
Ingredients and Substitutions
The ingredients you need for the dairy-free muffins for toddlers vary because these truly are "kitchen sink muffins", so you can kind of use what you have on hand. Need more ideas? Check out these 30 healthy toddler snacks.
- Gluten-free baking flour: Not to be confused with all-purpose flour, you do need this to help bind the muffins.
- Banana: The riper the better for both texture and sweetness. If you don't have one, just use extra applesauce.
- Nectarine: A peach, plum, or mango also works. It's just an easy way to sweeten the muffins. Since there's already a ton of dates in there, though, you can skip the fruit if you have to.
- Chia seeds: These are a crucial food for toddlers because they're so potent and a great healthy fat. They also hold the recipe together, so don't skip them.
- Add-ins: Both the almond flour and coconut can be interchanged and are just in there as a dose of healthy fats.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Flavor Variations
- Chocolate: Rarely does a toddler say no to chocolate! Add raw cacao powder in for the almond flour to add more antioxidants and a tasty, rich, flavor.
- Crunch: If your little one can chew well, adding chopped pecans can be a yummy new texture.
How To Make Healthy Muffins For Toddlers
Step 1: Soak your dates and then blend them until semi-smooth.
Step 2: Mash the banana and add the remaining ingredients, including the dates, to the bowl.
Step 3: Mix until sticky and combined.
Step 4: Portion into silicone muffin cups and bake.
Expert Tips To Make It
Soaking the dates makes them easier to blend. That said, you will probably still have to add a bit of the soaking water into the food processor.
Though you can use mini muffin tins, I prefer to use a regular muffin tin, with silicone muffin liners, and only portion them ⅓ full.
Don't overcook them. Keep a close eye in the last few minutes of baking as you want them to remain soft.
Store them: TIn an airtight container on the counter at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can store them in the fridge as well but they will become denser and lose some of their soft texture.
Freezing them: You can freeze the muffins but the texture turns a bit thicker on thawing. That said, they make for great teethers when they're partially thawed for little littles.
Healthy Toddler Muffins FAQs
Babies can eat these muffins so long as you are following a proper baby led weaning protocol and your child is abble to "gum" the muffins and swallow properly.
The best toddler muffins are ones that are naturally sweetened with fruit, soft in texture, and easy for a toddler to hold.
Don’t forget to pin these “kitchen sink” healthy toddler muffins!
More Healthy Toddler Recipes
If you tried this Healthy Muffins For Toddlers Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes!
Healthy Sugar-Free Toddler Muffins
Video
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 18 Dates soaked in warm water
- 2 tablespoons water from dates
- 1 cup Gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ripe nectarine or peach
- 2 tbs applesauce unsweetened
- ⅛ cup Chia Seeds
- ⅛ cup Coconut Oil measured solid
- ¼ cup almond meal
- 1 ripe banana
- ⅓ cup almond milk
- ¼ cup Shredded Coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- If you haven’t already, soak the dates in warm water for twenty minutes, reserving two tablespoons of the water.
- In a blender, blend the dates and the water until a chunky paste forms.
- Add in the banana, nectarine, and applesauce and blend until mostly combined, leaving a few chunks.
- Melt the coconut oil in the microwave.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, almond meal, baking powders and chia seeds.
- Pour in the almond milk and coconut oil and mix.
- Add in the fruit mixture from the blender and mix until everything is coated. Finally, fold in the shredded coconut.
- Line a muffin tin with silicone cups and use and ice cream scoop to portion out the batter. Then, using a fork press down slightly into the mold.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for thirty minutes.
Notes
Disclaimer:
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data"
Nutrition
Shelby S says
My kids aren't toddlers any more but I am still making these muffins because they love them so much!
Anna says
We're going on a road trip, starting Saturday, and I was just looking for healthy snacks. Making these tomorrow! Thank you so much!
fitasamamabear says
Aw yay! Let me know what your littles think of them! ... and have a super fun road trip!
Rachel says
Yum! Love the waste-free cups. And yay for toddler-friendly snacks that are actually healthy!
fitasamamabear says
Haha yes! My toddler still isn't allowed processed sugar so I have to be creative 😀
Megan Stevens says
I love the dates in this recipe. Muffins with dates are my favorite!! These are so perfect for little ones.
fitasamamabear says
Thanks! The dates help keep it sweet! Makes em perfect for kids because no processed sugar!
Micaela @MindfulMomma says
3 bites is the perfect size for a toddler! They sound delicious! I hate to think how many of them I would eat in one sitting! 🙂