Carrot & Banana Muffins

Down on the farm, Tractor Ted is helping to harvest carrots. Carrots have become a popular cake ingredient – and these delicious little muffins use carrots, bananas and raisins for their sweetness, rather than refined sugar.

What to do Show the children images of carrots being harvested, and explain that you are going to use carrots to make some delicious mini muffins. The following recipe makes between sixteen and twenty small cakes.

Ingredients 4 large, very ripe bananas1 egg, beaten70 ml sunflower oil200g wholemeal flour1 tspn baking powder1 tspn bicarbonate of soda½ teaspoon cinnamon150g grated carrot130g raisins

Method Turn on the oven at 180°C / gas mark 4, and line two muffin trays with up to twenty small cake cases. Mash the bananas until smooth and stir in the sunflower oil and beaten egg. Using a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon. Gently fold the flour mixture into the banana mixture, a couple of tablespoons at a time. Stir in the grated carrot and raisins. Spoon the mixture into the cake cases and bake for about 20 minutes, until brown and springy to the touch. Remove the muffins from the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack. As the muffins contain no refined sugar, they won’t last as long as regular cakes. Store in an airtight tin in the fridge, and eat within three days.

Carrot & Banana Muffins

THIS ACTIVITY... • encourages children to eat carrots and bananas • introduces a variety of food preparation techniques • offers lots of opportunity for exploring tastes, smells and textures • encourages listening, talking and following instructions • offers lots of opportunity for maths exploration, including adding ingredients, weighing and measuring volume

Things to think about

• These little muffins are healthier than regular cakes because they are packed with carrots, bananas and raisins, and contain no refined sugar. It is, though, important that the bananas are very ripe as they provide most of the sweetness.

• Keep your cookery group small and have a high adult/child ratio. Help the children to carry out as many of the preparation tasks as possible.

• Bring out the maths element of the activity by involving the children in weighing the flour, carrots and raisins, measuring the sunflower oil in a measuring jug and spooning out the correct quantities of baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon.

• Encourage children to taste, feel and smell the ingredients, and talk about the different textures. Compare the hard grated carrot with the soft, squidgy mashed banana. Listen out for the rasping sound as the carrots are grated, and the gloopy sound as you mash the bananas.

• Introduce the correct vocabulary for the various processes, and help children explore the different movements – mashing the bananas, grating the carrots, folding in the flour, beating the egg.

• Encourage the children to focus on how they are all working together to produce a delicious, healthy treat to share with the whole group.

Sugar-free creamy orange toppingIf you want to dress up your muffins with a frosting, this recipe continues the ‘no added sugar’ theme.

For every 100g of cream cheese, prepare a tablespoon of freshly squeezed orange juice and three teaspoons of orange zest. Mix thoroughly together, along with a teaspoon of vanilla extract. As the frosting contains cream cheese, it should be stored in the fridge and spread on the muffins just before they are eaten. Double check for any dairy allergies.

The frosting is quite tangy for anyone who is used to sweet tastes. If you spread it thinly, the sweetness of the banana will balance the sharpness of the cream cheese.

Carrot & Banana Muffins