Healthy Muffins for Kids
Updated May 16, 2026
These healthy muffins for kids are great for breakfast, lunchboxes or snacks. They're filled w/ wholesome ingredients for a nutritious treat.
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Muffins for the munshkins
One of our favorite snack foods around my house is freshly baked muffins and I have recipes for all kinds of healthy muffins for the kids like my Pancake Muffins, Oatmeal Muffins and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. But if you’re looking for just one base muffin recipe for the kids that you can make on repeat with different add-ins weekly, this recipe is for you. It’s a simple mix of dry and wet ingredients you likely have on hand, and an easy rule for how to customize for sweet add-ins or savory ones.
Use this simple kid-friendly muffin recipe and switch out the add-ins based on what your kids like and what you have on hand. They travel well and are great for on-the-go snacking or packed lunches.
Happy Baking!
– Yumna
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Ingredients for Healthy Muffins for Kids
- Dry Ingredients: You’ll need flour, granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. For a gluten-free version, use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend as a straight swap. Don’t substitute almond flour or coconut flour because it wont’ turn out well.
- Wet Ingredients: Use milk, oil, yogurt and an egg. Any plain yogurt works, store-bought or homemade. For a dairy-free version, you can use plant-based yogurt and plant-based milk. Make sure all the wet ingredients, especially the egg are at room temperature. Thsi recipe works well with a flax egg too!
- Sweet muffin add-ins: Creamy peanut butter and strawberry jam. Any nut butter or seed butter (sunflower, almond, cashew) can replace the peanut butter, which is useful for nut-free lunchboxes. Use homemade strawberry jam or any jam you like.
- Savory muffin add-ins: Shredded zucchini and shredded cheddar cheese. Squeeze the zucchini in a clean kitchen towel before adding to remove extra moisture, this keeps the muffins from getting soggy. Pepper Jack, Gouda, or feta all work well in place of cheddar.
How to Make Healthy Muffins for Kids
Sweet Muffins – Peanut Butter & Jam
Savory Zucchini Muffins with Cheese
Healthy Muffins for Kids
These healthy muffins for kids are great for grab-and-go breakfast, lunchbox or snacks. They're filled with wholesome ingredients for a nutritious tasty treat.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup 2% milk
- ½ cup avocado oil
- ½ cup plain whole milk yogurt
- 1 large egg
For the sweet muffins
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup strawberry jam
For the savory muffins
- 1 cup zucchini grated
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with 12 parchment paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together; set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: milk, oil, yogurt and egg.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and use a silicone spatula to mix until just combined, making sure not to over mix. Divide the batter into the two bowls to add in the mix-in's. Or double the mix-ins and keep the batter in one bowl.
- Gently fold in the creamy peanut butter and strawberry jam for sweet muffins, or the grated zucchini and cheddar cheese for savory muffins. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups.
- Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin liners.
Equipment
Notes
The nutrition label is for 1 muffin from the full batch using both mix ins.
Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container with a paper towel under them to absorb any moisture. They will last about 4-5 days in the fridge.
Freezing: I recommend wrapping them tightly individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Then place them in a freezer bag, removing as much air as possible to keep them fresh longer. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and reheat if desired.
My Top Tip: Don’t overmix the batter. Once the dry ingredients go in, fold with a spatula just until no streaks of flour remain. A few lumps are fine. Overmixing develops gluten and leads to dense, tough muffins.
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 354kcal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 271mg, Potassium: 176mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 14g, Vitamin A: 163IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 113mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Recipe Variations
- Add dried fruit. Fold in ¼ cup of raisins, dried cranberries, or chopped dried apricots to either batter for a little sweetness and chew.
- Add nuts. Stir ¼ cup of toasted walnuts or almonds into either batter for crunch.
- Try a different fruit add-in. Fold fresh blueberries or finely diced apple into the sweet batter in place of the peanut butter and jam.
- Add shredded carrot to the savory version. Use ½ cup shredded carrot in place of half the zucchini for a slightly sweeter savory muffin.
- Make them all one flavor. Double either the sweet or savory add-ins and skip splitting the batter if you want a full batch of one flavor.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overmix the batter. Once the dry ingredients go in, fold with a spatula just until you don’t see any streaks of flour. A few lumps are fine. Overmixing develops gluten and make the muffins more dense.
- Squeeze the zucchini dry before adding. Zucchini has a lot of water. Take a minute to wrap it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible before adding and it’ll be worth your time when you get fluffy muffins that aren’t too dense.
- Use a mini muffin tin for toddlers. The smaller size is easier for little hands. Bake at the same temperature but reduce the time by 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove the liners while still warm. Paper liners can stick and get soggy on the bottom as the muffins cool. Peeling them off while the muffins are still slightly warm prevents this. Or you can use parchment paper liners which is what I always use and recommend.
Comments
I’m trying to make these and I’m noticing some vast differences. The video uses baking powder, but the instructions say baking soda. The video uses 1.25 cups of milk but the instructions say 3/4 cup of milk. It’s really hard to follow when they’re so different.
Sorry, the video is about 8 years old and I recently updated this recipe. I just deleted the video and will update it in the future. Thank you for letting me know!
Hi! How can I convert the cooking time & temperature to mini muffins?
Great question! You can bake at the same temperature, just reduce the baked time by 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!
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