These moist and naturally sweetened vegan muffins are perfect for baby led weaning babies or toddlers

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Do you ever feel stuck in not knowing what to meal prep for your vegan baby? I’ve definitely encountered that recently, particularly for adding more variety to my daughter’s breakfasts.

She is now 8 ½ months, eating two meals a day, and handling vegan baby food so well. She impresses me everyday at how well she is eating since the time we first started with baby led weaning. She still encounters some gagging from time-to-time but she’s more experienced at knowing what to do with solid foods in her mouth. To date, she’s had 54 different plant-based foods!

Making sure a vegan baby gets adequate iron is so important. This key nutrient is needed for proper growth and development and those who follow a vegan lifestyle may need as much as 1.8x more iron than non-vegan babies.

I try to incorporate a lot of beans, lentils, and tofu in her meals and though I sometimes provide these for her breakfast, I like to change things up a bit. So I went on a quest to prepare something that served as a breakfast item but also provided iron.

These vegan baby led weaning muffins made with iron-fortified infant cereal were the perfect idea! They have no added sugar as they are naturally sweetened with banana and the pumpkin pie spice adds another sweetness element.

Incorporating iron-fortified infant cereal while doing the BLW approach is actually recommended. While baby is still learning how to handle finger foods, it can sometimes be challenging to come up with iron-rich plant foods that can be provided in this way. So providing or adding iron-fortified infant cereal to other foods is a good thing and beneficial. The one I have been using is the Happy Baby Organics Oats & Quinoa Cereal. I have enjoyed using this product because it already provides Vitamin C which helps the absorption of iron.

At first, I found these muffins (or bites) a little dense when they first came out of the oven. I wasn’t too pleased with them but after my daughter tried them, I knew they were just right! Even though they turned out a little denser than I wanted them, they turned out very moist which allowed my daughter to take a better bite and their gooeyness allowed them to dissolve better once she moved each bite around her mouth. It made me feel more relaxed because the texture was soft. These vegan baby muffins also don’t crumble apart like others which allowed her to take more bites.

Let me know how your baby enjoys these! And be sure to tag @nutritiousvida on your social media photos so I can take a look.

Vegan BLW Iron-Fortified Pumpkin Muffins

Serves: Makes 8 small muffins
Total Time: 25 - 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal + 3 tablespoons water)
1 banana
¼ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup iron-fortified infant cereal
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened soy milk
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flax meal with water. Let sit for about 2 minutes.
Mash banana in the mixing bowl with a fork. Then add the remaining ingredients and stir well.
Fill each muffin cup halfway (about 2 heaping tablespoons each to make 8 muffins total)
Bake for about 18 - 25 minutes or until you insert a knife and it comes out clean (mine took about 20 minutes)
Let cool before serving to baby

Notes