The top of the muffin is the best part, right? These wholesome treats are a combination of a tender muffin and an oatmeal breakfast cookie. We love them for breakfast or a snack at my house, and this carrot cake version is a must try. Have your little chef help grate the carrot, measure the ingredients, and mix everything together in a big bowl. The muffin tops are great as is but sometimes I also like to mix in a ¼ cup of chopped walnuts and a ¼ cup of raisins to make them extra special. We really hope you enjoy this nutritious, carrot-packed treat!

This recipe was developed by Heather Staller, a mom of two boys, ages 6 and 4, and cooking instructor specializing in bringing cooking into preschool classrooms. After college, Heather knew she wanted to be a teacher, but first followed her lifelong dream of going to culinary school. Teaching cooking combines both of her passions, and she truly enjoys introducing young children to the joys of cooking with fresh ingredients. Find Heather on Instagram (@heather.happykidskitchen), where she shares inventive kid-friendly recipes and ideas for cooking with kids at home.

Makes 8 to 10 large muffin tops
Ingredients

• 1 medium carrot, peeled and end trimmed
  
• 1 ripe banana, mashed or ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
  
• 2 eggs*
  
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil
  
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
  
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• ¾ cup quick-cooking rolled oats 
  
• ¾ cup almond flour, oat flour, or whole wheat flour
  
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  
• ¼ teaspoon fine salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment or lightly grease with oil. 
   
2. Shred carrot on the smaller holes of a box grater until you get ¾ cup grated carrot. Add the carrot to a large bowl along with the mashed banana (or applesauce), eggs, oil, maple syrup, orange juice, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
   
3. Add the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Stir in nuts and raisins, if using.
   
4. Scoop batter onto the prepared pan using a large cookie scoop or ¼ cup measuring cup. Flatten the tops of each mound slightly with the back of the scoop or cup.
   
5. Bake muffin tops until cooked through and golden brown around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Store cooled muffin tops in a container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

​*For an egg-free version, use 2 tablespoons ground flax seed mixed with 
  6 tablespoons of water.

​Katie Blauser is the mama of two boys, wife of a picky eater, and food lover at Eat Pretty Darling. She believes in making food fun, healthy, & pretty! Katie’s not only outnumbered by boys in her little family, but also by picky eaters. She loves trying to find new ways to get both kids and adults to eat healthy while making food pretty yummy, pretty healthy, and pretty fun! Find Katie on Instagram (@eatprettydarling), where she shares colorful and cute food ideas for both picky and adventurous eaters.

​Carrots are my oldest son’s favorite veggie! He loves how they crunch when he takes a bite. If your kiddos are still learning to like them, try making them into a fun flower shape! If you have a flower shaped mini cookie cutter, you could use that too. But all it takes is a few simple cuts and you will have a lovely bouquet.

We are excited to bring you this month's adorable post from Katie Blauser, the creator of Eat Pretty Darling!
You can join in on lots of pea fun with our "Give Peas a Chance!" Veggie Buds Club box. Your child(ren) are guaranteed to love (...or at least try!) peas after this fun box, learn more and purchase here.

Turning food into art can make a once feared food a little more approachable. It doesn’t mean that your kids will automatically eat it all and love it, but they might actually touch it or even try it. The more we can expose our kids to new foods, the more comfortable they can get with them.
My pickiest eater loves hummus and carrots but still doesn’t want to try peas. Having him help me transform the peas into boats made him giddy and he was begging to eat them before we were even done! He took a bite and said the peas were yummy with hummus, but decided he still was learning to like the boat. I’m glad that he can now picture the Sugar Snap Peas as boats and associate it with a fun experience every time they are on his plate again!

This week is all about PURPLE! The neat thing is, some of the veggies we found had purple outside, but no purple to be found inside. We stuck to root veggies and the color purple and found some new things to try. We’ve been playing the matching game from Veggie Buds Club so much this month that my oldest knew exactly what to look for and their names! He had fun seeing the drawings come to life in real vegetables at the store.
We gathered up Purple carrots, Turnips, Rutabaga, and Beets. I thought it would be a fun week to see how all of the varying vegetables taste different. We sampled each one on it’s own and talked about how they taste. We all agree beets taste like dirt! Turnips were kind of spicy, Carrots were sweet, and Rutabaga was like french fries. I served them with plain yogurt but my oldest also wanted to see what they tasted like with different dips so we later added ketchup and peanut butter.

Ingredients
You can use any root veggies!

• Purple Carrots
• Turnips
• Rutabaga
• Beets
• Avocado Oil to coat
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Peel and chop the vegetables to try and make them all similar sizes so they cook the same time.
2. Drizzle oil on veggies and toss to coat in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the veggies out flat on the tray. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until soft.
3. Serve as a sampler tray with the any dip/s of choice! 

There are more out there, but here’s a list to get started! ​

• Rutabaga
• Beets
• Purple Carrots
• Turnip
• Purple Potatoes
• Eggplant
• Red Cabbage
• Figs
• Purple Cauliflower
• Ube
• Plums
• Purple Asparagus
• Blackberries

Welcome to December, the theme for Veggie Buds Club is "Root Veggies Rule!". Root veggies are delicious, colorful, nutritious, and versatile, and we cannot wait to share yummy recipes and fun activities featuring root veggies this month!
To get the ball rolling, please enjoy these delicious Root Veggie Latkes, this is the recipe that is featured in this month's Veggie Buds Club subscription box.

This recipe was developed by Heather Staller, a mom of two boys, ages 6 and 3, and cooking instructor specializing in bringing cooking into preschool classrooms. After college, Heather knew she wanted to be a teacher, but first followed her lifelong dream of going to culinary school. Teaching cooking combines both of her passions, and she truly enjoys introducing young children to the joys of cooking with fresh ingredients. Find Heather on Instagram (@heather_kidskitchen), where she shares inventive kid-friendly recipes and ideas for cooking with kids at home.

Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled, shredded potato (about 1 large Russet potato or 2 smaller Yukon Gold potatoes)
  
• 1 cup shredded turnip
  
• 1 cup shredded carrot, parsnip, and any other root vegetable or combination of root vegetables
  
• 2 eggs*
  
• ¼ cup flour (any kind)
  
• ½ teaspoon coarse salt
  
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  
• Neutral oil, for cooking

Instructions

1. Place shredded potato in a kitchen towel and squeeze out any excess moisture. Add the potato and other shredded vegetables to a large bowl.
   
2. Have your child help you crack the eggs into a separate small bowl then beat eggs with a fork to scramble. Add eggs and remaining ingredients (except the oil) to the shredded vegetables and stir well to combine.
   
3. Using your hands, make small patties of the vegetable mixture, squeezing together to remove any excess liquid as you form each one. Lay patties out onto a parchment lined pan or plate. 
   
4. Heat a cast iron or other skillet over medium heat. Add one tablespoon of oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook vegetable cakes until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side, adding more oil to the pan as needed after each batch. Sprinkle the tops with a little salt and eat warm. Store any leftover veggie latkes in the fridge and reheat in the oven or toaster oven for best results.

* For egg-free latkes, substitute eggs for 2 tablespoons of ground flax mixed with 4 tablespoons of water. Latkes will be a little bit softer but still hold together.

January's featured veggie for Veggie Buds Club is the incredible carrot. Enjoy this delicious kid-friendly way to eat carrots from heather_kidskitchen!

Show your child how to safely peel a carrot by standing behind him or her and holding the peeler together. Use different color carrots to make the dish even more fun!

CARROT CHIPS
Ingredients
-½ teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
-½ teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and dried dill
-1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
-5 to 6 large carrots, peeled and trimmed
-1 ½ tablespoons vegetable, avocado, or olive oil

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 
2. In a small bowl, mix salt, garlic powder, onion powder, dried dill, and black pepper. Set aside.
3. Cut carrots into 1/8-inch rounds. A crinkle cutter makes a fun shape, but if you don’t have one, cutting with a knife works just as well. If your carrots are on the thinner side, cut slices on an angle to create bigger slices.
4. Place carrots in a pile on the center of the sheet pan or in a bowl. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon of the salt mixture, and toss to coat. Reserve remaining salt mixture for dip or another use.
5. Spread carrots out evenly on the pan so none are overlapping. Roast carrots until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, taste for seasoning and sprinkle on more salt if needed. Serve with dip if desired. 
​
AVOCADO RANCH DIP
Ingredients
-1 ripe avocado
-½ cup plain Greek yogurt or plain, unsweetened dairy-free yogurt alternative
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-¾ teaspoon Ranch Salt (from above)

Instructions
1. Cut the avocado in half. Using a spoon, scoop avocado flesh into a food processor or blender.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. 

Our friend Heather from heather_kidskitchen is at it again with a new delicious and kid-friendly recipe! January's featured veggie for Veggie Buds Club is the incredible carrot and Heather created two recipes for our members, this "Carrot Tropical Smoothie" recipe and a "Carrot Chips with Ranch Dip" recipe (we'll post this one next week- the suspense!).  

Like a tropical vacation in a glass! Kids will love measuring and adding ingredients to the blender, helping to chop the carrot, and pressing the buttons on the blender.

Ingredients
-1 small carrot, peeled, trimmed, and chopped* (about ½ cup)
-1 Clementine, tangerine, or ½ an orange, peeled
-1 heaping cup frozen pineapple, mango, or a combo of both
-½ cup plain Greek yogurt (or non-dairy yogurt)
-1 pitted date (or 1 tablespoon honey)
-¼ cup coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
-1 tablespoon hemp seeds (optional)
-Handful of ice
-Shredded coconut for garnish

Instructions
1. Add everything to a blender and blend until smooth. Blend in additional ice if you want a thicker smoothie.
2. Pour into glasses and sprinkle with shredded coconut. Enjoy!

*If you don’t have a high speed blender, I recommend grating the carrot so it blends more easily.