I am too excited about this muffin recipe to wait until St. Patrick’s Day! I’ve had great luck in the past using pureed spinach to turn pancakes green, so I knew I could make a green muffin. Not only do I think these turned out fantastic, even Mr. Picky loved them, too. Although I did tell him a little lie and said I used green food coloring and he just lit up, eyes wide, “Really?! You did?! Really, Mom?! Like the unhealthy kind?!” Honestly, I’m a little disappointed that my son actually thinks I would use food coloring in a muffin. And just as disappointed that he would be excited to eat that same muffin. I had to lie again. Actually, buddy, it’s a natural green food coloring which gets its color from spinach. Bummed out face. I know for a minute there he thought I suddenly turned into an exciting mom, one who would take risks and dare to use carcinogens! “Oh. They’re still good, I guess.”
And they are good! These muffins are lightly sweet, moist, simple and BRIGHT GREEN because they are loaded with spinach! St. Patrick’s Day is a HUGE opportunity to get green foods into your kids because they are expecting them. You’re showing your spirit. On any other day, green muffins are you just trying to sneak leafy greens into your kids who are not fooled. But the closer we get to March 17th, green muffins are part of the fun!
This is a very basic muffin recipe. The spinach is undetectable and the banana is very subtle. But if you hate banana, you might be able to sub 1/2 cup of applesauce. I think adding walnuts or chocolate chips would be great, too. One of my daughters suggested cream cheese frosting, although then these become cupcakes which is fine, too. These tasted best the day they were made and the next day, too. They lasted just fine a few days on the countertop in a sealed container, but I would freeze what you don’t think you’ll eat within a couple days. Let me know if you make these and if you get lucky!
Green Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour or spelt flour (or use 2 cups of King Arthur Multi-purpose Gluten-free Flour + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
- 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup pure maple syrup, Grade A or Grade B
- ¾ cup dairy or non-dairy milk, such as almond milk
- ¼ cup unrefined coconut oil, melted
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 5- or 6-ounce bag of fresh baby spinach leaves
- 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with unbleached parchment liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a blender add egg, maple syrup, milk, oil, vanilla and spinach. Process until pureed.
- Add spinach mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the mashed banana.
- Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, filling cups about ¾ full. I like to do this with a large ice cream scooper. Bake about 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Store at room temperature up to 3 days. These freeze nicely!
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Does anyone know if this would work with frozen spinach (obviously I’d have to squeeze it out really well) and how many cups of it I would need? I have a crazy picky toddler and would love to make these once he’s in bed for a surprise breakfast tomorrow!
Even though I haven’t made these with frozen spinach, I am going to guess you can use the equivalent weight of frozen, defrosted spinach and blend with the liquids. I don’t know what the cup equivalent is, but if you had a 10-ounce bag of frozen spinach, I would use half. I would love to know if you try it and it works!
I did use defrosted 10 ounces frozen spinach and they were delicious! No spinach taste and I also cut the maple syrup down to about a 1/3 c and did the switch of 1/2c applesauce for the bananas, only because we were out of bananas at the time. Making another batch now per my 4 yo request for her class snack! Thanks!
Very exciting to hear!!
Happy St,. Patty’s Day! These green muffins were such a hit at my house! Everyone loved them and so did the group of walkers going to Valley school! Fun to share and delicious to eat! I had to promise to make them again today!
Thank you!!
Terrific! Thanks for sharing, Louisa!
Yum, my kids and I just made these. We made them in mini muffin tins and added a chocolate chip to the top of them. They keep asking for more!
That’s great!!
Has anyone successfully used Kale in this recipe? I want to make these but checked the fridge and have no spinach on hand!
I the flavor of 5-6 ounces of kale would be apparent whereas the spinach is undetectable, but that’s just my guess.
I actually used the kale and it wasn’t noticeable. If my husband ate and liked them, trust me, it is undetectable! So just in case anyone needs to use a substitute in a pinch, kale is good too! Everyone has been begging for more! Great recipe to store away for St. Patricks Day and as hulk muffins! 🙂
Thank you so much, Rachelle! I’m so grateful you gave them a try with the kale and then reported back your success! This opens up more possibilities for these muffins — yay!!
I just realized that as I am saving this recipe I never used almond milk! I honestly didn’t miss it. I bet it would have made the batter really liquidy. This also made 12 very full muffins. I bet the apple sauce had something to do with how it turned out (which was yummy).
SO interesting! Good to know! Thanks, Mindy!
I made these tonight and my husband and I both really liked them. I used 1/4 cup agave nectar and 1/2 cup maple syrup. I also tried what you suggested and subbed one banana for 1/2 cup apple sauce. The muffins were moist with good texture. I like that they are sweet without being too sweet. So this is a great base recipe. Thank you for sharing!
We made these tonight and they were great! Our weren’t as vibrant green. But saw in the comments that I might have blended it longer than you. Next time I will do less. I think nuts would be great in them as well. My six year old said thumbs up! We packed them up to share with his teachers tomorrow. Thank you!
Yay!
Made these today! So good! I changed the recipe up just a bit, but still had delicious results! Thank you so much for this great healthy recipe!
Thanks for letting me know, Heather! I appreciate the comment!
Hi Pamela. A friend showed me these muffins and I’m in love. Simple and clean, just like I cook. Pinning and trying! And yes, I lie to my kids in the same way too. And I share your sadness and I know the feeling of “not a cool mom” with spinach obsession LOL. I’m gonna lie to my boys!!!
Oh, go for it! LOL!
Hi, I tried making these today and they didn’t turn out so well. I used white spelt flour and honey, but everything else exactly as written. The batter was very runny? The muffins ended up sunken and still undercooked inside (despite extended cooking time and bring overdone on the outside). Any suggestions? They still taste delicious, they just don’t look great 🙁
That’s disappointing! Since I wasn’t in the kitchen with you when you made them, it’s hard to say what went wrong. But it sounds like a leavening issue perhaps? Is it possible the baking powder and baking soda were mixed up? Or one of them left out altogether? I have made these several times as have many of my friends and family and I haven’t heard any results like yours, so I think the recipe is ok. Thoughts?