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!
These were great. Even my picky husband ate them! Thanks for sharing!
Phew! So glad to hear that!
For those interested I have calculated the nutrition values.
My recipe used 1/3 cups of agave syrup instead of 3/4 cup of maple syrup, I used almond milk and I used 2.5 bananas. I got 16 muffins.
132 calories, 3 g of protein, 4 g of total fat, 22 g of Carbohydrates, 3 g of fiber, 3 g of sugars, 136 mg of sodium, 3 g of saturated fat and 23 g of Cholesterol.
Hope this helps.
My kids loved these muffins Thank You!!
Cheers
So lovely of you to do that and share with everyone. Thank you!
mine were more of a pea green but still pretty tasty.
I can’t wait to try these! Do you think they would do ok with 100% whole wheat flour? Thank you so much for a sneaky recipe, my 4 yr old won’t eat veggies… 🙂
I think they would work just fine, but they would be a touch heavier (whole wheat pastry results in a lighter crumb.) Good luck!
I used half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. Yummy recipe! Thanks!
That’ll work! You’re welcome!
These are delicious!! I can’t wait to put them in my son’s lunch box tomorrow! Do you like to use light amber or medium amber maple syrup in your recipes?
Great! I actually use both, but I use a light amber if I want less maple flavor to come through in the recipe. 🙂
Has anyone tried this using baby kale instead of spinach??
My whole family loved these! It made more than 12 (18 and they overflowed a bit) – which I love as they will last longer! I can’t wait to make them again – thank you!
Love to hear this!
LOVE this recipe…so much so that I made it TWICE in one week. The first time, I followed the recipie. The second time we used beet purée instead of spinach (because my son wanted red muffins). Turned out great!!! Love giving my kiddos healthy muffins without a ton of unnecessary sugar.
Beet puree! You’re a genius! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Do you know the calorie count??
No, sorry I don’t. But there are lots of sites where you can plug in the ingredients to get that info.
do you know the name of any sites where you can do that?
Sure! Try myfitnesspal.com or thecaloriecounter.com
I whirled the banana with the blender mixture (didn’t read it well bc on my tiny phone screen!) and I was worried bc the batter was quite runny at first then looked foamy but tired out fine in the end! Hooray!
Hooray!! Love these muffins 🙂