Green Muffins (Healthy and Delicious!)
This post contains affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Green Muffins are secretly healthy and perfect for kids! Easy to make in the blender, they’re packed with veggies and refined sugar free.
These Green Muffins are fun to make and great to have on hand, whether you’re looking to eat more greens or you have a picky kid at home.
Our daughter loves her vegetables, but thought it was SO fun to have ‘special’ green muffins.
Easy to prep and fun to make, these blender green muffins are a must try!
These Green Muffins are lightly sweetened and loaded with nutritious ingredients like oat flour, spinach, and apple sauce, making them the perfect, effortless, healthy breakfast. They are a delightfully soft, fluffy, and delicious way to sneak some greens into your day. For fun, you could call them monster muffins or hulk muffins.
With 3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, no refined sugar, and loads of greens, these muffins are the perfect healthy addition to any morning meal, lunch, or snack.
Liz Tips for the Best Spinach Muffins
- The spinach doesn’t have to be measured precisely. You can just throw in 3 large handfuls into the base of a blender. A little more or a little less won’t change the recipe notably.
- It is helpful to add the spinach first, and top with heavier ingredients and liquids. This ensures all the spinach gets blended up since it will be pushed down towards the blades.
- Non-stick parament paper muffin liners work great, but regular paper muffin liners will work too. If you try to remove a regular paper liner from these muffins (or any oat flour muffins) before they have cooled, the liner will stick. Give them 15 minutes after coming out of the oven, and they should be good to go.
- For a sweeter muffin, you can double the sweetener. Don’t do this with a liquid sweetener, only granulated sugar or granulated maple sugar. Do not overfill the muffin wells if adding extra sugar.
- Pouring the batter directly from the blender pitcher to the muffin wells works great and makes for easy clean up. Fill the muffin wells about 7/8 full (a small rim of the paper liner should be visible).
Ingredients:
A high powered blender is also a must have. If you don’t want to use paper liners, we like these silicone muffin liners, but you have to grease them well.
This nontoxic, nonstick muffin tin also works well but needs to be greased with olive oil.
substitutions
Spinach – Fresh spinach is best for both taste and texture. In order to use frozen spinach, you have to thaw, drain the excess moisture and reduce the quantity to 2 cups (measured frozen, not packed).
Oat Flour – This ingredient is available at most grocery stores or can easily be made at home in just a few minutes. Read my post How to Make Your Own Oat Flour for instructions. I don’t recommend substituting another type of flour for oat flour; however, an oat flour blend was tested and worked great (I tested Oatsome Oat Flour Blend that uses oat flour and ground buckwheat).
Maple Syrup – I tested both maple syrup and granulated sugar in this recipe. Granulated sugar held up a little better because it contains less moisture, but both options were delicious. Granulated maple sugar or honey will also work for a natural sweetness.
Unsweetened Applesauce – Applesauce allows the recipe to use less sugar and oil and keeps the muffins moist. I tested this recipe using only applesauce to sweeten. To do so, omit the maple syrup and use 1 cup of applesauce. It is going to be less sweet, in an already very lightly sweetened recipe, but it works well and is perfect for toddlers. We love making our own Applesauce in the Instant Pot.
Eggs – I did not test a flax egg or other egg replacement in this recipe.
Avocado Oil – Olive oil or melted and slightly cooled coconut oil or butter will work.
Milk – Dairy milk, almond milk, or any type of milk alternative can be used.
Arrowroot Starch – Also called arrowroot flour, arrowroot starch can be replaced with corn starch. The starch made these fluffier and gave them a little structure.
Apple Cider Vinegar – White cooking vinegar can be used.
Gluten Free – This recipe is 100% gluten-free when using certified gluten-free oat flour.
Dairy Free – Use oat, almond, or coconut milk to make this recipe dairy-free.
How to Make Blender Spinach Muffins
- Add the spinach to the bottom of the blender pitcher, then add all the ingredients except for the baking powder on top of the spinach. Blend on high for 30-45 seconds.
- Once fully blended, add the baking powder and blend for another 5 seconds; don’t overmix!
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin wells and bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes.
- Allow muffins to cool fully before enjoying!
storage
Storing: Allow the monster muffins to fully cool and then store on the counter loosely wrapped with tinfoil. Storing in a plastic bag can work, but will encourage condensation and reduce the shelf life. These muffins should be good for 4-5 days when properly stored.
Freezing: For longer storage, place cooled muffins in a resealable freezer bag and remove excess air, seal, and store in the freezer for 1-2 months. Simply thaw at room temperature before enjoying or pop in the microwave.
other Easy Breakfast recipes:
Green Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 cups tightly packed fresh spinach about 3 large handfuls or 125 g
- 2 cups oat flour 220 g
- ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce 185 g
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup maple syrup or granulated sugar see FAQ’s for sweetening with 100% applesauce
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ¼ cup whole milk or milk alternative
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
- Add the spinach to the bottom of the blender pitcher, then add all the ingredients except for the baking powder on top of the spinach. (This helps make sure the spinach actually blends!) Blend on high for 30-45 seconds, or until the batter becomes green and there are no pieces of spinach.
- Once fully blended, add the baking powder and blend for another 5 seconds – just long enough to incorporate it without overmixing.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin wells and bake for 15-18 minutes (16 minutes was perfect for my oven), or until the muffins have fully risen and are no longer gooey in the center.
- Allow muffins to cool fully to ensure they can be removed cleanly from the paper liners.
