In an effort to get my kids to eat more vegetables, I have started pureeing veggies and sneaking them into food my kids normally enjoy. I have added carrots and cauliflower to their beloved mac and cheese, broccoli to pesto sauce, and avocado to smoothies. I have found baked goods to be the easiest to hide veggies in because the sweetness often helps to mask the veggie flavor. My kids recently helped me make this Zucchini Bread Recipe and it was such a big hit that I decided to try this easy Spinach Muffin Recipe. Check out all of our family friendly recipes while you're here!
Spinach Muffin Recipe
Ingredients to make 15 muffins:
- ¾ cup of pureed spinach
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup of oil
- ½ cup of applesauce
- 2 cups of flour
- ¾ cup of sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. This muffin recipe will make 15 yummy spinach muffins.
You will want to start with pureed spinach. I puree mine ahead of time and then freeze it in an ice cube tray. Then when I need the spinach I just thaw it out and add it to a recipe.
To puree spinach, steam spinach for a few minutes and then transfer to a Ninja or an old school blender. We bought a Ninja blender since we made these muffins and it just makes pureeing veggies a breeze. A traditional blender will take a longer to puree the spinach. Once you have your pureed spinach, use ¾ cups of it in a blender and add the vanilla, eggs, oil and applesauce. Basically, throw all your wet ingredients into the blender and blend until mixed together.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients until a batter forms and pour into muffin tins so each muffin is ⅔ full. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
When I first made these muffins I was worried about how they would taste. Would they have a spinach flavor? Would my kids eat them or be freaked out by the green color? All my worries were erased when I tasted them. They are moist and delicious and you can't taste the spinach at all. My veggie averse kids loved them and request them all the time.
These are so good fresh out of the oven with a little butter. They also freeze well. The next time your child turns up their nose at the veggies you offer, try this easy spinach muffin recipe.
Spinach Muffin Recipe - Food Fun Friday
Ingredients
- ¾ cup of pureed spinach
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup applesauce
- 2 cups flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Puree spinach and add ¾ cups of it to a blender along with the vanilla, eggs, oil and applesauce. Blend until mixed together.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients from the blender and mix the wet and dry ingredients until a batter forms Pour into muffin tins so each muffin is ⅔ full.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
For more muffin recipes:
Arlene Mullen
Made these for my boys. My 2nd one is not a veggie fan at all and loved these!
Vicky @ Mess For Less
So glad to hear that Arlene! You can't even taste the spinach!
Anonymous
I've been freezing veggies in ice cube trays when my son was a baby! Now he is in preschool, of course he doesn't like spinach but loves muffins so these is a great idea! How many ice cubes do I need for this recipe? I am excited to try this recipe! Thank you!!!
Vicky @ Mess For Less
I just thawed enough to fill up 3/4 of a cup. Hope you like it!
JuGu Bear
I tried making these muffins and wasn't very fond of them. Some parts tasted decent, but a little after wards you would taste a spinach chip type flavor. I think if you added cocoa and some chocolate chips, it would lesson the flavor. But this recipe just didn't do it for me. I am much sad.
Vicky @ Mess For Less
Bummer JuGu Bear. I have been making them for a while and they always get gobbled up and have tasted delicious to me and my family. Sorry you didn't have the same experience. Let me know if you try them with some chocolate chips. Thanks for the comment.
Chris
I've made this for my kids and they loved it. I only made small changes (used a bit of coconut flour instead http://www.tiana-coconut.com/products/coconut-superfoods/gluten-free-coconut-flour/ and replaced the sugar for coconut nectar http://www.tiana-coconut.com/products/coconut-superfoods/coconut-nectar-sugar-substitute/) because they are on a strict diet at the moment.
Itz Linz
i'm going to try these - question though. why do you steam the spinach before pureeing it? will fresh spinach work?
Mindy
Seriously - you can't taste the spinach! I used half wheat flour, half white, and cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup. Next time I want to try doubling the applesauce to eliminate the oil and more of the sugar. I had an issue of MAJOR sticking to the muffin wrappers - so I need to spray those next time too. And there WILL be a next time. Yum!
sarah
have you ever tried canned spinach? would that work?
Simone
Thanks for the recipe! My boys really enjoyed these! My post here: http://thesandboxyears.com/2015/09/04/green-cupcakes/
KC
Pretty good! Next time (because there will definitely be a next time!) I'll reduce the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup because they were a little sweet for me. They remind me a bit of banana bread, so I think they'd also be quite tasty with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, etc for a nice autumnal muffin or with chocolate chips for a treat. Unsweetened cocoa powder would also be good and healthy, and it would cover up the green color for particularly picky eaters.
Vicky
Oh that sounds so good! Please let me know how it goes if you try it with those changes. Thanks for stopping by!
Christina Aleman
Spinach muffins, sounds good and it looks fluffy and delicious too, and the color I love it. These are good food for picky kids.
Vicky
Thank you, they are quite delicious!
Rachelle
My (extremely picky-eater) son loves these muffins! He was a bit skeptical of the color, so I called them "Christmas muffins" and he gobbled them up! I used an avocado to replace the oil, a mix of whole wheat and almond flour, and increased the bake time to about 24 minutes... they were definitely a little more homely-looking than the originals, but still delish! Thank you!
Vicky
That is awesome to hear! Thanks so much for the kind words Rachelle! Have a wonderful holiday season!
Victoria
I used whole wheat pastry flour. My zero veggie child (he eats cauliflower fries just doesn't know it) ATE the whole thing!!! I knew he couldn't accept a green muffin first thing in the morning so I called them dinosaur muffins & used his leftover bday dino liners and had him help make them. He devoured and happily shared and barely let the fork go hahaha! NOW heres hoping he still eats them at breakfast!
P.S. I def made sure I can still buy the dino liners in case this becomes a thing.
THANK YOU! Carrot muffins are next!
Vicky
Victoria, thank you for your comment. I love reading comments like yours! I am curious about these cauliflower fries you mentioned. Do you make them yourself or can you buy them somewhere?
Beth
These are awesome! Taste like corn bread. My son loves to have them in his lunch, he's been requesting for me to make more. I freeze them, and they freeze beautifully. He makes his lunch after school to bring the next day, pops a frozen one in his lunch pail, and it's thawed out by lunch.
Vicky
Thanks so much for the kind words Beth! I am so glad he is enjoying them!
MelindaMaclay
Love these muffins, and the kids can't get enough! They are called "Yoda cakes" in our house, lol! I use frozen spinach thawed in the microwave for convenience, Grate a fresh apple with a squeeze of lemon juice instead of Apple sauce, and then NutriBullet this with all the wet ingredients before adding to the dry ingredients. Have also reduced the sugar down to 1/4 cup , but I add choc chips to keep the kids happy ? I have a batch in the oven now to which I have added some fresh grated nutmeg and 1/2 tspn of turmeric (because it's so good for us and you can't taste it in small doses with other ingredients I've found!)
Vicky
Thank you for the kind words Melinda! Love the additions you've mentioned and I can't wait to try them!
Erin
Can we substitute honey for the sugar?
Vicky
I have never tried that so I am sure how it would affect the recipe. If you try it, let me know how it works.
Kate
About how many cups or ounces of fresh spinach are needed to equal the 3/4 cup of puréed spinach? I have a lot of spinach but I don't want to use all of it unless I have to.
Vicky
About 6 ounces of fresh spinach worked for me.
sara rose
can I substitute applesauce for all the sugar? If I do that, do I need to put less oil?
Vicky
I have never tried that Sara. I would think you could eliminate some if not all of the oil. If you do this let me know how it goes.
KC
These were great! However I would reduce the flour and up the apple sauce to make them less bready. Also added coconut oil !
Daniela
Big success at my house!! i made them last month, and yesterday out of the blue my 3 years old daughter requested them again. When I started the recipe, my husband complained that I never bake "normal" muffins... as soon as he tried them, he ate two, he loved them so much!!
Vicky
Yay! I am so glad to hear that Daniela. Thank you for the feedback!
Mika
Something went wrong. I guess the measurement change if you use fresh spinach as after adding the flour to the wet ingredients i got a hard green paste.
I had to add 1/2 cup of water to get it to the right consistency..... in the oven now. How they come out good ............. i don't wanna throw them out 🙁
Mika
How many cups is 6 oz of spinach? Does the recipe say 3 or 4 cups or 3/4 of a cup ??? I don't get it 🙁
Mary
I used kale instead of spinach and subbed a bit of stevia for sugar kiddos loved them. I also tried with chocolate chips yummm. Thanks for sharing
Hayley
My kids will eat these but they are not one of our favorites, they will barely finish a muffin. I will not be making these again. I cooked mine for 18 minutes and they came out over cooked or maybe this is just a dry recipe.
TR
These are fantastic! I only had sweetened applesauce so I used that. After I steamed and puréed all the spinach I had, it was only about ¼ cup so I threw some frozen green beans in the blender to make up the difference. I was skeptical about the substitution but they turned out delicious and my picky kids are eating them up!
Hrather
I have been making these muffins for threes years now, and my son STILL loves them! He's 5 1/2 now, so we call them "monster muffins", this way he's not adverse to the green food. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!!!
Laura
The texture is decent, but the spinach flavor comes through more than I thought it would and leaves an aftertaste. I enjoy that these are healthy, but neither sweet or savory. If I make again, I’d probably add chocolate chips and/or coconut.