These blender Spinach Banana Muffins are an easy, healthy, freezer-friendly breakfast recipe full of fruit and veggies! They are gluten-free, dairy-free and have no refined sugar!
This post was originally posted on August 1st, 2016 but has been refreshed with new photos and a video!
You all know I have a thing for hiding vegetables in baked goods. Usually, my veggie of choice is zucchini, but today I’m mixing things up a bit! This recipe for Spinach Banana Muffins is healthy, delicious and easy! My kids love them because they’re green! We even call them “Hulk muffins,” which my son thinks is the coolest things ever. Because what kid wouldn’t want to eat a muffin named after a super cool super hero?
I love making these for my family because they’re a breakfast I feel great about serving them! These Spinach Banana Muffins are gluten-free, refined-sugar free, dairy-free and vegan-friendly! They taste like a green smoothie but in muffin form!
Parenting tangent:
I used to stress about feeding my kids veggies. I so desperately wanted them to beg me for giant plates of stir-fry and get excited over skewers full of colorful grilled vegetable-goodness. This is why my husband is so wonderful (well, one of the many reasons). He helps me see reality…that even though our kids don’t go gaga over a bowl full of roasted Brussels sprouts, the hard work has paid off and they really are great eaters.
They just know that lunch and dinner always include one fruit and one veggie. I ask them “what veggie do you want” (as opposed to, “do you want a vegetable?”) and they get to choose. It’s usually carrots or cucumbers (and always raw), but I am perfectly fine with that.
My goal is to teach my kids at a young age that healthy eating is important. I think they get the drift, and sometimes they even ask for a snack of carrots and hummus just because that’s what they’re craving! There is the occasion, when we’re out or at a friends’ house, when I give them a break from eating veggies, and they totally notice! A real conversation between my kids one night on vacation:
Gabe: “MOM! There is only pizza on my plate! No veggies?!”
Me: You’re right Gabe, you can have only pizza for dinner tonight. But I would be happy to get you some veggies if you’d like!
Gabe: No! I want to only eat pizza! BETHANY! We get to only eat pizza and no veggies!
LOL LOL! I love my kids! And I love that less-than nutritious eating is considered a special treat and not the norm for them! Plus, on days when I know we’re having a “pizza only” type of dinner, I can feed them Spinach Banana Muffins for breakfast! They get a healthy serving of fruits and veggies without even noticing! Zero stress! Total deliciousness! Complete win!
How to make Spinach Banana Muffins
The best way to make these Spinach Banana Muffins is to use a high-powered blender, like the Vitamix! Using a Vitamix to thoroughly blend the ingredients in these Spinach Banana Muffins results in a final product that has zero traces of spinach, well except for the awesome green color!
- Blend dry ingredients then set aside. To make these muffins…start by putting the oats into your clean, dry Vitamix and turn them into oat flour! Add the rest of the ingredients, blend and set aside.
- Blend wet ingredients. When blending anything in the Vitamix, always add the liquid first! In this recipe, start by adding the liquid ingredients, banana and spinach and blend until smooth before adding the dry mixture!
- Freeze. After baking, let the muffins cool and then freeze in an airtight container. To reheat, simply warm in the microwave for 30-60 seconds per muffin!
Spinach Muffins: Substitutions
These are extremely forgiving muffins and there are many acceptable substitutions (although I always recommend making the recipe exactly as written to achieve the best results)! Even at high altitude (I bake at 4800 ft. above sea level) they rise beautifully and have a wonderful texture! Some notes about substitutions:
- Ground Flaxseed: You may substitute equal amounts of almond meal or old-fashioned oats (ground into flour) for the flaxseed.
- Coconut Sugar: You may use any granulated sugar of your choice! I do not use sweeteners, but if you wanted to experiment with stevia (or a similar product) I recommend using a variety that is meant to be a 1:1 substitute for granulated sugar.
- Almond milk: you may use any non-dairy milk to keep the recipe dairy free. Or you may use regular milk!
- Coconut Oil: You may substitute vegan butter (like Earth Balance), regular butter, or ghee!
- Eggs: For vegan version substitute the 2 eggs with 2 TBS ground chia seeds and 5 TBS water.
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Spinach Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup coconut sugar or your favorite granulated sugar
- ½ cup almond milk
- 2 cups packed spinach leaves
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 extra-ripe large bananas
- 2 eggs**
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line a muffin tin.
- Put 2 cups of old-fashioned oats in your blender (Vitamix) and blend until the oats achieve the texture of flour. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the oat flour (ground flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar). Set aside.
- Add almond milk to the blender followed by 2 cups of spinach. Blend together until completely smooth and homogenous.
- Add bananas and coconut oil and blend until smooth.
- Add vanilla and eggs and blend until just combined
- Pour wet ingredients to dry mixture and stir to combine (making sure there are no lumps)!
- Fill each well in your muffin tin with ¼ cup of batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and the top springs back when touched.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
These Spinach Banana Muffins are another healthy-eating staple in my house. Sometimes I get crazy and add chocolate chips (or cinnamon chips)! Serve them slathered with a healthy amount of almond butter and you have yourself the perfect breakfast!
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Shelby
Just made these in mini muffin form for my 1 year old and they’re great! I made them according to the recipe, except I used probably 1/3 cup of sugar instead of 1/2. They were still a little sweet for my taste, so I’ll probably reduce it to 1/4 cup sugar next time. The bananas already add plenty of sweetness if you make sure they’re ripe enough. 17 min in the oven worked great for batches of 24 mini muffins. Thanks for the yum recipe! I know my little one will love them!
Merlynn
The bananas here seem really small so I put in 4. I also replaced half the coconut sugar with xylitol. I think this made it a fraction too sweet so next time I would leave out the 2 Tbs of coconut sugar! Except for these changes I stuck to the recipe and loved the result! They tasted a bit more like cupcakes than muffins to me! I’m wondering what makes them so fine grained and delicate. I made a banana oat bread recently and it was far coarser. The recipe included no oil or fat so I’m wondering if it’s that that makes the difference. I’m glad to get more spinach into my diet in a different form 😊
Merlynn
One more question – I sifted (with a fine mesh strainer) most of the oat flour after it went through the blender and saw quite a texture – and a colour change! Would this have affected the outcome at all? I didn’t do it with the linseeds I blended and so the flax was pretty course. Does one soft gluten free flours generally?
Eva
Thanks for this recipe. My 2 year old is allergic to eggs, dairy and much more and these are a great easy breakfast on the go. They never last long though, between the 3 kiddos and us, they are usually gone in a day or two. ive been doing double batches for a while and everyone loves them!
Nadia
Yum! Did 2.5 bananas since mine were quite small and replaced coconut oil with applesauce and they worked out so well!! My hubs is gluten free and loved them so much he wondered aloud why he can’t get gluten free muffins this good in local coffee shops! Oh and I used bobs red mill egg replacer for the two eggs. Thanks!
Amy
This might be a silly question, I’m not a baker (love these though). How would I change the recipe to make it into a cake? Maybe like a 9×9 or 9” round?
Laura
Hey Amy! I have not tried doing that so I cannot advise you on how to go about it! I’m sorry!
Sarah
I love these and make a double batch once a month for the freezer. How did I run out of bananas? Do you think I could replace the bananas for applesauce? Wanting to make them.in the morning. I might just risk it.
Sheila
Would frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed) work instead of fresh?
Holly
My little man loves these! I added blueberries and traded half the oats for almond flour.
Alexanndra
Made these for my almost 2 year old. Trying to sneak some more veggies in her diet .These turned out delicious! Added some unsweetened shredded coconut in the batter along with some chia seeds. Topped half with some Nutzo butter spread and a little Trader Joe’s cookie butter for a little extra love. This will be a new staple in our home.
HW
Could I use instant oats?
Or spelt flour?
Laura
You could use spelt flour!
Rachel Soule
I’ve made these like 3 or 4 times now and my 2 year old loves them! I feel so good about giving these to my son every day because of all the healthy ingredients. I usually use olive oil instead of coconut oil and they turn out just as good. I also use 3 bananas instead of 2 cuz my bananas are usually on the smaller side. These muffins are not that sweet but they’re not bland, they’re somewhere in middle and still so satisfying.
Laura
Woo hoo!! So glad your son enjoys them!
beth
Will these keep in the fridge for an whole week?
RNL
If I don’t havr a vitamix can I use oat flour instead of the oats? If so, how much?
Laura
Yes you can! Use an equal amount of oats : oat flour! (the same amount of oat flour as oats called for in the recipe)
Mollie
BEST allergy-friendly muffins I have made!! We avoid egg, dairy, gluten & soy so these are a GOD send! Love how fluffy they are! Maybe because you blend dry first, then wet before combining! Love the HULK name too!! KEEPER!! THANK YOU!
I USUALLY ONLY FIND MY FAVORITES ON MINIMALIST BAKER, I will need to try more recipes HERE!
Courtney DeBose
So good my 13 month old loves them. Can I store at room temp? I used chia instead of egg not sure if that makes a difference!
Laura
I usually store them in the refrigerator or freezer!
Vanessa
This recipe is the best!
Laura
Thank you!
Rachel
Hi Laura,
Can I use unsweetened applesauce instead of coconut oil? And what about honey instead of sugar?
Thank you 😉
Alyssa
Did you try the honey instead of sugar? Or applesauce instead of sugar? Trying to avoid sugar…
Camille Maxine Matta
Made these today and WOW! So good! My new favorite muffin recipe. I always have a bag of spinach and extra bananas around. Great recipe, super healthy, too. Thank you!!
Laura
Thank you Camille! I’m so glad you love them!!!
Ella
Can I do it without baking soda, use flax egg instead of egg and change flaxseed to quick oat flour? Thanjs
angela myers
Added strawberries and blueberries. Came out great.
Brittany Volpe
Absolutely LOVE this recipe, and so do my two little ones! Only thing is I can never get them to ride. They stay very flat. Am I missing something??
Laura
Are you making any substitutions? I would check to see if your baking soda or baking powder is expired or not fresh!
SR
This is a go to weekday breakfast for my 2 year old.
I substitute Coconut oil with Ghee, Almond milk with Whole Milk and top it up with a couple of chocolate chips. They always come out perfect. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Richelle
Could these be made in a bread pan? I don’t have muffin cups!
Camryn
I made them using a bread pan. Half of the loaf turned out perfect, but the other half wasn’t cooked thoroughly. I would suggest cooking it longer.
Laura
I just made these for my 3-year-old son, who scarfed down 2 and tried to go back for a third. Great recipe. Thank you!
Laura
Woo hoo! Yay for sneaky veggie muffins!