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!
More delicious recipes
- Check out our favorite BEST banana bread recipe!
- These paleo zucchini banana muffins are one of my favorite breakfast recipes!
- This Paleo Banana Bread is amazing!
- Paleo Blueberry Banana muffins are a reader favorite.
- This peanut butter banana baked oatmeal is SO good!
- These are literally the best banana muffins you will ever make or eat! Seriously the best.
- This banana cake is to die for.
- Spinach banana muffins are healthy and delicious!
- These double chocolate zucchini muffins are so good!
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.
IF YOU MAKE SOMETHING FROM JOYFOODSUNSHINE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS! DON’T FORGET TO RATE THIS RECIPE AND LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW! ALSO, FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE AND TWITTER FOR MORE RECIPE INSPIRATION AND A GLIMPSE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIFE!
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!
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product through a link you clicked on here, I receive a portion of the sale. Thank you for supporting JoyFoodSunshine!
Kate
I’ve probably made this recipe 50 times now! It’s a family favorite for a quick healthy breakfast or snack! If you have a high enough powered blender, I put everything in at once and viola, it works beautifully! Thanks for the great recipe!
Laura
I’m so glad you love them Kate!!!
Heather
I love using this recipe not only for the wholesome ingredients, but because my 2 year old can be my sous chef. He loves dumping everything in the blender and getting to turn it on? Jackpot!
As others have said, this recipe is very forgiving. I often use what I have and work from there. We almost always add more cinnamon than called for (big cinnamon lovers in this house) and I’ve used a variety of sweetening options depending on what is available. Somedays we make them “super green” and add chia seeds to help balance the moisture from the extra spinach.
GeriAnne Anglin
This recipe has become my “go to” favorite! I even add fresh blueberries to the batter and love that as well. The muffins freeze well so I can make a double batch. I am so grateful I found the healthy muffin recipe! Thank you!!
Laura
Thank you so much!
Liz
If I already have ground oat flour can I use that instead of old fashioned oats? How much would you recommend using ? Excited!!
Laura
Yes absolutely! Oats : oat flour is a 1:1 ratio. use i.e. use the same amount of oat flour as it calls for oats.
Nancy
I have made other Spinach Banana muffins that did not keep their vibrant green color and, even though they contained more sugar, were not nearly as sweet. These were a hit with my husband and his partner who couldn’t believe that something that tasted so good could be healthy. Will definitely make again!!
tictacso
These were a hit with my 4-year-old and my 1-year-old twins. I’ve tried several banana spinach recipes in the past and they were always a little bland for me, but even I really enjoy these. The only thing I would do differently next time is to double the recipe to always have some handy for the whole family 🙂 Thanks for a great recipe!
Laura
Thank you so much! They freeze well also! 🙂
Jenn
I have been meaning to leave a review for quite a while. I have made these several times and my 2-year old and I love them!
This is a very flexible recipe and I have made several substitutions successfully.
* replaced the oil with applesauce
* replaced 1 cup of the spinach with zucchini (shredded and wrung out first) and blended
* made them vegan with the chia seeds as per the note given
* made them in a mini muffin tin for small hands
They are so delicious and moist. Thank you again for such a great recipe!
Laura
Thank you Jenn!
Nicole Owens
I made these exactly as the recipe states and they are very good. I was pleasantly surprised, actually! My son-in-law LOVES them! They freeze perfectly 2 per 4 oz mason jar, then defrost for a minute in the microwave. Thank you so much for sharing!
Christina
Our kids love these muffins. I make it with all oats (instead of flax), dairy milk and white sugar. They have them most days of the week for breakfast. Im so thankful for a choice that gives my picky daughter veggies! I make these every other week and double the recipe. Been making them for over a year now. They freeze perfectly.
Laura
Thank you Christina!
Sarah
Yum! Made as written except used regular cane sugar. And added chocolate chips 🙂 Kid and grown up approved!
Laura
So glad you enjoyed them Sarah!
Leslie
These muffins are gooood! Didn’t have coconut sugar though and didn’t want to use refined sugar so I tried using maple syrup and reduced the amount to just 1/3cup. Still turned out really good. Best part: my 15-month old loved it! Thanks for another yum recipe!
Laura
Thank you Leslie! I’m so glad you and your sweet baby loved them!
Tenica Johnson
I was skeptical about this recipe but I made it anyway and have no regrets. This is so good. The only thing I would change is to reduce the sugar or use honey. Overall love it.
Laura
I’m glad you gave it a whirl! 🙂
Trina
Loved these for my toddler! I used my mini muffin tin to make them toddler-sized (the recipe makes 68 mini muffins, if anyone was wondering)! Thank you!
Michelle Alcalde
This is a go to recipe for my daughter and I. She is two years old and we have been baking them together for a year and will continue to do so. It will become a family tradition and a recipe to be passed down from generation to generation. They are amazing, tasty and nutritious. Thank you so much!
Katie
Can this be made into a bread? I have made the muffins ad-nauseam (my son loves them!), but I’m wondering if it needs to be tweaked in order to make it be recipe as a bread. Thank you!
Prachi
Amazingly turned out! My son loved them. If you can provide same muffins recipe with beetroot and carrots, I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much
Kate
Best muffin recipe ever, and it’s sooo much healthier than most! We make these at least twice a month and store the extras in our freezer. Love that my toddler is getting his greens in the muffin (we also add chocolate chips 🙂
Laura
Thank you Kate! So glad you and your sweet baby love them!
Nirusha
Tastes truly delicious! However, I couldn’t get the muffin shape when I poured in 1/4 of the muffin tin. Do you have any advise for this?
Patty Eilers
I needed to use up some fresh spinach before it spoiled and I found this recipe. It turned out great but I did make a few modifications to it.
Firstly, I didn’t have fresh bananas so I used frozen ones. After adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients because I like the chewiness of oats in my muffins. I knew I was going to do this so I added a bit more almond milk in advance when I mixed the wet ingredients. I also cooked the muffins for about 5 minutes longer…to account for the additional moisture and the fact that I live at 7600′ feet in altitude.
These muffins are earthy, hearty and mildly sweet. Just what I was hoping for!
Dhanu
How long can it be frozen for?
Lidya
Ahmazing!!!! First time trying this, used organic whole milk, and butter instead of almond milk and coconut oil and it came out amazing!
Laura
I’m so glad you love the recipe, Lidya