Banana Spinach Muffins
Posted Feb 25, 2018, Updated May 31, 2024
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These blender banana spinach muffins are an easy, healthy, freezer-friendly breakfast recipe full of fruit and veggies.
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 their favorite 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!
How to Make Spinach 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!
Serve
Serve warm with a slather of homemade peanut butter or cinnamon honey butter.
Store/Freeze
Store these spinach banana muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Spinach muffins: Ingredients & 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 5,000 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.
- Granulated Sugar: organic cane sugar and coconut sugar are great substitutes.
- Whole milk: non-dairy and regular dairy milk both work well, especially almond milk.
- Salted Butter You may substitute vegan butter (like Earth Balance), coconut oil, or ghee.
- Eggs: For vegan version substitute the 2 eggs with 2 Tabblespoons ground chia seeds or ground flaxseed and 5 Tabblespoons water.
Spinach Muffins Recipe FAQs
No, I only recommend using a blender so that all of the spinach gets completely blended until smooth.
I often double this recipe to have enough in the freezer to last us a while.
I created these muffins for that exact purpose – to feed to my young babies/kids. Just make sure to cut them into very small pieces for babies and don’t ever leave a baby unattended while they are eating.
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Spinach Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup granulated sugar (or coconut sugar)
- ½ cup whole milk (or almond milk)
- 2 cups spinach leaves (packed)
- ¼ cup salted butter (or coconut oil, melted)
- 2 extra-ripe large bananas
- 2 eggs*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line a muffin tin.
- Blend 2 cups of old-fashioned oats in a high-powered blender until they 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 milk, bananas, melted butter, and spinach to the container of a high-powered blender 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). Alternately, you can add the dry ingredients to the blender and blend until combined.
- 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
- Ground Flaxseed: You may substitute equal amounts of almond meal or old-fashioned oats (ground into flour) for the flaxseed.
- Sugar: Use any granulated sugar you’d like.
- Milk: non-dairy and regular dairy milk both work well.
- Salted Butter: You may substitute vegan butter (like Earth Balance), coconut oil, or ghee.
- Eggs: For vegan version substitute the 2 eggs with 2 TBS ground chia seeds or ground flaxseed and 5 TBS water.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is my go to recipe for GF blender muffins for my family of 5! I usually make a triple batch and freeze some so they don’t disappear too quickly. I love that the muffins don’t turn out greasy or soak through the papers with the use of coconut oil (unlike other recipes I have tried).
I have had success using kale, chard, and even frozen spinach and/or kale if I don’t have fresh baby spinach on hand. It takes a bit more liquid to get the tougher or frozen greens blended, but it doesn’t impact the bake time or final baked texture of the muffins .
I have also had success using oat flour, premade GF flour blends, and my own blend of GF flours with success. It all depends on what is stocked in my pantry. The texture with flour is less coarse than milling your own rolled oats in a Vitamix. The makeup of the flour blends will impact the amount of liquid absorbed and it may need additional liquid if it is too thick.
Regular add ins include unflavored collagen protein powder, and vegan chocolate chips. Nuts or dried fruit would work, too!
The bake time in my oven is 20-22 minutes for regular size muffins and 15–18 minutes for minis. I use both older stamped steel muffin tins and newer nonstick, both with parchment muffin papers.
We LOVE these! Second time we’ve made them this month. We use butter for the coconut oil, white sugar for coconut sugar, and we do use eggs. Our kid has celiac and this is a great breakfast or snack for her, with the combo of iron and fiber. Thank you, Laura!
Is there a good substitute for the banana by chance? I really love the idea of the spinach but am allergic to banana. I do not need sweetness. Thanks!
Pumpkin or applesauce would work.
Can I use yogurt instead of the bananas? Thanks
Hmmm…it’s possible that would work. But you’d need to add sweetener.
I love these muffins. Wonder if I make this into a loaf pan instead of muffins. Thanks
Delicious! The only modifications I had to make was that I only had whole dairy milk instead of almond milk and I used a regular blender instead of a Vitamix. Even my husband loved them. They cam together quickly.
My grandkids love these! And so do I!!
I’ve been making these for years for. The sake of spinach and flax in our home and for food sensitive friends. Thanks for making and sharing this goodness!
I’ve baked these 4-5 times and my toddler loves them for a breakfast snack! Love that he’s getting in some greens!
I’ve made these a couple of timed with the kids and they love them!
Could this be baked into a loaf instead? Would the cooking time/oven temp need to change?
Thanks!