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.
My kids absolutely love these. They’re so easy to make and I love that they’l have tons of healthy stuff in them. This is definitely my most successful Pinterest pin ever!!
Hi I am really looking forward to trying this recipe. I’m not sure of the qty of spinach. How much is 2 cups, please can you give me I grams as I have store bought already chopped so not sure how much is 2 cups?
Hi laura! I made these and they are super delicious! I left them out at room temp and noticed they got a funky taste after about a day, so I was wondering how to store them? In the fridge? Do they freeze well?
Hey Laura! I always freeze them the day I make them actually! Then I just reheat them in the microwave when I’m ready to eat (for 30-60 seconds depending on how strong your microwave is)! I will make a note of that in the recipe!
Soooo good! I made the vegan version with Chia and water (instead of egg) and added a teaspoon of Spiruliina to the spinach. The result was so delicious. Thanks for the inspiration to use some super greens in muffins!
Any way to sub out the bananas? I’m sick of baking with bananas.
LOL Luana….I understand that sentiment! Sometimes we go banana crazy around here! You could try substituting 1 cup of applesauce…but I haven’t tried it so I cannot ensure excellent results! You could also try pumpkin or sweet potatoes, although the color of the muffins would be a little less appealing if you did! 😉
I gave these to my sister, who usually hates alternative desserts, and she asked me to make them again! About ready to pop’em out of the oven!
Hi laura 🙂 Wondering if I can substitute all the oat flour w Almond flour? Thanks
Hey Sarvy! I would not recommend substituting all the oat flour with almond flour, as oat flour is lighter and more closely resembles regular flour than almond flour does. What are your specific dietary needs? If you avoid oats you could potentially try using 1 1/2 cups almond flour and 1/2 cup tapioca flour in place of the oat flour, however I have not tried this and therefore cannot guarantee it will work super well. You could use an all-purpose gluten-free flour in place of the oat flour.
How come mine didnt rise like yours. ? I used food processor could that have made a difference? Can i use ninja blender instead of vitamix?
Hey Natalie! Using a food processor would definitely make the batter a touch heavier because the spinach wouldn’t be completely liquified, which could cause the muffins not to rise as much. Also something as simple as expired or close to it baking soda or baking powder could cause that problem as well! Did you make any substitutions?
H Natalie I just used my ninja to make these and they turned out great!:)
I just baked these muffins, and I am so excited about them. They are delicious, and were a complete breeze to make with a nutribullet. Thank you for this awesome recipe, I am super thrilled I found your blog through Pinterest! <3 <3
PS: I substituted ground chia for the flaxseed, and I was out of coconut oil, so canola still did the trick.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them and your substitutions worked well!! YAY!
These were great! My son has an egg allergy so I did the chia egg from the note in the recipe. Instead of sugar I used 5 dates and instead of the coconut oil I used plain yogurt. Mine only made 12 muffins with just a little leftover batter which I made a couple mini pancakes with. They were yum!
I’m SO glad you enjoyed them Reena! And I love all your substitutions that made them perfect for you and your family! YUM!