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.
These are delicious! Thanks for the recipe! I used almond flour instead of the flax and, subbed kale for spinach (since I had it on hand), and used 3 pitted dates instead of the sugar. Still turned out great!
this looks yum and i’m sure tastes yummy. I try to make my kids eat healthy from a young age so I can relate with snacking on carrots because my kids do the same.
Hello
If I use butter , does it have to be melted ?
Yes! I recommend melting the butter!
Hi Laura, I attempted baking this muffins today. I found the recipe very easy however they did not turn good. The batter did not cook through. Instead of 2 cups rolled oats I used 1.5 cups oat flour. Maybe it was that or the fact that I used a little bit too much spinach. I will attempt this recipes on Wednesday one more time and will let you know! Greetings from Bolivia.
Hey Anna! A couple things to ensure your success next time! 2 cups of oats yields 2 cups of oat flour (believe it or not, I have measured many times)! So Definitely use 2 cups of oat flour. And stick with the amount of spinach the recipe calls for, otherwise the texture will definitely be off! I wish you better luck next time!
Made these today. So delicious! These will be a regular item in my house! Thanks for the great recipe.
YAY! So glad you enjoyed them Chelsie!
These were brilliant! Wanted to use up spinach and bananas but didn’t know where to start. I love that you’ve taken the time to carefully address substitutions. The muffins have turned out great both times I’ve made them. Praised by fussy junk-food loving teenagers, husband and eaten enthusiastically by baby. I’ll be checking out your other recipes. Thank you!
Hi!
Just wondering if I could use regular flour instead of oats? And any substitutions for the flax seed? These look delicious!
Thanks!
Tabitha
I made these tonight. Did the chia eggs and used the costco power green mix (kale, spinach and charge). It was delicious. Loved it.
hi, I’ve made green muffins before but with without the coconut oil. Does this help keep them moist? Mine were a little dry. The recipe I followed also used whole wheat flour and honey. Could I substitute the oat / coconut sugar with these?
I’m going to try your version next!
Hey Kendra! I always recommend trying the recipe as written! The coconut oil definitely makes them moist and tasty! I cannot guarantee the results if you use different flour and a liquid sweetener…however if you experiment please report the results!
Has anyone tried making these with Almond flour instead of oat flour????