Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with veggies!)
With over a hundred 5-star ratings, these Healthy Chocolate Muffins are a must-make! Packed with good-for-you ingredients and so fluffy, these delicious muffins can also be mixed up in your blender and are done baking in just 20 minutes. Loaded with greens and carrots, you are going to love how much your family adores these healthy muffins!
These chocolate muffins are naturally sweetened, made with white whole wheat flour, and are made extra good for you with the addition of blended carrots, spinach or kale, and bananas! They are so delicious, fluffy, and perfectly moist. Mix them in your high-speed blender or in a bowl, these healthy chocolate veggie muffins are great as part of meal prep or for stocking up your freezer. Bonus: they are done, start to finish, in 30 minutes!
They are vegetarian and dairy free, but can easily be made gluten free when you use cup-for-cup gluten free flour in the batter.
Made these muffins but now you have leftover spinach? Check out How to Store Spinach (and keep it fresh all week long).
Healthy Chocolate Muffins
Healthier homemade muffin recipes are basically my go-to for all the meals. Breakfast. As part a snack-type lunch. As an easy mid-day munchie. Heck, let’s use them for dinner or as a healthy dessert too! When a muffin recipe is made from good-for-you ingredients, it can be part of any time of day.
Love veggie muffin recipes too? Check out my Oatmeal green smoothie muffin recipe and Healthy morning glory breakfast muffins, too!
Vegetable muffin recipe
If you follow me at all (on my email list, Instagram, Pinterest, or you simply visit the TNN website often), you probably know that I am kind of the queen of vegetable muffin recipes (this is a title my followers have given me, but I do say it is a weird gift I seem to have).
I feel like I am sharing a new veggie-loaded muffin recipe every few weeks. I love how easy muffins are, how healthy they can be (seriously, they can!) and that they are a great vessel for veggies. They are legit part of how our family eats and I probably will never stop finding new and creative way to stuff vegetables into muffins.
The difference between “hidden veggies” and “veggie-loading.”
Whenever I share a chocolate veggie-loaded recipe, I almost always get the question about whether or not I am trying to hide veggies from my daughter.
Nope! I’m just finding a way for all of us to get extra veggies in (because I don’t think I have ever heard of extra veggies being a bad thing) and a way for my daughter (and husband, and myself, and all of you!) to enjoy veggies that maybe we are feeling iffy about.
Friends, a recipe with vegetables in it is only hidden if the person eating doesn’t know the veggies are in there! Chocolate or not! I am upfront with my 8-year-old daughter about my habit of adding veggies to pretty much all the foods. I don’t think of it as hiding because she knows they are in there. In fact, she helps me make most of my recipes and is in charge of adding the vegetetables.
How kids can help make these Veggie Chocolate Muffins
So, you are down with letting your kids know that these delicious chocolate muffins in fact are packed with carrots and greens? Awesome! Let’s get them into the kitchen with you and making them with you so that they can also become confident in the kitchen!
Here are a few ways kids can help make these chocolate veggie muffins!
- Let them load the blender with the ingredients. Either you measure everything out and you let them dump everything in. Or you supervise as your older child measures everything out and adds it to the blender.
- Put them in charge of at least adding the veggies! If you are not ready to have them in charge of all the ingredients, think about at least letting them add the vegetables in this healthy muffin recipe to the batter. That way, they are 100% aware they are in there and will be dazzled by how delicious veggie can be!
- Have them push the buttons on the blender. Just make sure you put the top on first! Oh my, what a mess otherwise!
- Put them in charge of putting liners in the muffin tin. This is a great fine motor takes for young kids and low mess!
- Have them sprinkle bonus chocolate chips on top. If you are using them.
Wondering how to store your carrots so they stay fresh as long as possible? Check out my post on How to Keep Cut Carrots Fresh and get the most out of your produce buck!
Suggested adaptations
- Use a blend of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. If you can’t find white whole wheat or just don’t have it, you can use 1/2 cup white all-purpose flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour instead of the 1 cup white whole wheat.
- Make them gluten free by using a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend. I like this one.
- Make them vegan & egg-free. Replace the eggs in this recipe with 2 “flax eggs“.
- Skip the chocolate chips. If you want to reduce the sugar in these, just leave the optional chocolate chips out! They will still be yum!
Other healthy, veggie-loaded muffin recipes
- Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
- Healthy & Wholesome Banana Zucchini Muffins
- Healthy Morning Glory Breakfast Muffins
- Healthy Zucchini Lemon Muffins
- Mini Butternut Squash Blueberry Muffins
- Healthy Lunch Box Muffins
Loving these veggie-loaded chocolate muffins and are hungry for more?
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Healthy Chocolate Muffins (with Veggies!)
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, can sub 2 "flax eggs"
- 1 cup mashed overripe banana, can sub with 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 cup loosely packed spinach or kale
- ¼ cup oil, I use melted coconut oil or avocado
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour, can sub 1:1 gluten free flour mix, if needed
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup chocolate chips**, or to taste. If you omit, add a couple tablespoons of granulated sugar to help bring up the sweetness.
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 ℉ and line a 12-hole muffin tin with liners. Set aside
- In your blender, combine eggs, banana / applesauce, carrots, spinach/kale, maple syrup/ honey, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
- Blend until mixture is smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and cinnamon. Process until just mixed. If you do not have a high speed blender, combine everything in a bowl and mix by hand.
- Finally, fold in chocolate chips (if using).
- Portion batter into prepared muffin tin and top with extra chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy and let cool completely before storing leftovers in an air-tight container in fridge or freezer.
Have you tried it with the egg substituted with a flax egg? I didn’t see an alternate option given. Thanks!
I cover that in the suggested adaptations part of the post above!
Woah! So good!
These are dreamy. Even my daughter who isn’t interested in veggies in her muffins asked for one! 💪🏼
Yes! Thats so awesome!
Hi! These look incredible. Think oat or garbanzo bean flour would work?
Thank you!
Oat flour might work but will create for a much denser muffin. I personally feel like garbanzo flour gives baked goods a savory flavor and don’t tend to use it for sweet baked goods.
WOW! Ok this is definitely a keeper! I added a few sprinkles on top to look pretty and I don’t even feel guilty 😅 These are delicious!
I am so glad! I feel the same way. They are my new go-to chocolate treat to keep in the fridge!
Can I use white flour?
I haven’t tested these muffins with white all purpose flour yet, but I think it would work!
Made these twice now. My grandson really enjoyed helping me! I did use regular whole wheat flour. Still delicious!!
Oh yay! I am so glad and good to know regular whole wheat flour doesn’t dry them out too much!
So good! My non vegetable eating 2 year old loved them! Thank you!
That is so awesome! I’m glad they were a hit!
My babe is allergic to bananas. What and what amount would be a good sub?
Applesauce would work great!
Any substitution for apple cider vinegar?
You can use lemon juice or white vinegar. The ACV activates the baking soda to create rise. You can leave it out, the muffins will just be a bit denser.
Really enjoyed these
These were absolutely delicious! Everything I have tried from your blog is, though!
Awww thank you for your kind words! I am so glad you enjoyed these and some of my other crazy kitchen creations!
Is there a possibility to use almond flour and/or tapioca flour
I haven’t tried but a combo of the two might work. This recipe is Paleo, chocolate and has zucchini that you could easily sub with grated carrots and add a handful of spinach to https://thenaturalnurturer.com/paleo-chocolate-zucchini-muffins/
These are absolutely the MOST delicious muffins. My daughter loves to put the spinach in the blender and watch it disappear. We love them!
Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed them!
Could you use Sorghum & Spelt flour,which I think is equivalent to white or wheat flour? They have more nutrient value and fiber. How do you think Splenda would work? I have a diabetic in the family, so have you tried the chocolate chips w malitol,marital, sugar? I wasn’t sure of their taste. Thanks!
Hi Lilac! I have never baked with sorghum flour, but do have some experience with spelt. Spelt is a pretty thirty flour, so I do think it is pretty comparable to whole wheat flour…however, if you give it a go, you might need to add a little extra liquid depending on how much the flour soaks up before baking. I haven’t tried these subs, so let us know if you do try!
As for Splenda, I am not a fan of its flavor so I don’t use it in baking. I know monk fruit works well for me as a sugar alternative. I often find it in granulated form, so you could try that! But since it would be replacing a liquid sweetener (maple syrup), you’d also need to add a little extra liquid to the batter to balance everything out.
Ok I better put them away before I eat them all!! Super yummy!
I know! I need to hide them from myself sometimes!
This has to be my favorite TNN muffin recipe so far! The cinnamon made it so special! My toddler and I made it together and enjoyed it for snack today!
I am SO glad, Paula!! And I just love cinnamon in chocolate recipes!
Quick question: can you taste the veggies in the chocolate muffins, or do they just taste like regular muffins? And where do I find you to follow you? Facebook?
Nope, you can’t taste them! I am on Facebook but spend more time on Instagram!
So glad I tried this recipe, as these are extremely delicious and healthy muffins that turned out perfect! Embarrassed to say they only lasted 48 hours for my family of 3. Will be making another batch tmw. Thank you for such delicious recipes!
I am so glad they were a success with the whole family!
Do you have to use fresh carrots??
Hmmmm. I have never tried with frozen or canned, but maybe they would work. Are you thinking of using frozen grated carrots or something else? I would just be careful to drain any liquid off a frozen or canned veggie so that they don’t add too much moisture to the muffins.
These are really good, but mine came out tasting a bit metallic. I made them again with aluminum-free baking powder, but they still have that metallic aftertaste. What can I do?
Usually that is because of too much baking soda or baking soda that hasn’t been mixed well into the batter, but I use this measurement combo of baking soda and baking powder all the time and this is the first time I’ve heard it being metallic tasting. I wonder if it is your baking soda and not the baking powder giving them the funky taste. Is it old? Or a different brand than you typically use?
I’m glad you like them otherwise! I hope we can figure out the issue!
My family loved these!! They will be our go to recipe when we have over ripe bananas.
I don’t have a blender so I used my food processor. It didn’t liquefy the spinach and carrot as much as the blender but my picky kid still devoured them.
I am so glad, Andrea!
I realized once I put the muffins in the oven that I forgot to add the maple syrup/honey. These were still delicious and got thumbs up from my kids! I did add some chocolate chips. Definitely will make again. Thanks!!
I’m so glad they were a hit, Tracey! I can’t tell you how many times I forget a sweetener when baking and so appriciate a recipe that still turns out amazing without it!
Any way to make a cookie version of these?
What a fun idea! I haven’t tried that yet but I love the idea!
Just made the gluten free version using the baking mix from Aldi. I used dehydrated kale from last years garden and fresh grated carrot. I didn’t blend just mashed banana and mixed everything else well. They turned out so good! I can’t finally get veggies into my son!
I am SO GLAD to hear that! I am doing a happy dance for you and your son!
Can i ask if the consistency of these is like plain choc muffins? As otherwise my 5yo won’t eat them lol
I find the consistency to be fluffy and close to a traditional muffin!
This sounds amazing! Do you reckon the oil could be substituted with Greek yogurt?
That or applesauce! I’d probably recommend baking them in silicone liners if making oil free so that you don’t have a muffin stuck to a paper liner!
These sound fabulous! I have trouble with chocolate though. Are there changes I could make to omit the cocoa?
Thanks for any help.
I have oodles of veggie-loaded muffin recipes that don’t have chocolate, but if these have caught your eye, you could replace the cocoa with a little extra flour and skip the chocolate chips. Maybe add a touch more sweetener, too.
Also, the chocolate masked the “unique” color the mix of veggies gives these muffins…so just a heads up if you skip on the cocoa.
Could i use frozen spinach…..if so, how much frozen to would equal to 1 cup of fresh? We stocked up on lots of frozen veggies during the first lockdown and this is still lurking! Many thanks!!
You can. I would thaw it first and drain off the extra liquid. Perhaps start with a 1/3 of a cup thawed spinach. Hope you enjoy!
Wonderful recipe! Husband, 9 year old and 3 year old loved them!! I didn’t reveal the ingredients to my fussy daughter until I saw her gobble one heartily. I didn’t have choc chips so instead drizzled some glossy choc ganache frosting on top and didn’t feel guilty at all. Texture is soft, fluffy and moist. My little boy who helped me out, kept asking his older sister if she likes healthy spinach and chocolate LOL, so nearly blew my cover! Thank you for this recipe!!
I’m so glad these were a hit!
These are soooo good! They taste similar to the Costco muffins. My family had no idea that there were veggies and no sugar!
I’m so happy they were a success!
I don’t have apple cider vinegar, would a different vinegar work in this recipe? Excited to try it! 🙂
Yes. Regular white vinegar would be fine too
I can’t wait to try these! Could you use shredded zucchini instead of spinach? If so, would you have to alter the amount?
I haven’t tried replacing the spinach with zucchini in this recipe. If I did, I would probably do 3/4 of a cup grated zucchini and squeeze it out in a towel first before adding it to the recipe.
I just did these with zucchini instead of spinach – about 2/3 cup and squeezed the juice out. Worked perfectly. They’re amazing!
I’m so glad!
Ah thanks a million.
I have a very picky 2 year old and we are struggling to get anything vegetable related into her. I feel so disheartened as she was an incredible eater. So thank you for the chance to get some veggies in. I really appreciate it.
Hi Laura! I am so so so glad this recipe helped you and your family! My daughter going from being a diverse eater to “age appropriately picky” was a HUGE factor in the veggie-loaded approach being developed. I have a background in early childhood education and development and wrote this post about why children often struggle with veggies and other new foods to help parents and caregivers. Perhaps it will be of interest to you! https://thenaturalnurturer.com/how-to-help-your-picky-eater-try-new-foods/
Great taste. I used white flour. I did not have spinach or kale so just left out. Used only 2T oil..used 1/2 cup banana and 1/2C catherine. Great texture.
So glad you enjoyed then!
Really good going to make them again . Would not change a thing
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Karen!
Hello! The recipe looks great & easy! Will try it but can I use unsweetened 100% cocoa powder in this? Or will it make it bitter? Thank you!
Unsweetened cocoa works great!
These are so delicious, you’d barely know so much veggies were in them. I had grated zucchini left and subbed it for the carrots. These were so fluffy and the texture is perfect. We love them.
I’m so glad, Carri! Love the sub!!
So delicious! I used half all purpose flour/half tigernut flour to give more fiber and they turned out great.
Oh I have never baked with tigernut flour before! I need to try that. Thanks for sharing!
Delicious. My 5 year old loves them and he is beyond picky.
Yay! I am so happy to hear that, Stef! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience here 💚
I don’t have carrots, is there a substitute? Or will it be ok to make them without the carrots? Thank you.
They should turn out find if you omit them
My 1 year old and 4 year old absolutely loved the chocolate muffins! I made it without carrots and they were so yummy. Thank you for sharing such a gift to the world. 😊🙏❤
Aw! I am so happy to hear that, Jacquelyn! I’m delighted I can be you mama wingwoman in the kitchen
My whole family loved these muffins and they were gone in 3 days (yes all 18 of them 😬)
I did make a few subs just so I could use what I had available instead of making a trip to new grocery store.
-1 cup zucchini instead of spinach (shredded finely, left all the liquid of zucchini’s for extra moisture)
-shredded veggies finely and didn’t blend (baby was napping 🤷🏻♀️)
-1/4 cup brown sugar instead of maple or honey
– whole wheat flour
I say all this only because I was amazed at how delicious and fool proof this recipe is! I couldn’t believe the minimal amount of sugar/sweetener considering the huge amount of flavor. ALSO, this is the only recipe I’ve seen that packs in 3 CUPS OF VEGGIES!!! Normally veggie muffins make up for it with excessive sugar or skate by calling them veggie muffins because of the 1/2 cup addition of something green. Amazing job, thank you for sharing it with us! These are now staples in my daughters lunch box- although I may be getting side eye from teachers since these look so sinful lol.
I love love love that you find these foolproof! I’m glad you were able to adapt them to use what you had (because who wants to run to the store a million times?). And print the recipe off and give it to your daughter’s teacher! As a former teacher, it might inspire her to do some baking with the class 😉 I used to make my green smoothie muffin with my preschool students and so many kids who were anti-veggie discovered a way they loved their veggies. Thank you for taking the time to share a review, Topi! I deeply appreciate it.
So moist and decadent, almost like chocolate cake! This is the second recipe I’ve tried that’s been a family favorite. I’ll be back for more! Thank you!
Yay! I love that we are winning you over one recipe at a time!
I wish I had a kid to blame the picky eating on but I’m the guilty party. Always looking for new recipes to help me with that. I use 1/2 white flour and 1/2 oat flour, added some raw walnuts, dark chocolate chips and a tsp of espresso powder. They turned out delicious. Thanks for the great recipe!
I hear from so many adults that struggle to love their veggies (or new foods, period), so I am glad you enjoyed these! And I bet that espresso powder really elevated the chocolate flavor of these! Excellent addition. Thanks for sharing!
My 2 year old absolutely loves these!! Have you tried this as mini muffins? What adjustments in cooking time of anything else would you suggest if you think they would work ok as mini muffins?
Thanks!
I have! I usually find they are done cooking at about 13 minutes!
I made these for my husband who is a very picky eater, as a treat and a way for him to get some veggies in that he can consume. It absolutely did the trick. They were delicious and were great for a quick snack for a few days even straight from the fridge!
Absolutely divine! I love weird experimental goodies filled with veggies! I actually had success with adding 1/2 grated zucchini in addition to the other veggies! I wrung the zucchini so there would not be too much moisture and they can put so incredibly moist and delicious! My 3 and 5 year old had 3 almost immediately. Thanks for a veggie filled treat I can guilt freely give my babies 😁
I mean 1/2cup
LOVE that you were able to squeeze more veggies in! And so glad you enjoyed them so much, Trish. Thanks for taking the time to share your review!
My daughter doesn’t like bananas so I replaced the banana with steamed sweet potato and it worked really perfectly
Love that swap! Can’t wait to try. Thanks for taking the time to share, Alice!
Can you freeze them and eat later? If so, how to reheat?
Yes! They freeze great.
Obsessed! My daughter never was a chocolate fan, until these muffins. We try and always keep a freezer stock. You’d never know how full of veggies they are.
We love these muffins too and I am so glad they’ve become a staple!
Could I somehow use frozen bananas? I have so many in the freezer!
You could! Just thaw them first!
These were a hit for my kids and my hubby. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m so glad!
These are so amazing, I love the chocolate taste and even more I love that there are veggies in them!
I am so glad, Robin! Thanks for sharing!