These kid-friendly vegan spinach muffins are as yummy as they are healthy! Made from whole grains, naturally sweetened and veggie-loaded, they are mixed entirely in your blender and are dairy-free and egg free! The perfect healthy breakfast or snack for your family.
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“Here lies Taesha. She was a loving wife, mother, friend, daughter, and sister. She taught many children, loved hiking, feared snakes, couldn’t sing to save her life and brought the world Green Smoothie Muffins.”
This is what I imagine my tombstone will one day read. All of the great things that have defined me in life, and yes, green smoothie muffins makes the list.
If you are new around these parts, you probably have no idea what the heck I am talking about. But for you longtime TNNers, you know how popular and magical my Oatmeal Green Smoothie muffins are. Not a day goes by that I don’t get a handful of pictures in my email or DMs on Instagram of adorable kiddos shoving green smoothie muffins into their cute little faces. Or notes from parents and caregivers sharing how the Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins have changed how their children feel about green veggies, or that it is the only veggie-packed recipe they can get their selective eater to enjoy, or that it is their go-to easy breakfast that is both healthy and beloved by the family. Yep, Green Smoothie muffins are awesome and loved by many.
However, I also get a handful of emails from parents that are working with children with food allergies who can’t do eggs or dairy. Or their family is vegan by choice for various reasons. Or that they have a texture sensitive kiddo that finds the oat flour in the Green Smoothie muffins a bit too dense. So, I have created a twin sister to the Green Smoothie muffins with those particular people in mind. TNNers, say hello to Kid-Friendly Vegan Spinach Muffins.
All the flavor and easy you all love in my Green Smoothie muffins, but made from white whole wheat flour (for a lighter texture) and free of eggs and dairy! And just because it’s fun, I threw some mini chocolate chips into the mix! Because chocolate makes everything more exciting…but especially new green foods!
Suggested Adapations
- Make them gluten free. Sub the whole wheat flour with your favorite 1:1 gluten free flour blend! I like Bob’s Red Mills blend.
- Egg-free not important? If you don’t need these muffins to be vegan, replace the water and flax meal in this recipe with 2 large eggs.
- Dairy-free not important? Again, this these muffins look like something you need in your life but them being vegan isn’t important to your crew, use whatever milk your family enjoys or has on hand!
- Skip the chocolate chips. And enjoy these as is!
- Replace chocolate chips with raisins, blueberries or chopped nuts. Or whatever else you can dream up!
- Bake it as a loaf! Bake it at the same temperature for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Tips for making kid-friendly vegan spinach muffins
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender that can handle a heavy load, consider blending JUST the wet ingredients + spinach in the blender (everything mentioned in Step 3 of the directions). Once blended, combine the blended wet ingredients + the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until the batter has an even consistency. Fold in chocolate chips and bake as normal.
- If you are making it for extra littles ones, skip the maple syrup/date syrup, salt and chocolate chips! The banana sweetens these nicely on their own.
- Start slow with the spinach for veggie-iffy kiddos. If your child (or partner) hasn’t hopped on the green food train yet, try adding just one very small handful of spinach for the first batch. The muffins will be lighter in their green color and less intimidating. When you make another batch, add a little bit more if your family seems open to it.
How to make these vegan spinach muffins with kids
Involve children in the baking! This recipe is simple and a great one to bake with kiddos….especially since it involves add vegetables. And lots of research shows that children who are involved in the cooking process are drastically more likely to be open to trying new foods! Since there is no eggs, you can relax about the kiddos licking their fingers during the cooking process.
- Have your child add the spinach to the blender. Let them decide how much too! Even if it is just one leaf of spinach, your child will know that there is a veggie in the muffins.
- Let them mash the bananas.
- Have him/her sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the muffins before popping them into the oven.
Other veggie-packed muffin recipes kiddos love!
- Egg-free Carrot Apple Muffins
- Vegan Carrot Muffins (with lentils)
- Dairy-free Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Muffins
- Dairy-free Chocolate Butternut Squash Muffins
Kid-Friendly Vegan Spinach Muffins
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ground flax meal
- 5 tbsp water
- 1 cup mashed banana
- 1-2 cups loosely packed baby spinach depending on how green you want them. Don't go crazy though…too much spinach will add extra moisture and the muffins might be mushy in the middle
- 1/4 cup oil I use melted coconut oil or avocado
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or date syrup Sub honey* if vegan is not needed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup almond milk or milk of choice
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour can sub 1:1 gluten free flour mix, if needed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- chocolate chips** to taste and optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 ℉ and line a 12-hole muffin tin with liners. Set aside
- Combine flax meal and water in a small bowl and let it sit for about 5 minutes to let it "gel". This will form a "flax egg" and work as a binding agent in the muffins.
- After the "flax egg" has has a chance to gel, add it to a blender along with the maple syrup/ date syrup, banana, milk, spinach, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
- Blend until mixture is smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and process until just mixed.
- 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 and store leftovers in an air-tight container in fridge or freezer.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!
Just made these and my family keeps stealing them off the cooking rack! Really soft and great flavor! I loved your original recipe but this is great for a switch up depending on what I have on hand!
These are delicious!! I usually make your green oatmeal blender muffins but these are nice to mix it up a little! They were easy to make with my kiddos help (ages 3 and 6) and were fluffy and tasty! We made these and the green smoothie today for St. Patty’s Day
Yikes! Tried to give these a five star rating but somehow it marked four!
LOL I can’t tell you how many times I have done that on other sites!
Yay! I am glad it was a hit! So fun and so many veggies!
These muffins are SO so so good! I’ve made them a few times already switching up applesauce and bananas and also eggs and flax eggs. They are literally foolproof and turn out great no matter what! I love your spinach blender muffins but these are truly next level! Thank you so much for all your amazing recipes!
Yes! I love a forgiving recipe that you can make with whatever you have on hand! So glad you are loving them@
I followed the recipe exactly and these didn’t work for me at all. I had to bake for an extra 5 mins and they were still soggy inside and deflated as soon as they started to cool. Did the coconut oil need to be melted beforehand? They tasted so good, despite being mushy — we just scraped them out of the muffin liners and ate the mash. I want to try these again but am wondering what I did wrong?!
Hi Brittany! Sorry to hear they didn’t work. Let’s see if we can do some trouble shooting. I know I have had some readers try to put extra spinach in and that adds too much moisture to the muffins and they stay mushy. And yes, the coconut oil should be melted to help it evenly distribute into the muffin. I went back and realized I had left that part out of the recipe and will for sure update it!
Thanks so much for your reply! I should’ve known to melt the coconut oil. I tried them again tonight but they still deflated and are mushy inside. I used 1.5 loose cups of spinach. My toddler is OBSESSED with them regardless so will experiment with my oven settings next time and see if I can get them to cook through properly. 🙂 Look forward to trying more of your recipes!
I’m so glad they still taste good! So interesting that they are still mush. I’d love to help you figure this out. I think you might be on the right track with the oven. I know I had to get a thermometer to keep inside my oven since it is old and it started not cooking at the right temperature. It helps me know how hot is actually is vs what the failing sensor tells me.
Love this recipe!!! I have been trying to incorporate different veggies in my sons diet as he typical sticks to his staples of carrots, bell peppers, cucumber and green beans. He gave me two thumbs up and even asked for more! THANK YOU!! I also used this recipe and added brewers yeast to increase my milk supply as I am a nursing mama and it worked great!
This warms my heart so much! I am SO glad it was a success and I love the idea of turning them into “nursing muffins” with the addition of the brewers yeast!
Big hit! We used silan as the sweetener, and canola oil for the fat. My kids dont usually like spinach, and were begging for more
Such a win! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Taesha,
The same thing is happening to me! I put them to cook in a pan and it has been over an hour, but remains mushy. I tasted the mush and it was delicious!
Well I am glad they taste good but the mush factor is a bummer! Any changes to the recipe? One thought is people sometimes get excited about the spinach and add more, which adds too much moisture to the recipe and can result in mush.
Hi, this sounds great! I have plenty of silver wet in my garden, could I substitute this for the baby spinach at all please?
Thankyou
Hmmmm….I’m not familiar with silver wet and am not sure how the flavor might be different than spinach.
Is it possible to omit the coconut oil? Or what can I replace it with to make it oil free?
Thanks
I find that unsweetened applesauce is a great oil sub in baked goods. They might stick to paper liners without oil, so maybe use silicone muffin liners if you have them!
I can’t remember if I have commented here before, but this is honestly my GO TO recipe of yours! I love that they are green and fun and my girls love them (and their friends who have been over to eat them too)