These Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins are so easy to make and so delicious! Perfectly sweet, soft and packed with healthy greens! They are naturally gluten free, dairy free, naturally sweetened, and loved by all…especially kids!
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Spinach Muffins
We are a smoothie-lovin’ family. And I am a smoothie lovin’ girl. But, to be honest with you, if I have to drink another green smoothie in the near future…..I might cry.
Don’t get me wrong. I have a mega soft spot for green smoothies. However, as amazing as smoothies are…they can get old. Real old. Just like any other food you eat day in and day out. Variety is the spice of life, and smoothies are no exception to this rule.
I didn’t really think about this fact until one day, I found myself glaring at my morning smoothie.
“You again,” were the words running through my head as I forced myself to gulp down the sweet green blend.
Force. In my book, that is never something that should be part of eating.
Healthy or not, you should never force yourself to consume something. Eating is the act of nourishing and fueling your body, but there are so many emotions tied into the act as well. When you force yourself to consume something that brings you zero joy, you leave the meal hungry….not unfulfilled food wise…but still hungry and looking for more.
In my personal experience, the days that you force yourself to eat something that bring you no joy are also the days you tend to go grazing on things that are less than nourishing…..
Green Smoothie Muffins
It was one day when I was making a batch of my Flourless Peanut Butter Muffins in my blender that the idea of a green smoothie muffin dawned on me. I made muffins all the time during my meal prep or quickly the night before an exceptionally busy day…. why not throw greens into the mix?
I really feel like having veggies in every meal is an important part of healthy living and green smoothie muffins would fill the easy healthy void my temporary smoothie break left in the morning.
So, that day…Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins were born.
Loaded with nutrient-dense greens, naturally sweetened with bananas and a little honey/maple syrup, and packing an extra punch of fiber-rich rolled oats for good measure…a new breakfast favorite was born.
In true mommy blogger form, I tested this recipe out on my daughter (and her friend that was over for a play date (don’t let me baby sit your kids unless you are willing to let me feed their weird healthy things in the name of recipe development) before I even considered bringing this recipe to the rest of you. And it passed….with flying colors.
In fact, when I caught the kids stealing more green smoothie muffins off of the cooling rack, I knew I had just made a recipe that would make a lot of families’ life healthier and tastier!
Tips for making Green Smoothie Muffins
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender, blend your oats alone first. Then add the other ingredients! This will help them to have a smoothie texture!
- Adjust how much spinach you put in to fit your taste/needs. The more spinach = the darker the shade of green these muffins turn out. The less spinach = the lighter shade of green.
- Let them cool completely before eating. You CAN eat them still warm, however, they may be till a bit soft in the middle and stick to your liners. Baked goods continue cooking when hot out of the oven and firm up as the cool.
- Store in the fridge or freezer! They will last much longer!
Suggested Adaptations
- Skip the sweetener! If you are looking for a little less sugar in your life, either reduce the amount of maple syrup/honey you use or let the banana do all the sweetening and leave the honey/syrup all together! I do this often!
- Make it egg-free! Sub the eggs in this recipe with a mixture of 2 tablespoons ground flax meal + 6 tablespoons WARM water.
- Want to try them Paleo? I’ve got you covered! Try this Paleo version of the these awesome muffins!
Other veggie-loaded muffin recipes you are going to love
- Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Muffins
- Almond Butter Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
- Nut-Free Paleo Chocolate Butternut Squash Muffins
- One-Bowl Paleo Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Kid-friendly Vegan Spinach Muffins
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Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins
Equipment
- Blender
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 bananas, very ripe
- 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups rolled oats, uncooked Gluten Free option, use gluten free oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 handfuls baby spinach depending on how green you want them. Just don't go crazy, as too much spinach add too must moisture to the recipe and muffins will turn out wet.
- 1/4 cup milk of choice I used unsweetened almond milk, but you can use whatever your family prefers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Line a 12-hole muffin tin with liners
- Combine all ingredients in your food processor
- Blend until the batter has a smooth consistency and even color
- Portion out between the 12 muffin tin liners
- Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean
- Cool in a pan for 10 minutes before transferring the muffins to a cooling rack
- Enjoy warm or allow to cool completely before storing in the fridge for up to 5 days or in a freezer for up to a month.
Do you think a flax egg substitute would work in this recipe?
Yes! I’ve tried them several times and they work great!
I accidently made them without any eggs and they still turned out. A bit dense, but tasted great!
Made these today & my kids loved them. Super simple to throw together. Tasted great
Love hearing that! Thank you for sharing!
These were delicious, they tasted like a banana muffin! I made them slightly differently; I soaked the oats overnight with a bit of apple cider vinegar. I then reduced the apple cider vinegar in the recipe to 1 tsp, and omitted the almond milk. Since we didn’t have enough spinach, I topped up with kale. What a great way to get in some greens!
Love the little changes! Soaking made those oats even more digestible! A great idea I’ll try the next time I make this recipe!
Would you have a suggestion for a banana substitute? My babe is allergic to bananas 🙁 the rest of the recipe sounds like it could be her favorite treat. Thanks.
I have substituted successfully with avocado, berries, applesauce, and pumpkin. I use between 3/4 and 1 cup of purée of choice. I just used 1/2 cup apple sauce and 1/2 cup pumpkin. I added a smidge extra maple syrup and used pumpkin spice. They turned out great…although not the most appetizing color.
these are delicious!!! officially my new favorite muffin
Do you think these would work as mini-muffins? If so how long would you suggest baking them for? My 3 year old will only eat "mini" muffins lately
Yes! I would start by cooking them for 8-10 minutes and then check them. You might have to play with the time a little, but this recipe would totally work as mini muffins!
Do you think frozen spinach would work?
Yes, but I was highly suggest thawing it first and draining off the water. Otherwise, the muffins might be too soggy.
I’d like to try frozen spinach as well, but wondering how many cups I’d need in that case. This sounds like a great recipe!
I’d do about 1/2 cup of thawed spinach with the water drained off!
I have just made these, substituted the baking soda with baking powder, tree times the quantity as I found on the internet the alternative to be and after, 40 minutes, they still haven’t cooked on the inside… 🙁 Absolutely gutted as they are delicious, in fact I might have them like this anyway, as I would have all that in a smoothie anyway bar the baking powder! 🙂 It must have been the baking powder… Any ideas? Thanks!
Diana xxx
Hmmmmm. If you followed the suggested ingredient swap, I don’t see why that would make them not bake. Did they set after they cooled down?
My only other idea is maybe the baking rack was in a funky spot in your oven I try to bake these with my oven rack positioned in the middle of the oven!
I followed exact reciepe and they came out raw. My kids still ate them! 🤦♀️Not sure if it’s my oven…
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that? Where was the rack positioned in the oven?
These were really good, but really dense. Is that the right consistency? Is there a way to make them lighter? Thank you for sharing either way – they are delicious!
They are a bit dense! If you prefer something a bit lighter, you can try my Paleo Green Smoothie Muffin!
The only substitute I made was organic applesauce instead of the honey/syrup. I baked for 21m in middle rack position in convection oven and the middle is Super moist/borderline raw. I took them out of the oven and had them sit in the pan for 10min and checked, still a little raw. I cooked them for 10 additional mins ( two 5 min increments) and the middle is quite moist, but cooked. The little one loved them!
Do you know the nutritional information on these muffins .., calories, protein, carbs ? Thanks , they are good
Can you sub coconut milk for the almond milk to make these nut free?
Yes!
I was hesitant to make these because I don’t like very dense muffins.. but mine actually came out very well!! All cooked through. I baked for about 21 minutes in the middle of my oven. Very nice subtle cinnamon oat flavored muffins! Perfect with some almond butter on top. Thank you for the recipe!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
HI! I wanted to try this recipe for my 11month old but the doc said no honey until after 1 year old. Is there a safe substitute to honey for an 11month old? THANKYOU! I LOVE these muffins and ate them by the barrel when I was pregnant!!!
My toddlers devoured these this morning! We will definitely be making these again! Thanks!!
They are one of our favorites too! Glad the kiddos enjoyed them!
Can I use an organic all vegetable shortening in place of the coconut oil? If so, how much would I use? Is there another substitute that would work well in place of the coconut oil?
Thank you!
Dumb questions, but do they have to be refrigerated to keep? Will they dry out? Can they just sit out like a regular muffin?
Yes, I would store them in the fridge!
Calories 152 -for 1 serving
Total Fat 6.3g 8%
Saturated Fat 4.4g 22%
Cholesterol 27mg 9%
Sodium 165mg 7%
Total Carbohydrate 22.1g
Total Carbohydrate 22.1g 8%
Dietary Fiber 2.2g 8%
Total Sugars 10.5g
Protein 3.2g
Vitamin D 3mcg 13%
Calcium 29mg 2%
Iron 1mg 6%
Potassium 189mg 4%
Have you ever tried these with chard? I’m wondering if the flavor would be too strong?
Thoughts on ways to cut down the sugar a bit? 10g is still a little on the high end for what we are used to for the AM. Thanks for any ideas!
I often skip the sweetener in these with my family and they love them still!
I made these into mini muffins. I got 24 mini muffins and 6 full sized muffins. I made them two days ago and they are pretty much gone. My kids love them!
Woohoooo!
How long did they cook as mini muffins??? I love mini muffins for my toddler
I cook mine about 15 minutes as mini muffins.
This looks awesome! Do you think swapping the coconut oil for vegan butter would make a difference?
Hmmm, I don’t think so! I bet it would turn out great!
My fam is in love with these muffins! We call them “Hulk Smash” Muffins. I usually have to double recipes but this makes so many and calls for so much spinach which I adore! I have found that cooking for the entire 20 minuets is essential.
oh wow — what a great idea: cannot wait for it to cool down so I can use the oven and use up my kale!!!!!
THANK YOU so much for this recipe!!! My crazy picky 17 month old devoured these! They were so easy to make, too. ☺️
These are great. The only way I get my 2.5 year old to eat fruits and veggies. I like the too! I add chia seeds and end up having to bake for a bit longer – more like 25 min.
Wooohooo! That is so awesome!
How much did you add and how did it change it (consistency etc)?
We made these this morning and threw in some blueberries. I had to bake them for about 25 minutes, but they came out delicious!
Made these for my family wit maple syrup and my 8 month old is obsessed. They were delicious thanks for the recipe. Worked best for me to bake for 22 minutes on the middle oven rack.
can I use coconut milk ?
Yes!
Can I skip the apple cider vinegar or substitute it with something else?
I live at altitude, do you think anything needs to be modified to the recipe?
Hmmmm. I’m not an expert on baking at an altitude and am not really sure what to suggest. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Any suggestions for a banana substitute? I’m allergic 🙁
You can sub with applesauce!
Can I substitute apple cider vinegar with something else or leave it out completely? I wanted to make these today as mini-muffins but that’s the only ingredient that I am missing :-/
You can use white vinegar or skip it all together!
I made these as mini muffins and they turned out amazing! My 17 month old LOVES it. Made these just before a trip and these were a life saver. He talks to the muffin for a while in his own language before eating it :D. Also keeps him happy and busy when we are eating out. Thank you so much! Look forward to trying your other recipes.
Can you freeze these amazing muffins?
If you are vegan, I forgot to put in the eggs and these muffins still turned out great and were eaten by all!
So good to hear!
Can you please help me to convert these into savory muffins? Also, can we add avacados?
Hmmmm. I would sub the avocado for the banana and remove the sweetener all together. I bet they would be a lovely savory muffin.
Delicious! I cut out the sweetener & used a full 3 1/2c of spinach & these came out great for a quick adult snack on the go! 🙂
Thats so wonderful to hear that they were a hit!
These were great and my 17mo old loved them! We made 24 mini muffins (baked only 15mins) and 6 standard muffins. Definitely will make again!
I’m so glad!
Do we want the vinegar and baking soda to touch and react prior to blending? Or not touch and let it mix up in the blender? Does it matter or not? Thanks!
We are not dairy-free so could I use regular milk? I don’t want to have to buy almond milk for this one thing. LOL
How do you store them so I can have then throughout the week?
My blender doesn’t get the oats very fine, so mine came out quite lumpy. Do you think a food processor would be better?
My kids didn’t like the texture either so what I do now is put the two cups of oatmeal in the blender and blend it for a minute and then it end up looking like wheat flour. Then I put it aside and put the other ingredients in the blender in order. The cupcakes come out perfect! I hope it helps you.
Thank you for this recipe! I have made it at least 2 dozen times, although lately I have been experimenting! I rarely have coconut oil or almond milk and have subbed with butter/milk without issue. I also use 1.5 tbsp of sweetener. I also recently started adding dutch process chocolate powder and a few chocolate chips on top for more of a dessert option. Also good if you remove the cinnamon and add lemon zest and blueberries. Or apple chunks… My kids love them!
Thank you for the recipe! I make them everysingle week! They don’t last more than two days at my house. My kids didn’t like the texture of the oatmeal so I blend the oatmeal by itself and it ends up looking almost like flour. Then i place it aside then I start putting all the ingredients in order in the blender. I never buy almond milk so I use organic coconut milk. I don’t use paper linens for the cupcakes. I use some some coconut oil to grease the cup cake pan and it is awesome because the cup cakes come out looking so pretty!!! I also use like 4 chocolate chips or blue berries so the kids can enjoy them a little more. Let me know if this works for you ladies!
I love this!
Super yummy! A bit late in posting a thank you, but worked great for St. Patrick’s Day morning!
I am so glad to hear that!
Has anyone ever made these without bleeding the oats, leaving them whole, baked oatmeal style?
Do you mean blending? Not to my knowledge, but I love that idea of enjoying this baked oatmeal style!
Thanks so much for this recipe! My kids gobble them down. The only exception is I add a few chocolate chips or blueberries to the top of each one. They are usually all gone within a few hours.
Have you tried making these adding cocoa powder? Would you recommend adding anything else if I did do that? I personally love these but my husband can’t seem to get over the color… thinking if they are chocolate it could help lol
These are amazing!
LOVE these!! So great for grabbing on the way out the door for a quick, healthy breakfast.
Yum
Such an easy & fun recipe that’s packed with nutrition. Thank you for these!
I’ve made these muffins at least 20 times, and they are always amazingly delicious! Thank you for such a great recipe that my whole family loves 😊
These muffins are the best! We call them “Superhero Cupcakes”. My 3 year old absolutely loves them and this mama has been known to swipe a few here and there. 😊
Such a quick and simple recipe! My one year old girls love, love, love these muffins with breakfast or for a mid day snack. Toddler and Mom approved!
Love, love this recipe. It’s a great way to get veggies into my little humans. Besides they love them. A big thank you for creating such a great recipe.
My whole family loves these!!
Love these and so does everyone who has been lucky enough for me to share them with (since I want all the green smoothie muffins for myself!!). Great way to make veggies even more delicious!
My family loves the muffins! I sprinkle a few of the mini Enjoy Life chocolate chips on top. So yummy! Thanks for sharing!! 😊
Great recipe that I’ve shared with other Mamas and Friends! Perfect for snacks in the classroom since they are grain and nut free! I use 1/4 cup maple syrup and it’s the perfect amount for my children ages 6 & 7.
My 20 mo loves them and so do I!!
Love these and make them often! They’re magically delicious and healthy as well. I often make a batch and freeze half, as I learned we can’t eat them fast enough before they start to mold. I’ll pull the other half out midway through the week and have muffins all week long!
I make these weekly! It’s such a forgiving recipe!
These have become a weekly ritual–batch bake them on Sunday and send the hubs to work with a few each morning. He’s a guy who doesn’t like baked goods (too sweet), doesn’t like vegetables, never eats breakfast willingly, and often skips lunch…. It is difficult to get children to eat well, but believe me, the more impressive conversion is a stubborn man in our case! HE LOVES THEM. And I love that there is something I can make that will keep him healthy and happy 🙂
We call these Hulk Muffins. I have two boys so it seemed perfect!
My toddler loved these!
My family loves these muffins! I make them over the weekend and they are gone fast! If I think quickly enough, they go in the freezer for quick breakfasts for my 18 month old all week. A staple in our house and I feel good about what I’m feeding my people. Thank you!
These have become a staple recipe in our house, my 2yo daughter asks for them all the time. We make them at least twice a month, love how well they freeze. These got us in love with the waffles too. Which we legit make every 4 days! I love adding shredded zucchini to the waffles instead of milk.
A family favorite that I’ve started making weekly! Even my skeptical oldest child, gave in eventually and tried it despite its color 🤣. I’ve used frozen and fresh spinach depending on what I have and it always comes out great!
These are delish! My kids love them and so do I!
Love these! Simple, tasty and we feel good eating them. I find the recipe is also easy to half because otherwise we (I) catch ourselves eating them all 😆 not gonna lie sometimes we add a few chocolate chips — yummmmm!
We make these weekly – my kids are always asking for one for a snack! We add a few chocolate chips in ours!
I found this recipe about a month ago and have made these at least once a week since. My 4 and 1 year old (and I) love these for breakfast or a snack.
Oh. My. Gosh!!!!!
These are amazing!!! When my kid, who loathes the sight of spinach, requests these-that is saying something!! I always have to make a second batch bc little hands sneak extras 😁😁😁🎊🎉🎊
Love love loooove these muffins! They are also so versatile! I make them as waffles and pancakes for my little family on weekends!
One of my toddler’s favorites! Have made them with both eggs and flax eggs and were just as delicious either way!
One of our families favorite muffins! So easy to make and such great ingredients.
Easy and delicious!!
Amazing and super easy! The kids loved them.
Make this often and let my toddler add chocolate chips to the muffin cups. He never says no to these muffins and I don’t feel bad about giving them to him.
I love these muffins! Does anybody know the weight watchers point conversion for them?
THANK YOU! Such a great and easy recipe, can whip these up before my daughter wakes up in the AM. I never thought I’d struggle feeding my child, with my husband and I being so into eating healthy. But now that she’s 18 months I really have a hard time getting her to eat anything, good or bad! She is so picky! These muffins, they do the trick every. single. time. Girl won’t touch SO many things but she LOVES herself some healthy green muffins! I’m so grateful to have found this healthy recipe! Life saver!
I am so glad they were a hit!
how many grams/pounds of fresh greens does this receipe call for? cups is a difficult meassure as you can double the amount if you press the greens hard into the cup 🙂 mine always come out undone, and I think its because I’m using too much spinach. I use 250gr for the receipe. thanks!
I honestly don’t measure my greens anymore when making these! I just do a handful!
I added a couple of blueberries in each of the muffins and they turned out great absolutely love this recipe!!!
We make these as pancakes regularly! They are a go-to for us. Easy school breakfast to pre-make and freeze. So delicious and so easy!
I love making them as pancakes too! I like to stock my freezer with them!
I thought I had cinnamon and I don’t 🤦♀️ What do you think would be a good substitute?
You can leave it out. Or pumpkin spice might be nice too!
Thanks so much! Just had one. I used pumpkin spice and it turned out okay. My husband and I as well as our 1 1/2 yr old really liked these!
I’m so glad!!
I absolutely LOVE this recipe and so do my kids! Thank you!!!
I am SO glad! I love that it is something the whole family enjoys!
Can you substitute almond milk for 2% milk?
Can I add chocolate? Asking for a friend….
Um always! 😉
My 15-month son and I both love these! They are soft enough for him to break apart and eat but don’t crumble everywhere. So easy to make in the Vitamix. Great recipe!
I’m so glad they were a hit!
Hi! Could I use regular whole milk? Thanks!
Yes! Whatever milk your family prefers works great
Love these and how easy they are to make! My 2 year old and my husband are both gobbling them up.
Victory!
What sized bananas do you usually use?
2 medium bananas. About 3/4 cup mashed
Just made these and LOVE them! So easy and quick to make. Will definitely make them again in the future! Accidentally used steel-cut oats instead of rolled oats the first time (do not recommend) 😅
Ha! I’ve tried that before too. We ate them but I certainly prefer them with the rolled oats!
In case anyone else is also wanting to use up baby oatmeal to make this recipe – 2 cups of rolled oats weighs 8 oz. Also, be sure to add your liquid ingredients to the blender first to keep your blender happy. Tasty muffins! We added some peanut butter chips for fun.
What a great idea!
If I only have quick oats is that ok to use for this recipe?
That has worked for me in the past, yes
They are not pretty but one bite and you don’t care. A new favorite around here! Thanks for the great recipes.
Lol! You’re right. Sometimes they aren’t the prettiest muffin, but they are always a hit! I am so glad your crew liked them!
My toddler loves these muffins!!!
Yay! Rave reviews from little taste testers is my favorite!
these are so good! my ten month old son really likes these and so do I! great healthy snack. I also love that you just through everything in the blender and mix it up and right into the oven. quick and healthy so helpful for me.
Yes! Blender recipes are my favorite too! Glad they were a hit with all.