Sweet Spinach Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Spinach muffins with chocolate are a tasty, easy hidden vegetable recipe! The whole family will love them. You can’t taste the spinach but it makes them naturally bright green! Perfect for breakfast, lunch or dessert.

Sweet Spinach Muffins

These bright green muffins are naturally colored with… spinach!

The flavor of the spinach fades away, but it leaves green goodness and that awesome color behind.

The muffins taste just like chocolate chip muffins, but they’re healthier, so great for snacks, dessert, lunchboxes or breakfast.

They’re also perfect as a healthier Halloween or St Patrick’s Day recipe.

Why you’ll love Spinach Muffins

• Fun naturally green color
• Lower in sugar
• Full of spinach and banana
• A healthier muffin for lunchboxes
• A great snack, lunch or breakfast

Hidden Vegetable Muffins

There’s a LOT of spinach in this hidden vegetable recipe. But it doesn’t leave any taste! The flavor is more like vanilla chocolate chip muffins.

I’ll freely admit that the addition of chocolate chips in the spinach muffin recipe is pure bribery.

I know that kids (and grown ups!) can be a bit wary of eating green things, so I’ve added chocolate to persuade them. A little (literal) sweetener if you will. According to my children, it works.

The muffins are still rammed full of green goodness, they’re low in sugar and also have nutritious banana, but the flecks of chocolate will likely encourage anyone to tuck in.

Then I’m sure they’ll be convinced that bright green muffins aren’t anything to be wary of!

“Spinach is a superfood. It is loaded with tons of nutrients in a low-calorie package. Dark, leafy greens like spinach are important for skin, hair, and bone health. They also provide protein, iron, vitamins, and minerals.” – MedicalNewsToday

Cooking Spinach Muffins with kids

Besides bribery (through the medium of chocolate chips in a spinach muffin recipe), I also like getting kids involved with cooking as a means to persuade them to be a bit more daring with the foods they want to eat.

These green muffins are really easy to make together as a fun activity.

My little ones love pressing the buttons on the blender and watching the machine spring into life, turning the ingredients into a lovely green liquid.

More Spinach Recipes

Strawberry Spinach Salad
Spinach Burgers
Green Spinach Crust Pizza
Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

More Hidden Vegetable Cakes and Desserts

I started this blog to write about all the crazy vegetable cakes that I love to make! I even wrote a cookbook all about the subject.

You can check out my cookbook, Veggie Desserts and Cakes on Amazon USA and Amazon UK.

Apple Kale Cake with Apple Frosting
Vanilla Spinach Cake
Beet Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin Cupcakes

Green Muffins

I made these many times to get the right balance of maximum spinach and minimum sugar and every time my kids loved them.

Once kids are used to green muffins, you can even try making them savory. Just leave out the sugar, vanilla and chocolate chips, and add in a small handful of grated cheddar cheese or a little sweetcorn.

It’s baby steps to getting kids to try new foods. 

Tips and Tricks for Spinach Muffins

• Turn them into Halloween Monster Muffins with a few candy eyes!
• Use a really ripe banana. It will be sweeter, so will add a lot of sweetness to this lower sugar muffin recipe.
• Try adding a little mint extract to make them into naturally green Mint Choc Chip Muffins.
• Make it vegan: substitute 2 flax ‘eggs’ (2 tbsp of flaxmeal/ground flax mixedin 6 tbsp of water and left to thicken for 5 minutes).
• Make it gluten free: use gluten free flour and baking powder.

Storage and Freezing

• Store these muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days. 
• These muffins freeze well. Simply wrap them in plastic wrap, place them into a reusable freezer containers or add them to a freezer bag and place in the freezer for up to three months.

Muffin Recipes

Kale Green Muffins
Blueberry Courgette Muffins (zucchini)
Healthy Bran Muffins
Spinach and Cornmeal Breakfast Muffins

Get the Spinach Muffins Recipe

Sweet Spinach Muffins with Chocolate Chips

These sweet spinach muffins are certainly bright green! They have quite a bit of spinach in them, but the flavour of it fades, so they taste like banana chocolate chip muffins. Choose a really ripe banana so it not only brings a gently flavour, but also makes up for the low sugar content and adds sweetness.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 12

210 kcal

Author: Kate Hackworthy | Veggie Desserts

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups raw spinach (125g)
• 1/4 cup oil (60 ml)
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup sugar (100g)
• 2 free range eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose (plain) flour (200g)
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (75g)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325F/170C. Line or grease a muffin tray.
• Wilt the spinach by putting into a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes, then drain and rinse briefly under cold water.
• Gently squeeze out the excess moisture from the spinach, then chop it up a bit and add it to a blender along with the oil, banana, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Whiz until it’s smooth.
• Pour it into a bowl, then sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Gently stir to combine, then fold the chocolate chips. Take care not to overmix, but ensure no streaks of flour are showing.
• Fill the muffin cups ¾ full and bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tray for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe Tips

• Make it vegan: substitute 2 flax 'eggs' (2 tbsp of flaxmeal/ground flax mixedin 6 tbsp of water and left to thicken for 5 minutes).
• Make it gluten free: use gluten free flour and baking powder.
• Turn them into Halloween Monster Muffins with a few candy eyes!
• Use a really ripe banana. It will be sweeter, so will add a lot of sweetness to this lower sugar muffin recipe.
  

  Storage and Freezing

• Store these muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days. 
• These muffins freeze well. Simply wrap them in plastic wrap, place them into a reusable freezer containers or add them to a freezer bag and place in the freezer for up to three months.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 121mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 657IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @kateveggiedesserts or tag #veggiedesserts!

The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.