This is THE Healthy Breakfast Muffins Recipe for Toddlers you’ve been searching for!
I think I speak for many toddler moms out there when I say that trying to get your toddler to eat vegetables is hard work! I remember when my daughter was just starting to eat solid foods and she loved spinach, broccoli and carrot purees – it was glorious! Right as I got overly confident in her vegetable eating abilities, she became a toddler with preferences, and a certain ‘tude against all veggies! I did NOT see that one coming. Now, I’ve made it my personal mission to hide as many vegetables as I can into other foods that she will eat – smoothies, muffins, sandwiches, etc.
A few months ago one of my fellow mommy friends, Ashley, sent me this Spinach + Banana Healthy Breakfast Muffins Recipe for Toddlers. Ashley is great in the kitchen and I knew if this recipe came from her that it HAD to be good (and nutritious) so we gave it a go and it has become a breakfast staple in our household ever since.
Healthy Spinach + Banana Toddler Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce one of the single serving cups
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh organic spinach – uncooked could also add shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, or shredded yellow squash (all raw to really pack it full of veggies!)
- 1 ripe banana
- 1/3 cup Maple Syrup Organic, Grade A
- 2 tablespoons Organic Coconut Oil
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Put the first seven ingredients (applesauce, egg, vanilla, spinach, banana, maple syrup and coconut oil) in a blender or food processor and blend.
- Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in a smaller mixing bowl.
- Add the wet spinach mixture from blender to the dry ingredients.
- Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet until combined. You can use a spoon or spatula. The mixture might be dense. Add a splash of milk to loosen it up if you need to, but the mixture should resemble a thick pancake dough. It won’t pour easily, will need a spoon.
- Scoop the batter into greased muffins tins.
- Bake at 350 degrees (12 minutes for mini-muffins or 17 minutes for regular-sized muffins).
Nutrition
There are also a ton of modifications to make these vegan, add different vegetables, etc. Take a look at the comment section to see how other mamas are adding their own unique twists to these awesome healthy toddler muffins! And if you have a twist of your own to share, or feedback on how your little one (and whole family) like them, please leave a comment below!
OH MY GOSH!!! These are delish. My 9 month old granddaughter & 5 year old grandson went crazy over them! The 5 year old couldn’t stop eating them. I was actually worried that he would make himself sick!!! I figured that they are filled with healthy ingredients, so I let him go for it!!! I will definitely be making these again!!!
These are adorable, and what a great way to get kids to eat spinach. 🙂 Thanks!
I just made these for the 4th time. I added the juice of half of a fresh lime so hopefully the iron from in the spinach could be more accessible during digestion.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/increase-iron-absorption#section2
On a whim, I decided to use molasses since it also has iron in it and since my LO is not interested in meat at all… I didn’t check out any substitution information before hand….. Maybe I should have, but they are quite good. They are no longer green 🙁 defiantly brown, but they are less dense and more moist than before. They are also sweeter of course, but not sugar sweet. I don’t know if I would do it every time, but I thought I would share in case others are considering or have done already.
Thanks again for the amazing recipe!
I’m looking for high iron recipes for my picky baby. I will definitely try these substitutions!
You could also use oat flour to add iron.
I made this for my finicky eater grandson. Called it a Rainbow muffin, he could not stop eating them. He keeps asking me to make it again!
Thank you for sharing it.
These are amazing!! My 3yr and 1 yr just love them
Just wondering on the nutritional value
Added 2 extra bananas, used 1 cup whole wheat flour. 1/2 cup of spelt flour, 1/2 cup oats, 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips (child will only eat muffins with chocolate chips) followed the rest of the recipe. Made 48 mini muffins calculated at 62 calories each. Next time I would probably only use 1/2 mini chocolate chips…these made them very sweet.
These were so yummy! Do you have nutritional info for them?
I just made these tonight and used kale instead of spinach because it was on sale this week and pureed banana instead of a ripe banana because bananas don’t last long enough to get super ripe here haha. I also added some pureed carrot and shredded parsnip for the extra nutrient boost. I think they are delicious and im already thinking of other ways to mix it up and get some variety. I like that they aren’t super sweet so it’s not too much added sugar for my kids. Hopefully they like them as much as i do lol
Can you use coconut flour?
Hi! I’m so excited to try these with my son. Can you freeze the extra muffins or do they end up getting gross? Thanks!
I freeze them all the time. Still great! I defrost them overnight in the fridge and then toast them in the morning!
This is the sixth or seventh time I have made these. I have used many modifications over the years and just as everyone says they come out perfect every time. The best part is, aside from the fact that the kids always eat them, is it uses up all the left over spinach and ripe produce I have laying around or taking up freezer space. Great recipe! I share it often!
Mine was super thick. I added quite a bit of almond milk. They’re in the oven but I have a feeling they may not turn out. I also used coconut flour instead of wheat.
Curious to know how they turned out with coconut flour? I want to make them again. First time I used Red Mill gluten free flour and they were so good! I bought coconut flour and want to try it. Please let me know
I made these and they turned out awesome but a bit tough the first time. My mom mentioned to me the importance when you make muffins not to stir the batter too much.
The second time I made them, I added an additional half banana to moisten the batter a bit more, and substituted half a cup of oats and removed half a cup of the wheat flour. I also put in about 2 or 3 tbsp of cocoa powder which lessened the green colour in the batter and gave a subtle chocolatiness.
Can you use frozen spinach? I just have it on hand
I just made these for my toddler and she gobbling them up like crazy! I didn’t have maple syrup on hand so I used agave and they were delicious, these guys will be a new staple in our house.
You mentioned adding other veggies as well, are those veggies in addition to the 2 cups of spanich or do you subsitute part of the spinach for the other veggies? Thank you so much for sharing!!
Recipe says I can add almost any veggie (ie. Carrots, zucchini, etc.) Is it 2 cups total veggies added? Or 2 cups spinach and ? Cups other veg?
I commented a while back to say that these were great and I added some blueberries. Can I tell you, though, that I have found my friggin’ cooking unicorn here? I’m not a good cook, and most of my experiments fail, but I have made so many substitutes and additions on this recipe and every time they turn out good. Add fruit, add protein powder, add flax seed, sub Greek yogurt for applesauce, less maple syrup, moooore veggies, etc. in various combinations based on what I have. Minor adjustments with the other ingredients and it’s fine. Broke my measuring spoon once and made them by ballparking the measurements with silverware – turned out fine.
Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Loved these, as did my three year old. I didn’t have any applesauce on hand, so used a container of pineapple greek yogurt and a small apple. They are addictive!
I made 2 batches and froze the 2nd batch for a week. They were just fine when I thawed them to eat. I also added some mini chocolate chips so my husband would eat them.
Do you have the nutritional information on these??
can you use Coconut flour ???
My finicky toddler ate these right up! Looking forward to the Paleo version & mixing it up with other veggies too. Great idea. Thanks!
Can I use honey instead d maple syrup?
This is best recipe Iv’e come across so far. Just wanted to say thank you. Now I use this recipe as my starting point and have been changing up the veggies every time I make it.
These are great! My picky two year old will eat a bunch at a time. She just loves them – thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Could I add peanut butter ?
My 2 year old won’t eat anything lately (unless it’s junk of course!) and he just gobbled one of these down. I liked it too….now if I can just trick my husband into eating these too! I’m so happy to have this recipe! I immediately sent it to two of my friends who are trying to get more fiber in their diets. I had to use vegetable oil because I was out of coconut oil and it was fine. Thanks again!
I will definitely be trying these…for those of you who say kids wont eat them because theyre green, say you used food coloring. Im always making food (pancakes, muffins, noodles, etc) colorful with food coloring. My 3 y/o loves the colors! Just a thought…
Could I sub golden syrup for maple?
can i put the batter inthe fridge and bake them in the morning? thanks
I have made this several times for my daughter. They are so easy to make and she loves them.
Where the recipe calls for 1/2cup of applesauce and then says it is 1/2 of a single serve cup, what is the actual measurement? I take it that it’s not actually a regular half cup (aka 125ml). I don’t have single serve cups of applesauce so I was looking for the actual measurement. Thanks!
She meant 1/2 cup of applesauce or just use one of the single serving size cups, because they are 1/2 cup 🙂
Same question as above! If I added in some shredded zucchini, would I need to tweak the recipe at all? Thanks!
When adding extra veggies, do we need to bake longer or add anything else?
I made these for my friend who is getting ready to do RAI treatment for her thyroid cancer and she can’t really have sodium so I only admitted the yolks and used two egg whites and didn’t add any salt. They look great and turned out amazing!! Thank you 🙂
So great to hear! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
What is the nutritional break down on these?
I used carrots and sweet potato instead of spinach because I didn’t have any spinach on hand. They were delicious! They obviously were not green, so maybe that would help some of the picky eaters. I love that you can sub out veggies and they still turn out great. I may add blueberries next time.
Do you have the nutritional information on these? Thanks! ?
Do you think you could substitute a flax egg for the egg? We are vegan, but these look great!
BEST SPINACH MUFFIN RECIPE I HAVE EVER TRIED!! They are so delicious! My 2 yr old is the pickiest eater on the planet…he lives off of those tomato basil lentil crisps things…he doesn’t eat much as it is….for these, I made them as the recipe shows, then for some of them I brushed a tiny bit of melted butter on top and then dipped in sugar, just to get my little one to eat them for sure, and he did eat 2 of them…which for him, is a big meal….and my 5 year old, loves them as they are! big hit! thank you for the recipe!
Could I use spinach/banana puree? I have some I need to use up. If so, how much do you think it would need? Do you know how many cups of “liquid” is in your blender before you mix it with the dry? I could just fill a measuring cup with puree and other ingredients until it matched, right?
Has anyone tried making them with frozen spinach? Do you think they’d turn out? Thanks 🙂
I’m not too much of a cook so when you say 2 tbsp coconut oil, do u mean in solid or liquid form? Sorry for the silly question but I really want to try and make these and I don’t want to mess them up.
We made ours with the liquid form 🙂
I used solid oil and they turned out Great! Normally I use melted coconut oil, but because it gets blended I did not bother to melt the oil.
My 19mo has been staunchly anti-veggie lately, so I’ve been looking for ways to sneak them into her diet. Made these last night while she ate dinner, served one for breakfast this morning and she asked for seconds through a muffin-stuffed mouth. Thanks for putting this out there!
So great to hear! Glad she loved them!
I made these today for my sick 1 year old to try getting her to eat veggies. Unfortunately she wouldn’t try them because they are green… But I love them! I will try giving them to her again after she feels better; I’m afraid she doesnt have much of an appetite ? this is such a great recipe I love that it is so simple and uses all organic foods! Great job!
Hope she feels better soon! My friend tells her LO that these are the green monster muffins (makes it fun) so now she asks for the “monster muffins” 🙂
I made these like the recipe said, but topped them with a couple of blueberries. They were really good! I think I would add more blueberries though – they kind of added something. Maybe next time I’ll add some protein powder to make them a little heartier for mom and dad. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Great idea with the blueberries! We’ll have to try!
I found the mixture extremely sticky but I’m gonna see how they turn out I added a little coco with out measuring
Hope they turned out OK for you!
Amended, correction on almond and coconut flour amount.
Paleo version! Turned out amazing.
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (one of the single serving cups)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups fresh organic spinach (uncooked)*
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup organic pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/4 cup Blanched Almond Flour
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Put the first 7 ingredients in a bender and blend well (I use vitamix) then add remaining ingredients into blender.
*I added 1 tbs chia seeds presoaked in water
bake 350° for 15 min or until internal temp reads 200°
Awesome!
Paleo version! Turned out amazing.
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (one of the single serving cups)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups fresh organic spinach (uncooked)*
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup organic pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 1/2 cup blanched Almond Flour
1/2 cup coconut Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
Put the first 7 ingredients in a bender and blend well (I use vitamix) then add remaining ingredients into blender. *I added 1 tbs chia seeds presoaked in water
bake 350° for 15 min or until internal temp reads 200°
Thank you for this!! I was wondering if anyone tried these with almond and/or coconut flour! Will try this mod next time!
I have made these a couple times now. I ran out of applesauce, so have put in plain greek yogurt instead. I also add a couple scoops (oversized soup spoon) of peanut butter powder, and a couple handfuls of quick oats. By adding the quick oats, I take out some of the flour or they will be WAYYY too dry. – oh and I use normal flour, not the whole wheat. So I guess this recipe has been a “suggested ingredients” for me hehe. But I took them to a retreat once & all the women RAVED about them! Most of them wanted the recipe. So I directed them here. My son calls them “hulk” muffins.
Great! Love the “Hulk muffins” idea! 🙂
And thanks for directing them here!
I made these tonight for my 14 month old & he loves them! I tried them as well & they are delicious. So easy to make as well. 🙂 I only made a few changes because of his allergies. I used the same amount of flour but used a mixture of brown & white rice flour & 1 1/8 tsp xanthun gum. I also subbed olive oil for the coconut oil. Other than that, I kept the recipe as is. They are very good! Definitely going to make them again. 🙂
So great you both love them! They are definitely a favorite in our house for the whole family!
If I wanted to substitutes oats for a portion of the flour, do you have recommended amounts? Thank you!
Can you freeze these?
Yes i make 3 or 4 batches at once & freeze they don’t last long because kids love them i never make just 1 batch. They have stayed in freezer as long as a month though
How should these be stored?
I store them in Tupperware in the fridge for up to a week and they’re great!
How long will they stay good in the fridge after being baked?
I have been keeping mine in the fridge for this whole week & I’m still eating them. They seem fine.
I keep them refrigerated for a week at a time (if we make it that long without eating them all) and they keep just fine.
Can i freeze these??
Can eggs be substituted? I struggle with options for my daughter who is allergic to eggs.
Yes just look up some egg substitutes online, there’s a few options
My son used to have a egg allergy. Try ground flax mixed with water as a substitute for egg in muffins. I think the ratio is one tablespoon ground flax to 2 tablespoons water equals one egg. 🙂
I have a similar spinach muffin recipe and my kids love them. I add cocoa powder to take away from the green and my daughter calls them chocolate cupcakes lol.
Michelle how much cocoa powder do you use?
My 22mo looovvedd these. My 4 year old was a little skeptical, and would not try. I used mixed greens of baby kale, chard and spinach and added carrots and two dates (all in the blender). Awesome recipe! Thank you 🙂
Do I chop the spinach or leave it whole? If my niece sees any green specs I don’t think she will try it.
Tell her they’re shrek muffins.
Great idea!
I leave it whole – it will turn out smooth after you blend it.
Soo good! Since they turn out green I told my kids we put food coloring in them to make them more fun. They looooved them! I can’t get them to eat anything healthy, but they ate these up like candy.
Great to hear!
These are delicious and all four of my kids approve! Thanks!
Great to hear they were a hit! Happy cooking!
So happy to hear everyone loved them!
do you think I can use gluten free flour? Or regular all-purpose flour for these?
Yes, we think either would work well!
I used regular flour and they turned out great! Trying the wheat flour this round
I use 1 cup gf flour and 1/4 coconut flour. You can also substitute baked sweet potatoes or acorn squash
What if you leave out the spinach and just do zucchini? I need a healthy option for my kindergartner who will not eat eggs, but I don’t know that I can get her to try a green muffin! 🙂 LOL
I called them “monster muffins” and my 2 year old daughter was excited to try them! They are sooo delicious!
I was wondering if i can substitute kale for spinach?
I haven’t tried kale before, but it seems like it would be fine with this recipe. Let us know if you try it!
OMG…I tried the kale. Didn’t have maple syrup so used raw honey. DELISH!!!!My tweens and toddler are healthy eaters and i make muffins for breakfast (school). They were skeptical about the color green muffin. Lol but they always try everything i make. They LOVED it. Fulling. Took extra for friends…Thank u very much…Now trying to make my husband eat healthy without his knowlegde. Not good in trying anything new or with yogurt. Lol. Thanks again….are they freezable?
absolutely!