Delicious Whole Grain Hulk Muffins {Naturally Green!}
Packed full of healthy nutrients, these all-natural, GREEN muffins are soft, tender, and delicious…and prove that healthy really can be delicious!
So if you want to know the truth, I don’t do a whole lot for St. Patrick’s Day around here.
Sorry if that revelation is a huge disappointment.
I’m not a holiday grinch by any means. I go crazy in my own right for other holidays, but St. Patty’s day is one of the holidays that I’m kind of “meh” about celebrating.
At least when it comes to sneaky leprechaun footprints, hidden pots of gold and treasure hunts, and green everything (including all the foods that should, quite honestly, never be turned green in the first place just to humor small children).
I blame it on the fact that I was born with green eyes. So I never had to make an effort for this holiday to begin with.
And my lackadaisical attitude has stayed with me, I’m afraid.
But these delicious little green spinach muffins have certainly earned me some rock star points with my kids over the years.
You can’t get much greener than these soft and tender muffins.
Plus, there are extra rock star points because all that green-ness comes from a whole bag of spinach blended up with other simple ingredients to make healthy, green muffins.
And guess what? The cute spinach muffins actually taste good.
I promise you can trust me on this one for the simple reason that I’m the last person/food blogger on this earth to get behind food trends just because they’re cute or festive or outrageously unique.
I love it when my food looks pretty, don’t get me wrong, but if it doesn’t also taste amazing, my heart turns cold and the recipe is cast out forever.
Recipes for these bright green spinach muffins have been floating around the internet for years, so they are hardly a cutting edge, trendy recipe anymore.
Since we’ve actually been making these muffins for a while now (a sweet reader, Erin, emailed me a link to the recipe a couple years ago!), I consider them a solid tried-and-true muffin recipe, especially because we don’t reserve them just for St. Patrick’s Day.
We eat them all the time for breakfast and after school snacks, and often, I’ll double the batch and keep the baked and cooled muffins in the freezer.
And if you are wondering about the “hulk” part – Erin, who sent the recipe to me, joked that since her kids wouldn’t know who Popeye is, they nicknamed these “hulk” muffins.
That name has stuck with us as well. But it also makes me think it’s kind of a travesty that my kids are not familiar with good ol’ Popeye.
I feel old.
However, I have caught one or two of my boys flexing in the mirror after devouring a couple of these “hulk” muffins…so there is that.
If you are more into the St. Patrick’s Day celebrating than I am and are looking for a festive, fun, green treat/breakfast/snack to serve on the big day, this is a feel-good solution!
Packed with spinach and whole grains, these muffins are lightly sweet and ultra-fluffy in texture (thanks to the buttermilk and banana bread-esque qualities).
When I made the spinach muffins for the first time years ago, my expectations were low.
I mean, it’s a naturally green muffin. How tasty can it be?
But we loved these from the start, and it makes me happy that these green muffins of wonder actually taste amazing.
I’m currently experimenting with a bran muffin version of these babies (since we love bran muffins more than life around here: exhibit A, exhibit B, exhibit C). Bran spinach muffins? Hmmm…
The research is tasting good. Really good.
Also, in case you are wondering, here are a few of my favorite muffin-making tools:
-My favorite muffin pan (light in color so the bottoms don’t burn!)
-I always use my #20 cookie scoop to perfectly portion out that muffin batter (so easy and less messy!)
-I love these natural, unbleached muffin liners (I’ve also found them at Orson Gygi when I travel down to Salt Lake)
That about does it! If you have any fun St. Patrick’s Day traditions, I’d love to hear about them; comment below!
FAQs for Whole Grain Hulk Muffins
Yes, they freeze great!
It is around 2 1/2 cups of spinach (lightly packed).
Nope! Throw the leaves in there, stems and all!
One Year Ago: Thin and Chewy Funfetti Blondies {From-Scratch}
Two Years Ago: Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Swirl Bundt Cake
Three Years Ago: Whipped Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Whole Grain Green Hulk Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (355 g) white whole wheat flour (see note)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar (see note)
- ¾ cup buttermilk (see note)
- ¼ cup canola, vegetable, avocado, grapeseed oil or melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 ounces (170 g) baby spinach
- 2 mashed very ripe bananas, (about 227 g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray (the recipe makes between 16-18 muffins).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a blender, add the egg, sugar, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, spinach and bananas.
- Blend until pureed and smooth.
- Pour the spinach mixture into the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. A few small dry streaks and lumps here and there are ok. Don’t overmix or the muffins can be dry.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling the cups about 2/3 full. I use my #20 cookie scoop to make this process easy as can be.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes (increasing time as needed as each oven differs slightly in exact oven temperature) until the tops of the muffins spring back lightly to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let the muffins cool for a few minutes in the pan; turn them out carefully onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from two recipes online (The Green Forks and Pamela Salzman) after a reader, Erin G., sent me one of the links almost two years ago – I put my own spin on the spinach muffins (using buttermilk, adding weight amounts, changing up the method just a bit)
180 Comments on “Delicious Whole Grain Hulk Muffins {Naturally Green!}”
I’ve made a similar recipe in the past that always turned a brownish color after baking. Maybe it was as simple as temperature of the oven or length of time, or not enough spinach for the pure green color. Whatever the reason, your recipe delivered the color I was aiming for all along. I made half of the batter into mini muffins because I only have 1 cupcake tin. Made the minis first at 350° for 10m and checked using a knife inserted into 2. Perfectly baked mini muffins. My toddler who is obsessed with snacking on overly processed sugary foods is very ready to have some as soon as they cool. I also forgot how good the house smells when baking them! Mini banana breads. LOL! Thanks for the winning recipe!
Saw these posted on your instagram and had to try them. Even my husband, who can sniff out a hidden vegetable anywhere, said they don’t taste like spinach at all. Perfect snack to pack for work or for my toddler.
I didn’t have fresh spinach, so I used frozen, thawed and squeezed out. I blended and blended but it never did blend into a smooth green. Soooo…they look like light tan muffins with lots of tiny flecks of spinach in them. LOL! But they taste delicious and they are just for me and my husband, so we don’t mind. Next time I’ll try fresh spinach and see if it makes a difference in the way they look. 🙂
My kids and I both LOVE these for breakfast or an after school snack,
Dear Mel,
Now that you have me hooked on sourdough…can you tell me how I can use (add) sourdough discard to the Hulk Muffin Recipe
Hi Ellie, I haven’t tried it, but I *think* you could add 1/2 cup sourdough discard to the recipe and then decrease the flour by 1/4 cup and the liquid by 1/4 cup?
I made the recipe as is and just added ½ cup sourdough discard when I mixed the wet into the dry. They came out great – very fluffy!
My son said “This is the best muffin I’ve ever had!” ❤️ I’m a crazy muffin maker, so that’s high praise. Also, I forgot the egg So imagine his delight *next* time when I make it correctly! Those with egg allergies, though, will be thrilled to know that it’s absolutely delicious without the egg and isn’t crumbly or dry at all. I put chocolate chips for eyes and a little cutie segment for a mouth and we had fun monster friends. Thank you, Mel, for your culinary genius and expertise. You’re GOALS
I made these over the weekend – they were a hit at my house! My son calls them Shrek Muffins!
Saw these on your ig stories and remembered that I had never made them. So I busted them out and they’re so good!
can you use thawed frozen spinach?
I haven’t tried using frozen spinach, but I bet it would work pretty well.
These are delicious! I used maple syrup instead of sugar. I think they would also be good if you add walnuts 🙂
I don’t “do” bananas. They just do not agree with me, what can I add instead? Applesauce? if so, how much? Thank you so much for all the muffin recipes. I love muffins and used to drool over the lemon poppy seed ones at the store that were almost $5 for 4 muffins!!! Now I can make my own!!
I haven’t subbed anything for the bananas, but you could try applesauce – or maybe even an avocado!
Hi! Did you try anything in place of bananas? I’ve tried these and love them but my 2 y/o somehow knows that bananas are in them and he won’t eat them!
These are great! I love that they have whole wheat and are still moist and not too sweet. Good flavor, too! We used fresh ground whole wheat, which gave them a more cornbread-type texture.
My husband hates bananas, so I subbed a zucchini for the bananas, and it worked great! I did a smallish (but not THE smallest, lol, does that help?!) zucchini and grated it, just to make sure the blender could handle completely pulverizing it. Did everything else the same (didn’t even squeeze the zucchini to drain extra liquid), and they turned out great! 5/5 ate them happily!
Also, just wanted to say how glad I am to be able to make something bright green that contains ZERO DYE!! Spinach for the win!!
Can I use almond flour instead?
I haven’t tried that, but it’s worth it if you’ve successfully subbed almond flour for other muffin recipes.
I accidentally used a baby spinach, baby kale, and baby bok choy mix — the package said super spinach and was on a quick sale price so I went for it and didn’t realize it was a mix of stuff till I was adding it to the blender. Was confused about why some of the spinach had white stems. Haha. But I’m happy to report it still turned out great, no weird flavors from it!
I would like to use 3.5 tablespoons of stevia instead of the sugar. What should I add to maintain the correct consistency to bake the muffins?
You’ll have to experiment as I haven’t tried splenda in this muffin recipe – good luck!
Any tips for gluten free options for those of us that have celiac?
I haven’t made these gluten-free, but I believe others have below in the comment thread using a 1:1 gluten free flour.
My kids now request “green muffins” when I have brown bananas instead of my usual banana cake. I love how fluffy they are!
The most perfect muffin. I’ve tried so many recipes and this wins. Fluffy, moist, flavorful and my boys love it.
I made these muffins & they turned out very good. I like them a lot. My muffin pans made 23 muffins. I froze them so I could have one whenever I wanted one – they freeze fine. I used honey instead of sugar, makes them that much more healthy. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Wondering how much honey you used in place of the sugar? Loved these with coconut sugar and want to try them with honey or maple syrup next but not sure about amounts for these.
I decided to try using oat flour in place of the whole wheat flour because my family is is on an oat kick. They turned out great. I did a ⅔ oat to ⅓ all purpose flour ratio. These are my go to muffins now when we have a surplus of bananas. Thank you Mel 🙂
Taste so good and moist!Mel I have learned so much cooking your recipes! I love the extra notes,the buttermilk options (mixing greek yogurt with milk) So good and tastes great! It has changed the way I cook a lot! Thanks for sharing so much! I have been following now for a few years and cooking has been a lot more enjoyable!-Mary
Thank you so much, Mary!
Have you ever used freeze dried spinach for this recipe? I’ve got some but I’m not sure how to measure it.
I haven’t, sorry!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from these and I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy they are! Love the banana flavor that comes through and that they are so moist. And knowing they have all that spinach in there is great! Thanks!
My toddler can be somewhat picky, and she loved these! Plus they’re super healthy making this a winner in my books. Thanks Mel!
I’m one of those weirdos that doesn’t like banana bread…is there something I can substitute fir the mashed banana?
I’m not sure – the texture would be completely different and I haven’t tried it. Sorry!
My friend uses pumpkin in this recipe and says its really good!
We loved these so much! I made a double chocolate version by swapping 1/2 cup flour for 1/2 cup cocoa and added chocolate chips. So good! Thanks so much for this recipe!
I’ve made this recipe multiple times now and it was the perfect St Patrick’s Day breakfast this morning! The taste is like a banana muffin, but the green color from the spinach make them so much fun. My whole family loves them! Thanks for being my go-to site for recipes Mel!
Thanks, Amanda! I’m kicking myself for forgetting to make these this year. St. Patricks Day totally snuck up on me!
Normally, I LOVE your recipes. In fact, I keep checking your website for a cookbook because I would totally buy it. But this one is just ok. Lacking in flavor. Plenty moist and good texture but the flavor is just ordinary. Maybe I should mix in some mini chocolate chips.
If you make a cookbook, this one can just be skipped over, but definitely include your divine Apple Crumb pie recipe. That was a huge hit this thanksgiving!!
Which muffin recipe should I try next if I want one with more flavor but still as hearty/healthier like this one?
These ones are pretty terrific: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/easy-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-blender-muffins/
But having said that, I also think these hulk muffins are terrific, too, so I don’t know what you’ll think of them but they might be worth a try. 🙂
My family loves this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
I’ve made these and we loved them! I’m wondering if you have ever played around with adding cocoa powder to them? Just trying to get my chocolate in all forms.
I haven’t – sorry, Aimee! Sounds like a fun idea, though!
Loved it! My boys loved it too. My only issue was that a lot of the muffin remained in the wrapper after peeling. Not sure why that happened.
I find this happens if I don’t let the muffin cool – which is too bad because I’m all about popping hot foods right into my mouth!
These are yummy! My kids ate almost the whole batch in one sitting! They are seriously green, and seriously moist. I shared the recipe with everyone I know. I love all your recipes PS- you cannot taste the spinach. At all.
These tastes wonderful and my kids loved them. Mine did not turn out green- they were a light brown with green specks- did I do something wrong. I used a cup of spinacha maybe I didn’t use enough. We love them though!
Sounds like maybe that wasn’t quite as much spinach as called for in the recipe – that will definitely make them less green. 🙂
Wow. Super impressed. I really didn’t think these would be so good. but they are delicious!
We made these today! So delicious and so green! We all loved them!
Made these “Leprechaun” muffins this morning and everyone loved them. Can’t taste the spinach at all. Thanks for another great recipe!
The kids were super excited to have the hulk muffins again this year. I wanted to let everyone know that I didn’t have spinach on hand, so I substituted kale and they were still awesome! (and because kale is so nutritious, I justified eating an extra muffin!) 😉
Any progress on those bran spinach muffins? I’m excited to try these tomorrow!
These turned out soooo good! Like many people, I loathe the word “moist”, but these muffins were probably the most moist baked good I have ever made. all 3 kiddos (ages 2, 4, and 6) loved them, despite the fact that they looked like they were “made out of poison” . Thanks for a great recipe!
Do you store these in the refrigerator or are they ok to leave out overnight for the next day?
They are fine to leave out overnight (I’d just make sure they are well-covered).
These are deliscious!!! Any idea of the nutrition info?
I don’t have that info – sorry!
These are awesome!
These are yummy. I hardly believed everyone that said “You can’t even taste the spinach!” . . . but i tried them and you were all right! They taste like delicious, hearty banana muffins, but they have a way more exciting color than your average banana muffin. also, i bought a 6 oz bin of spinach and it I thought it was a 10 oz when I bought it- 6 oz is way more than I would have estimated! (I need to get a kitchen scale.)
We LOVE THESE. My 13 year old breakfast hater happily eats one of these from the freezer every morning with a quick warm up in the microwave. We measured out the spinach the first time using a kitchen scale and now know that using the entire plastic bin of organic baby spinach is the perfect amount if anyone wants to avoid having to weigh it. We need to blend 1/2 of spinach first and then add the second half to the blender to fit it all in. Our first 2 batches
came out ‘flat/sunken’ (but still delicious!) but this time- I added a few extra minutes to the baking time and got perfect little domed tops. We add mini chocolate chips and this is a breakfast win. THANKS MEL!!
Yummy! I have a question for you, do you usually measure by weight or volume? I did by weight this time and the batter was quite a bit thicker than I anticipated. They did turn out beautifully though. Not smooth like yours, tall and crackly on top (and I made 18). I’m quite pleased.
If a recipe gives weight amounts, I always use them over the volume measures.
Thank you for all you do to make our homes better. You are a gift in my life!
Thanks, Kara – love seeing your comments pop up here and on Instagram! 🙂
I was attracted to making these muffins not only it looks pretty but uses vegetable, fruit and no artifical colouring in it. A five star for this healthy recipe.
We love these. So clever and tasty, even for my son with food sensory issues. I had him close his eyes and taste one. He loved it and told me, ‘Mom, you could have lied and told me it was just green food coloring and I would never have known!’ But I’ve promised I’ll never lie about what’s in his food. I want him to know and be comfortable with eating healthy ingredients! Question for you- have you experimented with chocolate spinach muffins? That would be so awesome!
I have this version on my to-try list but haven’t made them yet: http://thegreenforks.com/chocolate-spinach-muffins/
My son is on the autism spectrum and it is SO difficult to get him to eat anything, much less vegetables. Well, let me tell you, he gobbled these up and it made me the happiest mom ever!
Thank you SO, SO much!!
P.S. I called them ‘Shrek muffins’ because he is not so much into Hulk.
So happy your son loved these, Kelly!
Yum! These are moist and you cannot taste the spinach (even my 5 yr old avowed spinach hater didn’t figure it out). And the Hulk name was fantastic– it was a huge selling point!
Added about 3/4 cups chocolate chips and it tasted very similar to chocolate chip banana bread.
Delicious! My kids loved them; I didn’t tell them about the spinach until after they gobbled them up! I love that they’re so healthy. They were moist too! I often use applesauce in part or in place of the oil. I might try that next time. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Yum! These are delicious. I love spinach and make spinach smoothies almost every day for lunch. I cut the sugar to 4 oz, subbed applesauce for the oil, and used 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (made in my Instant Pot!) mixed with 1/4 cup almond milk in place of the buttermilk. Oh, and I added a bit extra spinach, just because 🙂
Not my personal favorite, I have a hard time with banana flavor mixed with a veggie but I give it a five for my kids. My 5 year old and 3 year old loved them and when I was napping the 3 year old lied to my husband and said she was allowed to eat as many as she wants….so…she pounded down four more before he realized she wasn’t telling the whole truth. haha.
Such cute muffins, we will have to try them! Growing up, St Patrick’s Day was always made a big deal by my mother. We have Irish ancestry on both sides. Then my family has made it our own by always having corn beef and potatoes and carrots, truly a very simple and delicious meal, and mixed wheat/white rolls that I dye green. For dessert we mix it up, but my daughter made a lemon meringue pie that she dyed green this year. We always invite a family over to share the meal with and usually someone dresses up like a leprechaun to play games with the children. If you research St. Patrick, he is a man worth emulating because he was a phenomenal missionary who brought Christianity and literacy to Ireland. He is a wonderful example of mercy and forgiveness because as a boy, he had been kidnapped from Britain and forced into slavery in Ireland. Then after escaping back to his home and studying theology, he followed the Lord’s directions to return to Ireland and teach the people about Christ. Here is a great article: http://www.mormonmatters.org/2009/03/17/st-patrick-a-wonderful-missionary/
Anyway, don’t worry about not celebrating it, just some fun ideas.
How many cups of spinach is 6oz would you say? I have a giant costco size bag and it is in pounds… 2.5 pounds… a lot of spinach. Am I guess short if I say 1 cup
I’d say it’s right around 2 1/2 cups (lightly packed).
When I weighed my spinach, it turned out to be more like 4 cups!
I’ve found one densely packed cup of spinach = one ounce 🙂
Has anyone figured out nutritional info on these. Calories, ww points perhaps ??
4 points plus
You know what? I forgot I decreased the sugar by 1/4 cup. 4 points reflects using 1/2 cup.
We loved these muffins! I completely forgot to add the sugar, and they still turned out ok, I made a glaze for the top just to give them some sweetness. But they were still eaten even without it. Next time I’ll read more carefully
Haha I did the same thing by accident!
Delicious! You can’t even taste the spinach.
It was all in the name with my boys! Hulk/superhero anything is a sure winner , plus we all loved them! I didn’t have white whole wheat flour, so I substituted 2 cups of whole wheat bread flour and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. Definitely going to make these again!
Have you tried freezing these? You and your blog are a true gift to society :)!!!
Yes! They freeze great. And thank you, sweet girl. 🙂
Made them today for a delicious – Day After St. Patrick’s Day fun. I never have my act together for this holiday either…but they were awesome and everyone loved them. A little dab of butter was perfect on them.
Made these last night for our St Patrick’s Day breakfast today. Love them! I ate a few myself. 🙂 I used more like 9oz of spinach (most of an 11 oz bag, didn’t measure) and they were fantastic! I think these with a green smoothie will become our traditional St Patrick’s Day breakfast now. Thank you!
I made these last night and they turned out great! Mine were a little darker green because I used coconut sugar which is dark. White sugar probably would have resulted in a brighter green color. The kids liked them!
Glad to hear coconut sugar worked out in the muffins, Amy!
I made these today for an after school snack and they were delicious. They are very sweet and have a nice hearty texture. Fun for Saint Patrick Day!
For those wondering about subs for allergies or health reasons, I subbed almond milk for buttermilk, a flax egg for the egg and used 1/4 c applesauce to replace the oil. They still rose beautifully and were light and fluffy. They were a fun, yummy addition to our holiday breakfast. All six kids and my husband loved them. Thanks!
Thanks for the details of your substitutions!
How do you measure the spinach? By weight? Or a measuring cup?
I use weight.
If you really want to surprise your kids, accidentally leave out the sugar… 😉
Oops!
In the oven as we speak, can’t wait to try. Have to share: mixed up the batter (added chocolate chips because why not?!), plopped the spoonfuls into the muffin tin, slid them in the oven, then took a lick of my batter covered finger. OOPS! Forgot the sugar! Thankfully was able to take them right out and [over]mix the sugar right in, but I was THIS close to having a whole batch of spinach chocolate chip biscuits! :\ bleh. Hoping I was able to save them, my kids will love the fun green!
Did they work out? Glad you were able to quickly salvage the batter. That’s some quick thinking. 🙂
I have to laugh.. my boys (and girl) check out their muscles while eating “hulk” smoothies. I had to think of a quick fun name to get them to love them. I’m glad we share the hulk tradition My mom would always make green pancakes for st patties. So that’s what I did today! I’ll have to try these. They sound yummy!!!
Thanks, Mel, for helping me redeem myself from being a St. Patrick’s Day grinch! I pulled these out of the oven an hour ago so they could be my kids’ after school snack. They taste great and look so fun in all their green glory. My kids loved them. And dinner tonight is your Shepherd’s Pie recipe (the original one, not the one with chicken and kale). So again, thanks for helping us have a little fun on this silly holiday!
Sounds like our day! 🙂 That shepherd’s pie is my kind of St. Patrick’s Day meal.
Made these for an after school snack today and everyone LOVED them! They were impressed. Thanks! Soooo good!
I made these for St. Paddy’s day today, and they turned out fantastic! I had a giant tub of spinach in my fridge that was about to go bad, so I was happy to be able to use up so much of it! I used my kitchen scale to weigh the 6oz. My boys have happily devoured them, and my daughter will get to try hers when she gets home from school very soon here. Thanks for such a fun recipe! I love that there is no food dye in them.
I made these muffins today, but they weren’t very green? They had more of a brownish/green tint. I may not have added enough spinach. I used a measuring cup to guestimmate 6 oz. Next time I’ll put them in the blender first and use that as my measuring guide. My kids still loved the taste! I appreciate you posting these fun, healthy recipes.
Hey Bridget – sounds like it might have been what you suggested: not enough spinach. Glad they were still ok!
These were a huge hit this morning. Thank you! I didn’t have spinach so I subbed baby kale, I worried it would be too strong of a flavor but you can’t tell. They were perfect!
That’s great to know! The one time I used kale, it wasn’t baby kale, and the taste was a little strong. Glad to know baby kale is the key!
We do the all green foods for dinner–green food coloring is my favorite friend today! These are perfect! No green food coloring needed…thanks!!!
When I saw the image, I figured food dye. How brilliant that they’re colored with spinach. I love this! I’m always looking for ways to sneak greens into my kids’ food. (When they were babies I used to grind chard into their peanut butter – they never even noticed.) This looks a lot more appetizing. Thanks!
Wonderfull effect ! My daughters called them shrek’s muffins, and loved them. Thank you for this gorgeous recipe.
Haha, love that name! Might have to adopt that.
These are so good! My kids and I made them this morning and they will be added to the muffin rotation around here! You never disappoint!!!!!
So fun! Baking them now. My husband has been on my back about serving more vegetables so these are going to please everyone! I discovered you about a year ago and I swear your recipes have made me a better mom and benefitted my family so much–thank you for helping the rest of us!
Thanks, Ashley!
I just made them and WOW!! So good! You win again!
So glad you loved them!
Since you mentioned the Grinch in your post, it occurred to me that he’s the same color as these muffins! (Another holiday link! Haha!)
Haha!
Haha, I didn’t catch that, but it made me smile.
What kind of oil do you usually prefer using in your muffins? And have you tried the applesauce instead of oil but kept the bananas? Haha, so many questions!
Thanks, we love all your recipes! And I’m pretty lame when it comes to St. Patty’s day…we usually just have a green smoothie and call it good. If we’re feeling really ambitious we have a key lime pie. I love an excuse to eat pie.
I just made these and subbed all the oil with applesauce instead. I kept the banana amount as listed. Turned out great!
Hey, no shame in green smoothie. That’s pretty festive! 🙂 I have tried applesauce, and I thought they were a little gummy, but you could definitely try. I usually use avocado, canola or grapeseed oil (and sometimes melted coconut oil)
These look awesome! My 5-year-old would love the Hulk idea. I want to give these a try tomorrow. Thanks Mel!
I just made these for my four little kids, and they taste like delicious banana bread! I love spinach smoothies, so the whole blending spinach and bananas was pretty natural to me. Everyone was a little nervous to try them, but totally loved them. Thanks for a fun and healthy St. Patrick’s Day recipe! I am that mom who serves a ton of green veggies and a fruit rainbow on St. Patrick’s Day instead of lots of dyed green food, so this was perfect for us!
I’m glad your family liked them, Julie!
Just made these — they are SO good. If you close your eyes, they’re pretty much just a tasty banana muffin. We increased the batch to fully use a 10-oz bag of spinach, and made some mini and some regular sized, both with and without chocolate chips. 3 of us are home right now, and all 3 of us gives these a major thumbs up. Thanks, Mel!
Makes me so happy, Alicia! I had to smile at your “if you close your eyes” comment – so funny how we really do eat with our eyes first.
These look so interesting. We all love spinach, so I know these would go over well. Your whole grain honey bran muffins (made with all honey vs. part molasses for us) are my favorite muffins. But I really love all your muffins, so excited to try these. I use the “If You Care” brand of unbleached muffin liners. I find them at Whole Foods. I absolutely love them. Never have to grease the muffin liner with any recipe. The muffins just come right off without losing any yummy muffin crumbs! And I love my King Arthur Flour muffin/scone scoop–fantastic!!! These things make me happy when I make my muffins.
Things like that make me happy, too! Thanks for the recommendation on muffin liners!
You can find the If You Care unbleached muffin liners in bulk on Amazon subscribe and save. That’s a lot of muffins! Just came here to print out this recipe to make right now for a quick breakfast for my peeps to eat over the weekend while I’m working. Didn’t quite have it all together to get ’em made this morning!
Can’t wait to try these!! Thanks for sharing! My mom went all on growing up on St Patrick’s day so I love too as well. We always invite our church’s missionaries over for a fun festive dinner and wear crazy hats, accessories while we eat (and then send pics to their parents 🙂 It’s been a fun tradition!
So fun!
I just made these! My six-year-old inhaled two for an after school snack! They are delicious, thanks!
Can’t complain about that!
I’m totally making these on Friday! They look amazing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Could I sub almond milk for the buttermilk? My daughter needs a dairy free diet.
Could certainly try, Liz – I’m guessing it would work (the recipes I used as a starting point both used regular milk and one suggested almond milk, I believe).
Do report back if you try it, my daughter is in the same situation!
They worked fine with almond milk. I did like the addition of Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips, which are dairy free! My daughter enjoyed them. However I think the green color threw off my boys who didn’t eat them as well. I would like to try again with buttermilk for them.
I used a Vanilla almond milk yogurt and made up the difference with almond milk. Turned out fine for my dairy free girl!
So good to know!
Would frozen spinach work? Because other than that I have all the ingredients on hand!
I haven’t tried frozen spinach, but it’s probably worth a try!
I just made these with my 3 year old.
She and her Dad did NOT see the secret green ingredient (it was mysteriously added by a leprechaun) – and they love them ☺
Thank you for a great easy, healthy and fun recipe!!!
Update: You really cannot taste the spinach! Daughter bought leprechaun story, dad thinks it’s food coloring. We all like spinach, only maybe not in a muffin?! They taste definitely great though!
Haha, love this!
Looks amazing! We have been on a huge spinach kick lately, so I will definitely be trying these out soon!
We’re worse than you…we do absolutely NOTHING for St. Patrick’s Day. I’m pretty sure our (out-of-town) extended family would disown us if they knew…but we all have green eyes, so we’re safe. 😉
the color is quite off-putting- don’t know if my family could get past it. There are so many more muffins that have an appetizing color. I’ll pass on this one.
Thanks for sharing ha
Delicious! I made them for lunch for 4 hungry boys. I ended up eating two of them with my lunch as well and I may be getting a third. I had spinach I needed to use anyway so this was perfect. Thanks!
Yay! So happy you made them so quick and that you loved them!
Yahoo!!! I am so glad to hear your family has enjoyed this recipe!! We still make it all the time too!
i have made the chocolate version of this, from the same blog The Green Forks. Delicious! I even considered mailing to you, too 🙂
Oooh, I will definitely try!
Could you substitute kale for the spinach?
Hey Merideth – I tried it once…and it was kind of awful. The taste was definitely more prominent than the spinach.
Could I use frozen spinach if I thawed and drained it?
Could certainly try – I’ve always used fresh so I can’t say for sure.
do you remove the stems off of the baby spinach or just leave them on?
Nope, I just throw it all in there without removing the stems.
So I’m allergic to spinach. Wondering if you think the spinach is vital to the recipe (beyond being needed to add the green color)?
For this recipe, yes, I do think the spinach is necessary (it adds moisture to the muffins and without it, I’m not sure how the texture would be).
I will definitely make these tomorrow to start our day. (way better than green eggs and ham) You were spot on with the cheesy turkey sloppy joes and earned my boys’ trust of your recipes. Have you ever tried adding chocolate chips or nuts?
Hey Sheila! Yes, I’ve popped mini chocolate chips in the batter before. Goes without saying, it was a delicious choice. 🙂 Haven’t tried nuts, though.
Since my kids love banana chocolate chip muffins, we made them today with chocolate chips and they were AMAZING! The perfect St. Patrick’s Day treat for this mom who does nothing more then wear a green shirt usually for this holiday. :o)
Wow I will DEFINITELY be making these! Although it does mean I have to go to the store to buy some spinach, I ran out yesterday… I might sub part of the flour with old fashioned oats though!
One little typo: in step #7 it says “bake for 15-18 muffins”! 🙂
Haha. That’s what I get for staying up until midnight to post a recipe. Thanks for the catch.
These could very possibly make an appearance on April 1st at our house. We have an inside family joke about fish oil muffins, these would be a great follow up.
Haha, without even knowing your inside family joke, this made me laugh.
Do you think you could use applesauce in place of bananas? Just ate the last banana for breakfast and not sure I’ll make it to the store today.
You could definitely try. I’ve experimented a lot with these muffins and always come back to close to the original – when I’ve used applesauce, they’ve turned out a little gummy in my opinion.