These homemade Green Spinach Muffins are easy and quick to make with the help of a high-powered blender. They’re made with fresh spinach, applesauce, and no refined sugar—they’re a great option for breakfast, snack, and perfect for school lunch boxes, too! Great for 9+ months and up!

hand holding a half of spinach muffin over a purple kids plate filled with mini muffins on a white kitchen countertop.
4.79 stars (42 ratings)
“These muffins are delicious! My 22 month old loves to help me make these. The extras make for a relatively mess free breakfast or snack. Even when we make them so Dada can eat them (gluten-free and soy milk), these muffins still come out so tasty! One of our favorite recipes we do over and over again.” -Leslie
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Green Spinach Blender Muffins

Looking for an easy way to have your kid eat spinach?

I’ve got you!

These muffins are a fun-filled way to serve spinach to your little ones!

Let’s face the facts – spinach can be a hard sell for toddlers and kids, and I get it! It’s kinda tough, has long stems like you are chewing on a bush, and has a bitter taste. None of those things are in my kid’s vocabulary for foods they love!

But since my kids devour these spinach pancakes and spinach waffles on the reg, I was tempted to turn them into muffin form. And that is how this muffin recipe came to life! Tender spinach-filled mini muffins that actually do not taste like spinach (that’s a bonus here!) but have a slightly sweet taste thanks to the added applesauce and maple syrup.

My oldest likes theirs with a few mini chocolate chips on top, while my youngest likes hers cut in half with a smear of cream cheese. I usually make a double batch to freeze some for later and then serve some for breakfast or packed into a school lunch or snack.

Spinach Muffins Video

A hand putting a spinach muffin out of a colorful muffin tin.

Let’s Get Baking

A clear mixing bowl against a white background with flour, cinnamon and baking powder.
In a medium bowl, add in the dry ingredients
A mixing bowl full of flour.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until well incorporated.
A blender full of ingredients for spinach muffins.
In a blender add in the add the spinach, milk, applesauce, oil/butter, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract.
A blender with the wet ingredients for spinach muffins.
Blend until completely smooth and there are no chunks of spinach – roughly 45-60 seconds.
A mixing bowl full of spinach muffin batter.
Pour the spinach mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
Two hands holding a colorful muffin tin full of spinach muffins and sway back up.
Scoop the batter into the muffin tin.
A colorful muffin tin full of cooked spinach muffins.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until just golden brown.
Hand holding up a Spanish muffin against a backdrop of a colorful muffin tin with student spinach muffins
Serve and enjoy!

Mix-Ins

These spinach blender muffins are delish as is – or you can add in a 1/3-1/2 cup of your favorite mix-ins. I always make half of the batch plain and then add in some mix-ins for the other half. This way we have plenty of options for a yummy snack, and both of my kids are happy! Some of our favorites are:

  • Mini Chocolate Chips
  • Chopped Walnuts
  • Blueberries
  • Craisins or raisins
  • White Chocolate Chips
hand holding a half of spinach muffin over a purple kids plate filled with mini muffins on a white kitchen countertop.

Get the recipe: Kid-Requested Spinach Muffins (made with Applesauce)

4.8 stars (42 ratings)
These homemade Green Spinach Muffins are easy and quick to make with the help of a high-powered blender. They’re made with fresh spinach, applesauce, and no refined sugar—they’re a great option for breakfast, snack, and perfect for school lunch boxes, too! Great for 9+ months and up!
Yield: 24 mini or 8 regular
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 12 minutes
Total: 22 minutes
Author: Michele Olivier
Course: Breakfast
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients 

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1-2 cups spinach, not packed
  • 1/2 cup milk, regular whole milk or a plain plant-based milk
  • 1/3 cup applesauce see notes
  • 1/3 cup oil or melted butter see notes
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions 

  • Prep: preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray or line a mini muffin tin.
  • Dry Ingredients: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  • Wet Ingredients: in a blender, add the spinach, milk, applesauce, oil/butter, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract. Blend until completely smooth and there are no chunks of spinach – roughly 45-60 seconds.
  • Combine: pour the spinach mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
  • Fill Muffin Tin: Scoop the batter into the muffin tin. For mini muffins – use roughly 1 tablespoon per cup. For regular muffins – use roughly 1/4 cup per cup.
  • Bake: Place the muffin tin into the oven, and bake for 12-14 minutes for mini muffins and 18-20 for regular size muffins or until just golden brown.
  • Eat: Let cool for 5-10 minutes, and serve.

Notes

Age: roughly 9 months and up. 
Mini or Regular Size: you can make these muffins into mini or regular size muffins, the only difference is the baking time. For mini muffins, bake for 10-12 minutes, for regular muffins bake for 18-20 minutes. 
Storage: store in an air-tight container on the counter or fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. 
Note on Flours: you can use all-purpose, white whole wheat flour, a mixture of 50/50 white and whole wheat flour, or gluten-free one-for-one flour. 
Spinach: the star of the show! You can use 1-2 cups of baby spinach, not packed down. I have found if you use more than 2 cups the muffins become dense because of the extra water content.
Applesauce: can use homemade or store-bought. If using store-bought then make sure to look for no-added-sugar applesauce.
Oil/Butter: to make the muffins nice and moist. You can use coconut, avocado, vegetable, olive or melted butter.

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Medically reviewed and cowritten by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).