These Grinch Mini Muffins are a great holiday treat for baby and toddler! Made with no added sugar and packed with spinach – these muffins can be served with breakfast, lunch, snack or even a festive dessert!

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Grinch Mini Muffins

These mini muffins for baby and toddler are so full of festive cheer that they might make your heart grow three sizes in a day ❤️❤️❤️!

Made with delicious ingredients and no added sugar but with 3 packed cups of spinach, these muffins are a delicious treat.

They can be served with breakfast, lunch, snack or even dessert.

But if you ask me, my favorite time to serve these holiday muffins is when you snuggle up with your little one and read the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Sharing an experience together that is filled with joy and love (and delicious food;) is what the Grinch found this holiday season is all about.

Helpful Book Tip – If you find that the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas is too long for your little ones, you might want to try this flap board book version. I picked up this shorter version a couple of years ago when my girls were 1 and 3 and they loved how interactive the book was and it completely held their attention.

Spread of ingredients to make mini grinch muffins.

Reasons to love these healthy mini muffins

  • great for baby, toddler and kids
  • easy to use for baby-led weaning
  • soft and chewy
  • no added sugar
  • filled with white whole wheat flour, spinach, banana and applesauce
  • freezer-friendly
  • hidden veggie – spinach!
  • great with breakfast, lunch, snack or even dessert
  • fits easily in a preschool lunch box
  • makes 36 mini muffins – eat some now and freeze some for later
  • muffin batter comes together in under 10 minutes
  • blender with green wet ingredients for muffins.
  • green wet ingredients halfway mixed together with the flour.
  • clear bowl with green muffin batter mixed together.
  • Green muffin batter in a clear bowl with a mini muffin pan full of muffin batter.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat oven and line a mini muffin tin with liners or grease.
  2. Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, prep the dry ingredients.
  3. Wet Ingredients: In a blender, add in the wet ingredients and spinach and blend until looks like a thin green smoothie with no green flecks.
  4. Combine: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir until combined. Do not over mix.
  5. Bake: Spoon the batter into the muffin tin and pop the muffins into the oven until just cooked and golden brown.
  6. Cool: Let them cool completely.
  7. Prep Frosting: Add the cream cheese into a baggie and snip the corner off of it (so you can use it as a cheap piping bag;)
  8. Prep “Hearts”: Cut the raspberries in half, and then cut a V shape into the top of each half to make them into a heart shape. Place the raspberry, cut side down, onto a paper towel to absorb any moisture.
  9. Make “Hearts”: Pipe the cream cheese on top of each muffin the size of a quarter, then add the heart-shaped raspberry.
  • Raspberries cut into heart shapes.
  • Cooked grinch muffins with a cutting board full of raspberry hearts.
  • Green Mini Grinch Muffins cooked and halfway assembled with their raspberry hearts.
  • Full pan of cooked and decorated Grinch Mini Muffins for Baby and Toddlers.

Tips for Making the Best Mini Muffins

  • Blend the Wet Ingredients – to make sure the spinach gets completely incorporated into the batter, and you don’t get huge chunks of spinach in these muffins, I would recommend that you blend all the wet ingredients in a blender until smooth (roughly 1 minute).
  • Gently Mix Together – for a fluffy and soft muffin, gently mix together the wet and dry ingredients until just incorporated. Over mixing the batter will make for a denser and harder muffin.
  • Applesauce – to avoid including added sugar in this recipe, make sure the applesauce you use doesn’t have any added sugar in the ingredient list.
  • No Sticking – make sure you generously grease the mini muffin molds or use mini muffin liners so that the muffins don’t stick to the pan.
  • Dry the Raspberries – once you cut the raspberries in half and make the heart shape, I would place them on a paper towel or kitchen towel to dry up any juices from the raspberries. This will help the juices from running onto the cream cheese and muffin.
Two small toddler hands holding a mini green grinch muffin.

Gluten-Free Mini Muffins

You can easily makes these mini muffins gluten by using a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend.

3 green muffins lined up with 3 different heart options.

Three heart options

Besides raspberries, you can also use freeze-dried raspberries or dried cherries for the Grinch’s heart for this recipe. You will need to cut an indent at the top of either one.

Adding More Nutrients

To add in even more variety you can use either Happy Family Organics Apple, Kale & Avocado or Spinach, Apples & Kale baby food pouch instead of the applesauce.  

Green Grinch Muffins on a white plate with a small toddler hand reaching out to grab one.

More fun holiday recipes

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Two small toddler hands holding a mini green grinch muffin.

Get the recipe: Grinch Mini Muffins for Baby + Toddler

5 stars (20 ratings)
Made with no added sugar and packed with spinach – these muffins can be served for breakfast, lunch, snack or even an age-appropriate dessert!
Yield: 36 mini muffins
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Author: Michele Olivier
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients 

Grinch Muffins

  • 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (all-purpose, whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached flour also work)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2-3 cups spinach, packed
  • 3/4 cup milk, regular whole milk or a plain plant-based milk
  • 1/2 cup applesauce or Happy Family Organics baby food pouch (see notes)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Grinch Hearts

  • 1/2 cup raspberries
  • 3 tbsp cream cheese

Instructions 

  • Prep: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a mini muffin tray with liners or grease.
  • Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  • Wet Ingredients: In a blender, add in the spinach, milk, applesauce or baby food puree, coconut oil, banana, egg and vanilla extract and blend on medium speed for 1 minute or until all of the spinach is completely broken down, scraping sides of the blender as needed.
    blender with green wet ingredients for muffins.
  • Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the medium bowl of dry ingredients and gently mix together until just combined, do not over mix.
    green wet ingredients halfway mixed together with the flour.
  • Bake: Fill the muffin molds 3/4 way full, and bake for 12-15 minutes or until they are just golden brown. Let cool completely on a wire baking rack.
    Green muffin batter in a clear bowl with a mini muffin pan full of muffin batter.
  • Prep Frosting: To add the Grinch Hearts – spoon the cream cheese into a piping bag or a small zip lock baggie (that is what i used above). Use a rubber band to secure the top of the baggie and then cut the very corner of the baggie off to create a hole for the cream cheese to come out of.
  • Prep "Hearts": On a cutting board, gently cut the raspberries in half lengthwise. Then place one half of the raspberry on the cutting board, outside-facing down, and cut a small V into the top of the raspberry to make a heart shape. Place the cut side of the raspberry onto a paper towel or kitchen towel to soak up any moisture.
    Raspberries cut into heart shapes.
  • Decorate: With the piping bag, on the top of the muffin make a quarter size circle of cream cheese. Then add one raspberry heart on top. Repeat until all of the muffins are decorated.
    Green Mini Grinch Muffins cooked and halfway assembled with their raspberry hearts.

Notes

Age: for baby-led weaning 6 months and up (remove the raspberry before serving) or babies 9 months and up. 
Applesauce or Baby Food Pouch: you can use either plain applesauce or for more fun flavor you can use 1/2 cup of Happy Family Organics Apple, Kale & Avocado or Spinach, Apples & Kale baby food pouch. 
Storage: I recommend storing the decorated muffins in an air-tighter container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Non-decorated muffins can be stored on the counter in a slightly open container for 3 days. 
Freezer-Friendly: you can freeze any non-decorated muffins for up to 3 months. 
Regular Size Muffins: this recipe would work great for normal size muffins as well. Fill regular size muffin molds 3/4 the way full and bake for 20-22 minutes. 
Making the Muffins Gluten-Free: You can easily makes these mini muffins gluten-free by using a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend. 
 
Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 43kcal, Carbohydrates: 5.3g, Protein: 1.2g, Fat: 2.1g, Saturated Fat: 1.6g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 55mg, Fiber: 0.8g, Sugar: 1.3g, Calcium: 20mg

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