Chocolate Spinach Muffins No Eggs No Refined Sugar

I love using spinach to turn my classic recipes into healthier treats, like my Spinach Tortillas, Vegan Spinach Muffins, or Spinach Banana Pancakes. A spinach chocolate muffin recipe is a healthy chocolate muffin recipe that hides many nutrients from spinach. Not all kids love spinach, so hiding spinach in muffins is a great way to add this nutrient-dense vegetable to their bodies. Plus, these chocolate spinach muffins have the same color as regular chocolate muffins, so picky eaters won’t notice the spinach at all!

Ingredients and Substitutions

All you need to make these easy kid muffins are:

Non-Dairy Milk of Choice – I used soy milk calcium-fortified, but almond milk works great as well. Melted Coconut Oil or any vegetable oil you have in the pantry. Note that coconut oil solidifies under 73°F (23°C), so if it gets in contact with cold milk from the fridge, it forms oil lumps. It is preferable to add a layer of dry ingredients to avoid any oil lumps in the muffins. Maple Syrup or any liquid sweetener like agave syrup or rice syrup. Maple syrup is safe to eat for toddlers as long as they are ready for solid food. So this recipe can be used for baby-led weaning snacks. Note that maple syrup counts as added sugar in kids’ snacks. That’s why the recipe uses a tiny amount to keep the muffins healthy for kids. Vanilla Extract – for flavor. Spinach – you can use fresh baby spinach, fresh regular spinach trimming the leaves first, or frozen spinach. For frozen spinach, thaw and pat dry to remove excess water before adding to the blender. Ripe Bananas – this is the key ingredient to add natural sweetness, hide the spinach flavor and avoid adding more liquid sweetener to limit added sugar. Cocoa Powder – I prefer to use unsweetened cocoa powder to make it easier to manage sweetness. Rolled Oats or instant oats both work well, but I prefer instant oats. It blends faster and won’t leave a gritty texture in muffins. Baking Powder and Baking Soda – for a small rise and a fluffy texture. Salt – optional. For toddlers or baby-led weaning, you can skip.

How To Make Spinach Chocolate Muffins

To make these spinach chocolate muffins, you need a high-speed blender and a few simple, wholesome ingredients.

Making Them Gluten-Free

You can make gluten-free muffins but you can’t blend the gluten-free flour in the blender, or the muffins will come out super dense and gummy. So first, place 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in a large mixing bowl. Then, blend all remaining ingredients until smooth and consistent. Finally, pour the wet ingredients onto the gluten-free flour, and stir until smooth and evenly combined. Bake as usual.

Storage Instructions

These healthy chocolate muffins for kids are easy snacks to meal prep a kid’s lunch box. You can store these in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 3 months. Then, pop frozen muffins in the lunchbox 4 hours before serving or overnight, and they will like fresh when the kids open their box.