Spinach Cake Muffins
I get inspired (and such a thrill) when weelicious moms send me their ideas for new recipes, though occasionally some of the suggestions can seem out there. Not too long ago, a mom sent me a recipe she had seen on a blog that was for Spinach Muffins. The recipe called for spinach and applesauce combined with a boxed cake mix. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for incorporating vegetables as often as possible, but there was something about the thought of spinach mixed into a sweet muffin that came across as unappealing to me. However, this mom was incredibly passionate about figuring out how to make these muffins a bit more healthy (and without the boxed cake mix). Her enthusiasm won me over and, wanting to see if there would be any value to trying a recipe like this, I started played around with it.
After a bunch of trial and error I was kinda shocked at how delicious the muffins turned out. They had just the perfect amount of sweetness and an appealing bright green color, but no intense spinach flavor. I surprisingly got really into making them and the new recipe produced a sweet little gem of a muffin that my kids absolutely loved. Chloe joined me in making a batch and got so into it I caught her eating spinach leaves directly out of the measuring cup — who says kids don’t like their greens?! I always find that when you give little ones a chance to be a part of creating something in the kitchen, it can transform food for them in a way that’s just as much fun to make as it is to eat!
Thank you to the weelicious mom who inspired this recipe (you know who you are) and to everyone else, please keep the ideas coming in 2012! They energize me, spark great ideas and no matter how out there they may be can produce an awesome and delicious result.
Spinach Cake Muffins (Makes 24 Mini Muffins)
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Large Egg
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Fresh Spinach, packed
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a food processor and puree.
3. Place the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and combine.
4. Pour the spinach puree in a large mixing bowl.
5. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.
6. Scoop batter into a greased mini muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way.
7. Bake for 12 minutes.
8. Serve.
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Hi,
I only have frozen spinach on hand.. will this work, if I squeeze all the H2o out really well?
Sadly you have to use fresh spinach
It’s worth it to buy the fresh and make them, though 
Thanks,
I will!
I used frozen spinach (didn’t squeeze out liquid) and they came out great!
Me too! They were dense but TASTY!
Sounds great!
But do you think Coconut Oil could be substituted for veggie oil?
The coconut oil is a bit thicker, but since there isn’t a lot of oil in these muffins I say give it a whirl!
You can always heat the coconut oil to make it liquid before adding : ) Walnut oil is also a healthy and yummy choice.
Curious to know how the coconut oil worked out….will you post details?
I used coconut oil and they turned out great. I also added some flake coconut, and while I loved it my kids hated the texture that it added. So if you have kids with texture issues I would say avoid adding flake coconut unless you really process it well.
Yum! Can’t wait to try this. I always find myself buying too much spinach because this family prefers kale (yeah, I’m the mom at the grocery store telling my kids to stop sneaking the kale until AFTER we’ve bought and washed it)
Do you have a “boxed cake” recipe so we can have it on hand then add spinach and applesauce or just canned pumpkin?
WOW – what are your secrets??
my “secret” is to make sure the stems arent in it when cooking with them! lol. Two loved recipes-kale smoothies: kale, any berries and banana with a splash of water. Kale soup: saute onion and garlic, add broth/water, canned beans, chopped carrots, kale and potatoes, some dry lentils and drained canned corn (I swap in/out potatoes, beans, lentils and corn to whatever we have) Cook about 20 until potatoes/carrots are to your liking. Both easy AND so simple the kids can dump stuff into the pot or blender.
Thanks for commenting back. I was almost more asking for myself rather than my 1-yr-old. I need to figure out how *I* can like kale before I try to make my daughter – lol!
I’ll give the soup a whirl this weekend – again, thanks so much – I appreciate it
Kale chips (a weelicious recipe) – although I only bake them at 200 for 20-30 mins per side as my oven runs hot. I love them…and so do the kids. I also do the smoothered beans recipe (weelicious) and a tortellini/kale soup recipe too. I also use kale in eggs (instead of spinach). Hops this helps you with some kale recipes!
A “boxed cake” recipe is such a great idea, I’m on it!
Hooray! Can’t wait.
I agree with sharing your secrets. My son will only eat mashed potatoes if they have kale in them, (inspired by Catherine’s puree) he turns his nose up at regular mashed potatoes. He also loves kale pesto although the two recipes I have tried have lemon in it and I don’t like that flavor but my son does. We eat the Indian Lentils twice a month and I load that with kale. How do you prepare it?
Should the spinach be cooked or not?
Raw spinach
Thanks!
Did you try this with any wheat flour by any chance? Looks great!
I didn’t try them using wheat flour. I would try doing it with white wheat flour or half wheat and half white so they remain light.
I just made these this morning with whole wheat pastry flour (it was all I had) and they turned out great…maybe slightly more dense but still VERY good!
Thank you so much for trying whole grain! I have some soft white wheat and will mill some for this recipe
I CANNOT WAIT to try this recipe.
Like… I’m truly antsy that I can’t make these tonight since we have dinner plans already!
I made these this a.m. w/my 22 mo old daughter (I think this was our first cooking/baking experience and boy was it all I had in me to not micro-manage the whole thing… I kept repeating “the dustbuster was made for a reason”) and I’m happy to report they are delicious!
I’m definitely going to try this today but I only keep whole wheat flour on hand so we will see how that goes.
Let me know how that goes! I’d love to make them all whole wheat!
I’m super excited to try this recipe! I know my daughter is going to gobble them up and I will gladly let her knowing she is getting some veggies! I’m so bummed I don’t have enough spinach to make them right now! Off to the store we go!
Catherine, I am so happy you enjoyed this idea so much and I appreciate you turning it into something wonderful. I do make these regularly and I use coconut oil (melted) and I have found that if you add a bit of shredded coconut and a touch of milk or a bit more applesauce (to help with what ever the coconut may absorb) they are awesome and my 22 month old chows them down. I have now started adding raw spinach to so many recipes because it doesn’t have a strong flavor, the possibilities are endless.
Would any spices be good in this – like nutmeg or cinnamon? Or how about a frosting of some sort? Trying to get a feel for what they will taste like as I definitely want to try!
They taste like a regular vanilla cupcake/muffin. I used Catherine’s buttercream frosting and they were too good! I have made 4 variations of these, but none with any spices. I bet that either nutmeg or cinnamon would be good.
I used 1/2 tsp of ginger. Yum
usually nutmeg would go well with most greens… give it a try =)
I made these today! My son isn’t a big sweets guy and wasn’t that excited about them, but I really loved them and I’ll probably make them again. They’re a gorgeous color, and would be great for brunch with my friends sometime. I don’t have a mini muffin pan, so I used a regular one. This recipe made eight regular sized muffins. I’d love to see a non-sweet, cheesy version of these. My son would definitely go for that. Anyway… thanks Catherine for another fun, easy recipe!
I am so glad to read this as I just poured them into regular muffin pans and only got 8 – so was thinking I must have done something wrong
I just made it and my kids LOVED it! They loved the green color and kept asking for more. Thanks for sharing another great recipe.
I have all the ingredients and will be making these first thing tomorrow. I am always looking for ways to get more veggies in my family’s diet. Thanks for sharing!
I made these today with white wheat flour and they were amazing. My 2 year old son loved them and would have eaten all of them had I allowed it! Another amazing recipe from weelicious! My son loves all the pancakes, waffles and muffins so more of these types of recipes is always welcome.
what about using a cornbread mix?
I loved them. My boys aren’t so sure yet. I didn’t have sugar so I ended up using agave and it worked well.
I’m very disappointed. I just made these and they weren’t the best. We ended up throwing them away. I’m surprised because all the other comments are so positive. Maybe I did something wrong.
I’m so bummed they didn’t work for you. How did they turn out for you? Were they sweet enough? I wonder what you could have done wrong. I want to solve this for you!
Oh, thanks Catherine. I totally followed the recipe. I might try again this weekend and see if something went wrong. I so loved the color though! They weren’t actually sweet at all. Oh well. Thanks for your concern though. On to the next recipe:-)
made these today, I used organic pastry flour and they came out sooooo good:) I told my son they were yoda cupcakes, they had a nice green color, next time I will try with whole wheat pastry flour:) CATHERINE: how could this recipe be turned into pancakes???
Ohhh pancakes, good idea! I’ll work on that one.
Yoda cupcakes?! My son has just discovered Yoda, so that will make the more fun
We’re about to whip up a batch together now.
So do you guys think I could add some more green food powder? Like the kind for putting in smoothies and things? When would I add it? with the spinach?
Thanks!
Hi Catherine, thanks for sharing..I must admit I’m not a kitchen person, but since I have my baby, I want to give the best for him, this include cooking for him..your recipes have been easy to follow and I’m slowly getting the fun cooking, trying new recipes..I’m not based in US myself, so I need to google some of the ingredients, also measurement and temperature, but they are all worth it!
thanks so much..now, do you think this spinach muffin will freeze well? 
Made these this morning and they were great! I’m always trying to ear more veggies and this was an easy way to start the day. My one year old asked for more! Also wondering if you can freeze them.
Making these with my girls today and just realized I don’t have sugar. Will agave or honey work?
I assume if we did substitute agave you’d need to decrease another liquid, perhaps the oil by 1 TBL. Let me know if you try it out. I avoid sugar in recipes as much as possible these days.
I have made a recipe like this! They were so good! I got the recipe here http://thechiclife.com/2010/07/green-monster-muffins-recipe.html
It is basically the same recipe but it has oat flour, whole wheat pastry flour and more sugar.
Made these today and they were great – I must have used more spinach since mine turned out bright green. Used olive oil since I didn’t have any vegetable or canola oil. My 2yo was singing from happiness when he was eating them. Thanks so much for another great recipe Catherine!!
I made them last night and they came out great…so good my dog helped himself to them so I had to make another batch…I put little more applesause and they were even better…my 3 little ones loved them…thank you so much for this recipe…my son who doesn’t want to eat veggies will eat anything in the forms of a muffin so this is great..:)
Just made these today with half whole wheat flour and honey granules rather than sugar and they’re still very good. Not too sweet but I like them. I love that they’re so green too!
I added apples and pumpkin pie spice- the plain version was very good- i just like a tiny bit sweeter
Made these this morning. They tasted great! Batter was a bit gummy – will add more applesauce next time.
Do you have nutrition info for this recipe? I’d love to have those details
Made these yesterday with the help of my 19 mo daughter. She loves veggies anyway and kept stealing the spinach! She normally isn’t a big sweets fan so these were perfect. She ate 2 in the first helping! Love them – thanks for sharing the recipe! She also loves kale – may try that as a substitution sometime.
Just made these and they turned out great! I think they tasted like vanilla cupcakes without the frosting. I added a little pumpkin pie spice just because I love it
Just made these, followed recipe to a T…except I baked them a little longer (I used the bigger muffin tin pan). Now they are a bit dry. I think if I only baked them for an extra 3 min instead of 6, they would’ve been better.
Really, really, really good!
Could I substitute flax seed for the egg? Or just add some in?
I just made this and unfortunately was not crazy excited about them. I followed the recipe exactly. They came out quite heavy though. The spinach taste is definitely there as well. I’m going to test them out on my little guy tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
I was intrigued by the concept of spinach muffins and thought I would give these a shot. While I loved the color and taste, I really didn’t like how they looked! The batter seemed a bit too thick to me and the muffins were more like scuffins (in between scone and muffin) in texture. I made regular size muffins and got 10 slightly smaller than normal muffins. My boys (4, 3, 19 months) loved them though especially since I called them “Grinch” muffins!
made these this morning! they would be great as a basic muffin recipe. thanks!
Is there a reason why yours do not look very green? I used a packed 1 cup of spinach and mine are beautifully vibrant green! Just curious if its bad lighting or what? Thanks!
Any idea how many calories per muffin?
I didn’t have any applesauce… but then thought to make fresh applesauce. Why not? I chopped an apple and a half and stewed the pieces for 10 min or so and then pureed the chunks (nothing added but a wee bit of water to moisten the saucepan). I let the sauce cool and then proceeded. The batter was very thick, but the results were excellent and my daughter and niece ate a surprising number of them throughout the day. DEE-LISH! Thank you!
These were a hit with my kids. I have a question though. They did seem a little dry to me, and the batter was soooo thick. If I loosened the batter by adding milk would that make them more moist? Thanks!
Excellent!! I didn’t puree my mixture, just chopped the spinach really finely. Added 1/4 less flour because of this and they turned out Very well!! Also only added 1/4cup sugar but still were plenty sweet and delicious. Thank you
[...] Spinach Muffins (orginally adapted from Weelicious) [...]
[...] Since it was a snowy day and our Music Together was cancelled, I decided we needed to bake. We made Spinach Blueberry Muffins. You can find the recipe here. [...]
I made these for my 1 1/2 year old daughter and she loves them. I make a variety of your muffins and send them to daycare for her morning snack with fruit. thanks for the recipe.
Question about mini muffin pans…
What do you use to grease yours? I love/hate making mini muffins because the vegetable oil non-stick spray is SO SO hard to wash out of those tiny muffin cups after making mini muffins (but we love the carrot apple coconut ones!). I’m hoping there’s an alternative. Thanks!
These were GREAT! I subbed 1/2 cup of almond meal for 1/2 cup of flour and threw in 1 tblsp brown sugar – between myself, my husband and 2 year old, we ate them all up within 24 hours (I made 7 large muffins) – my 2 year old loved the green color of them and now requests everything in different colors (green tacos, red bread, etc!). They tasted much better fresh out of the oven than they did the next day, but I would definitely make these again – they were moist and flavorful. Any tips on how to adapt these to be savory and cheesy? Thanks for this recipe!
Catherine – Agave substitute? Would you decrease the oil because of the liquid agave being added?
Really? You can’t use frozen spinach? I was ready set to make them, then thought I’d check what the proportion would be if it where frozen spinach, and caught your comment.
It it too much liquid?
I used a whole box (10 oz)of frozen spinach, undrained, and this recipe worked beautifully! I also had to substitute one banana for the egg due to allergy kids. I didn’t puree the wet ingredients due to time constraints and they taste great, but definitely look like they are spinach muffins (the spinach is very obvious)! My 3 yr old boys don’t care and gobble them up anyway but if I were to make these again for a playdate snack I would definitely puree to mask it.
I just made these while my 3 year old was napping. Have to say- what’s not to love. I licked the batter bowl and thought “this tastes like cake batter.” Final result was great, moist and yummy. You don’t even know there is spinach in them. Cannot wait for my son’s reaction.
I think I put too much spinach b/c mine turned out much greener than the picture. You said a ‘packed’ cup of spinach but then in your video it doesn’t look like a ‘packed’ cup – just a loose cup of spinach leaves. Can you be more specific on the amount of spinach needed so that these come out looking more like the yellow cake in your picture?
To go along with this recipe, I use to be able to serve my daughter baby spinach and apple smoothies. She doesn’t like bananas so I tried a raw drink recipe in the blender which is a handful of baby spinach, 1-2 apple (and/or pear), apple juice, ice and a little lemon juice to taste. And, yes, the drink is green. It could also be used as a “Green Eggs and Ham” theme, St. Patty’s drink or I have served it at a Halloween party as a mystery drink.
I am trying these right now. The batter was so gummy! I was having a hard time getting the batter off the spoon and into the muffin tin. Nice bright color. I used baby spinach since I had it on hand. Let’s see how it tastes!
Too bad. I wanted to like these because my baby needs to eat more veggies. Not sure what I did wrong. They had no flavor at all. I made the applesauce myself by cutting up two red apples, heating them on the stove until soft then puréed them. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that? Maybe it was the baby spinach?
Catherine – do you think these would freeze well? Put them in the freezer after they’ve cooled and warm them in the toaster oven?
I froze some of mine, and just let them thaw on the counter actually, under a tea towel. Worked beautifully.
Just made these with my 2.5 year old son and he loves them! So do I. Great recipe!
I already made these 4 times….I love them, my kids, and anybody who tries them…I added more applesauce and more spinach and substituted 1/2 rye flour…came out deep green and delicious again…thank you so very much…I am not a good cook or baker but your receipts make me want to cook.
Just made these with my two boys ( 4 and 2 yrs) and they were a huge hit. Thank you!
evie, same for me. Batter was super gummy. I added another 4 oz apple sauce. They still came out like bricks…bricks with no flavor. Not sure where I messed them up either, but they’re not working for me or my kids : (
I just made these and they are awesome!My 2year old hates veggies and I struggle daily to get him to eat any veggie.He helped me make them and I told him they were spinach but I failed to remind him that spinach is a vegetable.OOps!I did use frozen boxed spinach but it turned out well enough for my picky eater:)
I just made these with a half a box of frozen spinach. I used a 1/4 cup sugar and added some frozen strawberries. I thawed them with the spinach! They turned out great! My four year old said she wants them for breakfast tomorrow! But she wants to have a third mini one now!
Made these Again today – added a grated carrot and some cinnamon and nutmeg, SO GOOD! I’m going to keep experimenting adding veggies, what a great way to add veg to our meals.
On a side note, I use less flour as I don’t puree the spinach mix, just a very fine chop.
I made these last night with the Red Mill GF AP flour, they turned out a bit dry (like dry corn muffins). Will keep experimenting, as I haven’t had much GF baking experience yet.
My little one is not a fan of sweet baked goods yet, am going to experience how to make this savory.
I agree with the people that say these need some extra spices. I made them as written here. They’re good, but they are missing something. My daughter will love them. Maybe I’ll try with orange zest..
PS-bacon would be AMAZING in these, but then they wouldn’t be as healthy.
Made these last night! They were amazing! I mixed some powdered sugar and water to make a light glaze to drizzle over them. Yum!
eating mine right now! If you expect something really sweet like boxed cake.. you might be disappointed. I just got mine out of the oven. I think my kids will love the color of them =) I think they do have a great flavor. I will be making these again!
I am also looking for ways to incorporate veg’s (espec the green ones!) into my daughter’s diet. I have found many recipes that incorporate spinach in some sneaky way, but it seems like the actual amount of vegetable per serving winds up being so miniscule! So here, one cup of packed spinach is split up among 24 mini muffins. How much fiber and iron does this impart to each muffin?
On the upside, it might make “green food” less taboo and as such, serve as a gateway food for the real stuff?
Made this recipe today, did not have applesauce so i made a pumpkin puree and used that instead, and added some spice and lemon essence and it came out beautifully also used whole wheat instead of all purpose flour thanks for the recipes.
OK here’s what i did and they were fantastic. We called them “alien” muffins.
I changed it up a bit:
2 cups of Spinach
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 apple sause
3/4 cup sugar
and dried cranberries and walnuts.
and the same dry ingredients
They were super green and moist and YUMMY!
I made these and they are very spinach-y so not sure how I feel about them. LO seemed to like them all right (he is 15 mo). I substituted half the applesauce for some leftover avocado-banana puree, sucanat for regular sugar, and whole grain flour for regular flour. I’m trying to keep my cooking “clean” as much as possible and the substitutions didn’t really affect the texture or taste. I think spices are a good idea – I’ll try that next time.
ETA: My little guy really gobbles these up for snack now so I’ll make them again for him.
I just made these and they turned out great. Though mine made 30 mini muffins. I did use muffin liners.
I put it in the recipe builder on Weight Watchers and it only came out to 1 point/muffin (remember, I was able to make 30 instead of 24). Of course, I made these for my baby … luckily I have more spinach. They are so tasty warm.
Thank you for the recipe. I can’t wait to have my child try a muffin for the first time!
What do you think of Xylitol??? I don’t have any sugar in the house. Just xylitol, stevia, and honey.
I don’t like the taste of Xylitol so I never have it on hand. I often use honey as a sugar substitute, but for this recipe you would have to increase the amount of dry ingredients. I would say start with 1/3 Cup Honey and add 1/3-1/2 Cup Flour and see how that works!
[...] I saw this recipe for Spinach Cake Muffins from weelicious.com, I had to try them. I know it’s not the same as eating a spinach [...]
We made these “Yoda” muffins too but made them brown & green swirl. Double recipe in food processor then make 2 bowls of dry mix (1 whole recipe of dry, then 1 recipe of dry but substitute 1/2 c cocoa for a 1/2 c flour). Split blended mixture between dry bowls and add a bit more applesauce or milk to choc mixture to loosen it up. Scoop green mix into bottom of muffin tins, top each with brown mix. Then use a toothpick or butter knife to make swirls. Bake as directed. Brown and green swirlies!
That sounds so cute and fun!
These are so cute, little green puffs… I think they are delicious and i know my little girl will love them. I made your cottage cheese pancakes for her for breakfast today and they were so moist and sweet. She also loves the baby quiche… Great recipes!! Love them!!!
I plan on making these tomorrow. My son loves muffins and I am going to try these to get more veggies into him. But what he loves most about muffins is finding fruit in them such as raisins, blueberries, cranberries etc. What fruit would taste good in these muffins? Thanks!
I think chopped apricots would be lovely in these, soak them if they are too tough. Raisins, also soaked, would be good too!
Thanks I used raisins in some and dried cranberries in the others. They came out great!
These are really good
Would it be ok to add some zucchini in these also?
[...] it started with breakfast… ditch the green eggs & ham! I was given a link for spinach cake muffins. Sounded a little iffy- but they turned out pretty [...]
They are in the oven now, I hope they freeze well. Spinach is one of my daughters favorite foods, I usually make mini omelets and put spinach into her breakfast that way, but this will be an exciting change for her! Cant wait till they are done so we can try them out!
My kids don’t eat anything, especially veggies or anything green…but I gave these a try. I did it on St. Paddy’s day to have a reason for the green. My kids LOVED them! My son asked me to add blueberries the second time (I blended a cup of frozen ones in because he doesn’t like to bite into them) and they were great! He thought the color was cool too, like a blue-green and they had a little more sweetness to them. They each ate 4 mini muffins in minutes! I usually fail in the kitchen but this was a success! Thanks for the recipe!
My son is addicted to these. I have probably made 6 batches since St. Patrick’s Day. Tonight after dinner he asked me to make more since he had eaten the last of them for breakfast.
Not overly sweet, but definitely like them and feel like healthy alternative to some of the easy snack items we might use. I have been slowly replacing some of the All Purpose with Whole Wheat Flour. I am up to 1 cup whole wheat, 1/2 cup all purpose. Today all I had was All Purpose, and actually think I prefer the flavor of the whole wheat ones I have been making. Thank you so much!!
Just made these with half almond flour half whole grain pastry flour and coconut sugar! Turned out great and love the added protein.
[...] To get the recipe go to: http://weelicious.com/2012/01/04/spinach-cake-muffins/ [...]
My son is 2 and is the pickiest eater ever but he does love muffins SO i was thrilled to see this option with the spinach. I also threw in a half of banana, oat bran and flax seed. Since he is so picky I love to load up the things he does eat with as much as possible. Thank you for this website!! I use it all the time and adore your recipes. They are easy to make for even a mom like me who doesnt cook!
[...] with moms and kids. Some of my favorites are these low-fat peanut butter banana muffins and these spinach muffins, both featured on my cooking resource [...]