Green Chocolate Chip Muffins
Equipment
- 1 Blender or Food Processor (S blade)
Ingredients
- ½ cup applesauce unsweetened
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 1 cup spinach packed
- 1½ cups gluten free flour I love Bob's Redmill 1:1
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pan with liners and spray them with cooking spray.
- Prepare muffin tin by placing 12 liners then spray with cooking spray (I use an avocado oil based one)
- In a blender (or food processor), combine the applesauce, syrup, eggs, vanilla, oil and spinach and blend until smooth and the spinach is fully incorporated. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
- Add the wet spinach mixture to the dry ingredients and combine until no lumps remain and the batter is smooth.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Using a regular ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into the muffin tin (they shoudl be about ¾ full).
- Bake about 18 minutes until cooked through and set. Remove and place on a cooking rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy right away or save in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
~Amanda~
My daughter and I have been on quite the baking kick lately and she is constantly wanting to be in the kitchen with me making something delicious. St Patrick’s Day was a few weeks ago and we wanted to make something GREEN for a brunch party we were going to. We decided green muffins were the perfect thing to make. I’m always looking for ways to incorporate good-for-you ingredients in my baking and adding spinach to make our muffins green was a no brainer – festive and healthy!
I kept this recipe very simple and used ingredients we already had in the house so we didn’t have to make a special trip to the store. The base is a combination of applesauce, eggs, vanilla, avocado oil, maple syrup (we have to have some sweetness to offset the slightly earthy and bitter flavor from the spinach – we like the color and nutrition we get from it, but nobody really wants their muffins to taste like spinach!) and finally spinach. You blend this up in a blender until it’s combined so well and there are no chunks of spinach left (my Vitamix gets the job done great).
Next, we combined all the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) then added the wet spinach mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until all the lumps are gone and then fold in your mini chocolate chips – these add just another little pop of sweetness to the muffins! They bake for about 18 minutes until cooked through and firm and then you can serve them warm or keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week to pull out whenever you wish. They make a great, easy breakfast or snack throughout the week. Enjoy!
