I know the title of this recipe seems a little strange but trust me when I say that these muffins are gonna blow ya mind! I came up with them after wanting to make a better-for-you muffin that I could feel good about noshing on for a quick breakfast on the go, or better yet, for a lunch dessert (best dessert of the day!). They’re very similar to my chocolate banana bread, but with a more nutrient-dense twist.
These chocolate spinach muffins also make the perfect treat for kiddos — they’ll never know you packed them with fiber, protein, and tons of nutrients because they taste like a slice of chocolate cake. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
They’ve become such a staple in my house that I had to make a fun video HERE for my Good Mood Food YouTube series. Watch the whole video here or at the bottom of this post!
Everything you’ll need to make chocolate spinach muffins
These spinach chocolate muffins are packed with nutrients thanks to spinach, almond flour, hemp seeds, cacao powder and oatmeal; plus they’re sweetened with banana and just a touch of maple syrup and taste like a cross between a brownie and a slice of chocolate cake. They’re fudgy yet still fluffy. What more can I say? I LOVE THEM. I’ve been keeping them in my freezer and warming them up whenever I have a sweet tooth. Here’s what you need to make them:
- Bananas: using ripe bananas helps to naturally sweeten these chocolate spinach muffins and give them the right texture. Choose bananas with brown spots on them!
- Eggs: you’ll need 3 eggs in this muffin recipe. I haven’t tested them with any egg alternative so I’m not sure how they would turn out. Let me know if you give it a try!
- Sweetener: we’re using just a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup to sweeten these muffins with the banana. Honey is a great option too! You’ll also need some vanilla extract.
- Dry ingredients: you’ll need fine, blanched almond flour, unsweetened cacao powder and rolled oats (gluten free to keep these muffin gf).
- Mix-ins: we’re also adding a few tablespoons of hemp hearts for a boost of healthy fats, fiber and protein, and of course, fresh spinach! I like to make these double chocolate spinach muffins by adding dark chocolate chips as well.
- Baking staples: you’ll also need some baking soda and salt so that these muffins bake properly.
Wait… spinach in muffins?
Yes! These chocolate spinach muffins have 3 whole cups of fresh spinach baked right into them. Trust me, you won’t taste or see it at all. It’s just like adding spinach to your favorite smoothie and adds a wonderful boost of veggies. Next, I’m going to start blending spinach into my favorite banana oatmeal pancakes!
What makes these chocolate muffins healthy?
There are a few ingredients that really help to make these spinach chocolate muffins nutritious and healthy.
- Spinach: this recipe has 3 cups of spinach in there! Spinach is packed with iron, calcium, folic acid, plus vitamins A, C, and K1.
- Almond flour: this is one of my favorite flours to bake with because it’s so nutritious. Tons of protein, fiber, calcium, and healthy fats to help keep you full and satisfied.
- Hemp seeds: I use hemp seeds all the time with my son because they are a great source of protein, fiber, healthy fats, and iron.
- Cacao powder: a great source of iron and a healthier alternative to regular cocoa powder.
Optional ingredient swaps
If you’re missing some of the ingredients for these chocolate spinach muffins, here are some subs I can recommend:
- Feel free to use honey in place of the maple syrup
- If you don’t have cacao powder, you can use regular, unsweetened cocoa powder
- Instead of rolled oats, you can use 1/4 cup of oat flour
- Swap the hemp hearts for a tablespoon of chia seeds if you’d like
Can I use regular flour?
Unfortunately, I would not recommend using regular flour for these gluten-free chocolate spinach muffins. Try these muffins instead!
What do chocolate spinach muffins taste like?
If you love brownies, banana bread, and chocolate cake then you’re in luck. These healthy chocolate spinach muffins literally taste like a fudgy brownie and your favorite banana bread had a delicious baby. The texture of them is similar to a slice of chocolate cake. Trust me when I say kids will love them!
How to make healthy chocolate spinach muffins in the blender
- Prep your muffin tin. Add muffin liners to your muffin tin. Be sure to spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray.
- Blend the wet ingredients. Add your bananas, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and spinach to your high powdered blender and blend until smooth.
- Blend in the dry. Next, add the almond flour, cacao powder, oats, hemp hearts, baking soda & salt and blend again until smooth.
- Chocolate party. Stir in those dark chocolate chips (do not blend). Feel free to use whatever chocolate chips you’d like.
- Pour & bake. Evenly pour the batter into your prepared muffin liners, top each with a few chocolate chips, and bake them. If the batter doesn’t pour well, you can simply scoop it into the muffin batter with a measuring cup.
- Top & enjoy. Add a sprinkle of fancy sea salt to the tops (if you’d like), let them cool, and enjoy as-is or with a dollop of nut butter!
Pro tips for making spinach chocolate muffins
- Pack your almond flour. When you measure the almond flour be sure to pack it just like you would with brown sugar.
- Use ripe bananas. Be sure to use bananas that have lots of brown spots to give the muffins the perfect sweetness.
- Do not use steel cut oats. Rolled oats have a much different consistency than steel cut, so be sure you’re using rolled oats or quick oats.
- Keep them dairy free. Remember to use dairy free chocolate chips if you need to keep the muffins dairy free!
- Vegan option. I haven’t tested these chocolate spinach muffins with flax eggs, but let me know if you do in the comments!
How to store & freeze muffins
- To store: place these gluten free chocolate spinach muffins on the counter in an airtight container for a day, then transfer to the fridge.
- To freeze: allow the muffins to cool completely then put in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to reheat, you can thaw at room temperature, or heat up in the microwave in 30 second intervals.
More muffin recipes you’ll love
- Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins (dairy free + gluten free)
- The Best Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (gluten free!)
- Heart Healthy Olive Oil Salted Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
- Paleo Double Chocolate Tahini Banana Muffins
- Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Glaze
Get all of my muffin recipes here!
Good Mood Food Episode 3
I hope you love these blender double chocolate spinach muffins! If you make them be sure to leave a comment & a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Blender Double Chocolate Spinach Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 VERY RIPE medium bananas
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or sub honey)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups organic spinach
- 2 cups (224g) packed fine blanched almond flour
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cacao powder (or sub unsweetened cocoa powder)
- ½ cup (48g) rolled oats, gluten free if desired (or sub 1/4 cup oat flour)
- 3 tablespoons hemp hearts (or sub chia seeds)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup (60g) dark chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top
- Milk of choice, as needed for blending
- For topping:
- Fancy Maldon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add the bananas, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla and spinach to a high powered blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Next add in the almond flour, cacao powder, oats, hemp hearts, baking soda and salt; blend until smooth. The batter may be thick, so you might have to use a spatula to push the ingredients down, and blend again. It is best to do this in a high powered blender. If the batter is looking too thick or not blending well, simply add milk a little bit at a time. Once the batter is smooth, stir in ⅓ cup chocolate chips (do not blend).
- Scoop or pour batter into prepared muffin liners. Top with a few chocolate chips on each muffin. Bake for 22-27 mins or until the tester comes out clean. When they come out of the oven, sprinkle with a little sea salt. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy! Makes 12 muffins. I love serving these warm with a dollop of nut butter on top.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on January 12th, 2021, and republished on April 27th, 2024.
Super yummy and guilt free knowing there’s spinach, chai seeds and only maple syrup and bananas to sweeten. I do not have a high powered blender so I used my food processor. First I mixed all the dry ingredients in the food processor and then poured it into a mixing bowl after. Then I put all the wet ingredients in the processor; then poured into the bowl with the dry and I mixed together with a spatula then added the chocolate chips. I didn’t have to use any milk because the consistency wasn’t extremely thick but they came out great still. (Not sure if it’s because of the food processor.) Baked for 25 minutes.
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
If you don’t have a high speed blender would a food processor work?
I haven’t tested it, but I suspect it should! Let me know if you try it.
These were so good. I only made 1/2 recipe to try it out 😉 and it made 23 mini muffins. I used Lily’s dark chocolate chips and added a few chopped pecans. I sprinkled on a touch of Maldon flaky salt before baking so it would stick to batter. It was so easy in the Vitamix & will definitely make again.
Perfect! Glad they were a hit!
Hi! Love your recipes! What can you use in place of almond flour? My grandson is allergic to nuts.
Hi! Unfortunately, I don’t have a substitute I can recommend for the almond flour. Try these muffins instead!
This recipe does not state how the spinach is packed, 3 cups can have a lot of variance to it .
Hi! I will always write “packed” if an ingredient should be packed into a measuring cup. Otherwise it can just be loosely measured to fill the cup.
I love this recipe-my whole family inhales these and I make them weekly because it’s an easy way to get some substantial nutrition into my kid’s face.
As others have said, sometimes the mix gets gummed up in the Vitamix. I’ve started blending the dry ingredients first, then transfer them to a big bowl when mixed, then blend the wet ingredients, add it to the dry stirring them together in the bowl when adding the chocolate chips with a big wooden spoon at the end. The consistency ends up thick-looks like what she makes in the video and then I don’t have to keep adding milk or start/stopping the blender when it gets stuck. It actually ends up being faster for me and the texture with this method has been much more fluffy and cake-like than when I was probably overmixing in the blender. I love all your recipes and it’s so fun and easy to incorporate a blender! Thank you for this 🙂 Plus how else Imma use up all the Costco spinach?
I’m so glad that method works out better! The perfect snack (and yes, great way to use up all that spinach haha).
These were absolutely delicious! I made them according to the recipe but with 2tbsp chia instead of the hemp seeds. The chocolate chips melted as soon as I added them to the batter, so I would recommend checking the temperature first if your blender tends to heat up a lot. My family had no idea that there was spinach hiding in the muffins – awesome recipe!
I have made these twice and they are really good! Such a great way to use up leftover spinach. My blender is smaller so I mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the blended wet ingredients to it. The second time I added a single shot of espresso before adding the chocolate chips to boost the chocolate flavor and I loved how they turned out! I like making these as a healthy breakfast or snack for myself.
Perfect! Espresso sounds amazing in here. Glad you love them!
My daughter requests these in her lunchbox weekly. So good, nutritious and easy to make!
Love that!
Hi,
I used 90g Spinach and batter was bitter, is the batter supposed to be bitter? But after baking, bitterness fades.
Also, I found the muffin to be less sweet, How much honey can I increase to get good sweetness?
Will the recipe be ok if I add more honey?
Hi! If you use chocolate chips the muffins should be plenty sweet. Feel free to use less spinach next time if that’s your preference. You can also increase the sweetener by 1 to 2 tablespoons if you’d like.
Hi Monique, I would love to make this recipe and was wondering if I left out the spinach entirely but kept everything else the same. Do you think it would still work? Thank you so much. I look forward to your response.🙂
Hi! I haven’t tested it, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Try one of these chocolate chip muffins instead!
These are the only way my picky eater will eat spinach! I have been gradually increasing the amount, to the point the muffins are brownish green, but the recipe still works and he still gobbles them up! I just put a few extra chocolate chips on top.
Still so delicious! Glad he loves them!
I had a ton of spinach leftover and looked up some recipes and this one came up and I was not disappointed!! Delicious chocolate muffins and you can’t even taste the spinach! A hit for the whole family! 😋😊
Perfect! So happy to hear that!
Perfect for using up my super ripe bananas and that bag of spinach in the fridge. These are bookmarked and on repeat for kids snacks. Great w peanut butter chips, too.
Absolutely! Great idea to add peanut butter chips 🙂
I made these yesterday and they turned out great! I made a big batch and froze them (I like doing this with your other spinach muffins and the banana breakfast cookies too). I took one from the freezer and microwaved for a minute, it was perfect! Thanks for the great recipes with your focus on health. 💕
So happy to hear that!
Didn’t modify anything, just added milk as needed for texture. These didn’t last more than 2 days in our house. I’ve been sending the recipe to everyone, they’re SO GOOD! Thank you for sharing such a delicious and healthy recipe 🙂
Perfect! Such a great snack, breakfast, or treat!
Does the chia seed substitution mean 1 tbs of chia seeds to the 3 of hemp seeds? Thanks!
I put 3 tablespoons chia seeds in the recipe in lieu of hemp seeds.
I haven’t had experience baking with chia seeds and didn’t realise they’d come out crunchy.
While the muffins are lovely, my picky two year old who hates crunchy textures won’t have a second bite of the muffins.
Perhaps a warning note to your readers that chia seeds will add a crunch that some toddlers may not like, would be prudent.
Hi! When mixed with all of the other ingredients and baked they shouldn’t stay crunchy – I’m not sure what happened there!
I have been making these for a long time and they have always been a hit for the whole fam! Love to use up my spinach before it’s about to go bad some weeks 🙂 I just made it with cassava flour instead of oat flour to make it grain free and turned out great!!
Perfect! Happy to hear these are a favorite 🙂
These muffins are delicious! I love that I can sneak in spinach and hemp hearts into these muffins without anyone knowing! These muffins make an incredible snack and the best part is there is no guilt.
Absolutely! Glad you love these 🙂
Your muffin recipes are the best!! This one does not disappoint yum!
I made no substitutions, muffins came out moist and fluffy and just sweet enough.
So happy to hear that!
I used flax eggs and added a half of a scoop of vanilla protein powder. They turned out great!
These were SO good! They look great, taste great, I love em! You cannot taste a drop of spinach, and I love the chia seeds, a little extra healthy than they already are.
I made 2/3 of your batch to make 2 dozen mini muffins instead. My bake time was a little longer than suggested because I found they were wet still. They were so nice and fluffy and tasty and not overly sweet. Thank you for this.
My ONLY request would be a nut-free version (almond flour) because my daughter can’t bring any nuts to school so I can’t send these in her lunch box. But they’ll be great for breakfast for me and my little ones.
Thank you 🙂
So glad these are a favorite!! Noted on the nut free snacks, too 🙂 I’ll keep those in mind for the future!
I really enjoyed these muffins, they have an excellent texture just like cake! I forgot to add the salt when they came out of the oven, definitely want to do that next time, think it’ll make them even better.
Changes I made to the recipe
– I didn’t have hemp hearts, used chia instead
– I used a large muffin tin, so I had 6 large muffins, and had to bake them for ~5 min longer than it says
Perfect! So glad you loved them!
Hi! Is there a sub for the almond flour at all?
Hi! I’ve only tested the recipe as is, so I can’t provide a substitute for the almond flour. Sorry!
I’m sorry I know we are going for healthy but these are terrible 😞
Tried to cover it up with some almond butter but first time I make something and just cannot eat it
Bland is an understatement
Definitely needs more maple sugar too
They looked and cooked beautifully though!
Unless you have a dietary restriction I wouldn’t bother making these
Sorry to hear that you didn’t love these! Were your bananas SUPER ripe? Three very ripe bananas should provide the perfect amount of sweetness, along with the maple syrup and chocolate chips.
Delicious – I skilled the chocolate chips and my kids love them. I only had almond meal, not almond flour, and they worked perfectly.
I’m glad the almond meal worked out well! Perfect snack 🙂
Had to use about a half cup of milk because my Vitamix blender cannot mix the batter while it was too thick. Wish I would’ve used oat flour instead of oats. Muffins weren’t sweet enough for me.
Hi! Did you make sure to blend the wet ingredients first? That should help, along with the additional milk. And were your bananas VERY ripe? The muffins should be plenty sweet (but not overly sweet) with super ripe bananas as the natural sweetness!
I am planning to make this but I do not have a large muffin pan so…
– can I use half of the ingredients to make have of the batter ? Should I use 2 eggs or 1?
Or
– should I make the whole recipe and save whatever is left of the batter in the fridge to bake it later?
Hi! Feel free to make the whole recipe and then just bake the muffins in batches 🙂
Sooo good! Moist and perfect sweetness for a muffin. Love adding hidden veggies and the high nutrition level of these muffins. Have you ever tried replacing pureed avocado for butter or oil in a baked good for even more added nutrition? I haven’t tried it so don’t know if that is workable.
Our favs! Glad you loved them! I’ve used avocado in these brownies before, but haven’t tested it out in any others!
These are seriously AMAZING… you have to make these immediately!! They are super fudgy and so easy to make. I am obsessed with how easy they are and you can’t taste the spinach …they have just the right amount of sweetness. These are definitely going to be made weekly in my house…so good!!
So good!! Glad you loved them!
Can I use frozen spinach? And how much? It would be much handier to keep on hand.
Hi! Hmm I wouldn’t suggest frozen spinach due to the water content as it has been blanched and frozen. I’m not 100% sure how it might change the texture of the batter here. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Awesome muffins!!!!!!!!! Love the flavor. My friends and family will love these when I make them for Christmas treats. Love your videos and all your recipes. Thanks for all the laughs.
So happy to hear that! Plenty more videos (and laughs) to come 🙂
This is the first recipe of yours that has been a dud! So many of yours are now family favourites but these ones just didn’t turn out 🙁 I followed the recipe exactly, even blending the wet ingredients first, but the texture was all wrong. Even though they smelled good, no-one ate them, and I was sad to waste all those good ingredients. Maybe my blender wasn’t high powered enough?
I will pick a different one to try today and I’m sure it will be fantastic!
So sorry to hear that! I’d love to help troubleshoot. Was the batter looking too thick? I suggest adding a little milk if you’re having trouble blending, but they should bake up well and taste amazing.
Hello Monique!
I am so sad to give these muffins a low rating because I absolutely LOVE your recipes and have never made a single one that has not been a new family favourite. Until this one 🙁
I wonder if my blender wasn’t high powered enough or what else I might have done wrong (I followed the recipe exactly except for omitting hemp hearts) but they were inedible. Super grainy and gross texture, I couldn’t get anyone to eat them.
Maybe I needed a better blender?
Sad to waste all those yummy ingredients.
I’ll try a different recipe next time- as yours are always so so SO good!
Xo
Hi! So sorry to hear that these didn’t turn out for you, as these are some of our all-time favorite muffins. It does sound like your blender may not be super high powered if the batter and texture of the muffins is coming out grainy. Did the batter blend completely? I also recommend adding a little more milk to help it blend up if your blender is struggling.
These honestly look gross pre-bake depending on how much spinach we use but they ARE SO GOOD!! My 2 and 5 year old LOVE them!!
Haha it’s definitely a “trust the process” type of recipe! Glad they were a hit!
Probably the most used recipe in my household. The kids love these for breakfast, snacks, or an extra treat in their lunchboxes. I always follow the recipe as is and they turn out great.
A huge hit! They smell just like brownies coming out of the oven and all my kids came running asking for one. No one believed that they were healthy which was a big success. Keeping this one for sure!
Amazing! So glad they were a hit!
These turned out really delicious! I had trouble getting them to blend in my Vitamix, even after I added a little milk, but after quite a bit of hand mixing and encouraging, they blended. I think I might actually try my food processor next time; it might work better since it’s a more even spread of ingredients. But overall a really yummy recipe, and I think I’ll add walnuts next time too. Thank you for the great recipe!
A little extra milk should help! Let me know how they go in your food processor, too. Glad you enjoyed!
I haven’t been able to get my two-year-old to eat basically any vegetables lately, but she devoured these muffins!
Aw I’m so glad she loved these! Great way to sneak in some veggies 🙂
Healthy, moist, chocolatey, and delicious! Easy to make and pop into the oven. Whole family loves them, especially our 4 year old. Will make geese often
Amazing! So glad they were a hit!