Kids’ Kitchen: Favorite Gluten-Free Sweet Spinach Muffins {aka Green Monster Muffins}

These gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, dairy-free, egg-free, protein-rich sweet spinach muffins are definitely nutritious! And they’re my favorite muffins (which says a lot, coming from a chocoholic)! My toddler grandchildren are in love with them, too! My 5½ year-old granddaughter, Zoey, still prefers my gluten-free chocolate muffins, but she’s the one who gave these muffins the name “Green Monster Muffins.” Of course, we’re only referring to cute green monsters, somewhat like Cookie Monster or the monsters on Monsters, Inc.!

Like my other muffin recipes, I love these muffins with soymilk for breakfast or a snack. They’re great with a smoothie, too. My 21-month-old granddaughter, Sophia, and 18-month-old grandson, Caleb, select the spinach muffins as their snack of choice when they visit.

I’ve adapted the sweet spinach recipe from Super Healthy Kids. They’ve given them the nicknames “Hulk Muffins, Green Goblins, Monster Muffins, or Frog Muffins.” Just pick a name that appeals to your child! My toddler grandkids have grown up loving spinach muffins, so they don’t even need another name!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Our Food Preparation Activities

I’ve talked before about the food allergies in our family. These work well for everyone in our family. I keep healthy muffins in the freezer at all times, where they’re available to grab and heat up for a quick snack.

These muffins are a great recipe to make with kids. Zoey’s an expert at making muffins and other baked goods. Sophia usually visits me alone one day a week while Zoey has her date with her mom before dance class. I took the photos two months ago when Sophia was 19 months old (and Caleb was 16 months old). During food preparation, Sophia is wearing an adorable toddler apron from Montessori Services. We have the same Learning Tower that Zoey used. It’s so well made that it still looks like new! And it’s great that Sophia (or Sophia and Caleb) can safely and comfortably reach everything.

I don’t focus on perfect judging standards for my baking … so please don’t judge! I just care that it’s relatively healthy and my family enjoys it. These are simple and quite quick to make!

How to Make Gluten-Free Sweet Spinach Muffins {aka Green Monster Muffins}

Because we have more than one family member with food allergies and low thyroid, I almost always bake gluten free. Even though we don’t have high cholesterol, I also add oat bran to almost everything I bake since it adds fiber and helps reduce bad cholesterol.

I add protein powder to almost everything I bake, too. I started doing that as a mom of elite athletes, and I’ve continued to use it as part of my regular baking practices. A number of us don’t eat dairy. So I use a vegan protein powder for baking. Whey protein also works great if you don’t mind dairy.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F and add 18 muffin cups to 2 muffin pans (or use a cooking spray to spray each cavity).
• Put the ground flax seed and water in a blender first. Then add the bananas, raw spinach, coconut oil honey, soymilk, and vanilla. Blend well.
• Stir dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just to combine.
• Pour batter into muffin pan, filling each cavity to 2/3 or 3/4 full.
• Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of your muffins are set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool muffins in pan for 10 minutes.
• Freeze or store in an airtight container.

Having Fun Making Sweet Spinach Muffins

Here’s Sophia during one of our sweet-spinach-muffin-making days. Tasting is always part of the fun!

Adding Spinach to the Blender for Sweet Spinach Muffins

Adding the spinach to the blender is fun … and it gets tasted, too!

Toddlers Enjoying Sweet Spinach Muffins Together

The next day when both Sophia and Caleb were visiting, they spontaneously sat down to eat the sweet spinach muffins together!

Here’s your printable Gluten-Free Sweet Spinach Muffins {aka Green Monster Muffins}

Print

Yum

Gluten-Free Sweet Spinach Muffins {aka Green Monster Muffins}

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal with 3 Tablespoons water (or 1 egg if you prefer)
• 3 ripe bananas
• 5 ounces raw baby spinach
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup honey
• ¾ cup soymilk or almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1 level scoop of vegan protein powder or whey protein powder
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and add 18 muffin cups to 2 muffin pans (or use a cooking spray to spray each cavity).
2. Put the ground flax seed and water in a blender first. Then add the bananas, raw spinach, coconut oil honey, soymilk, and vanilla. Blend well.
3. Stir dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just to combine.
5. Pour batter into muffin pan, filling each cavity to 2/3 or 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of your muffins are set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool muffins in pan for 10 minutes.
8. Freeze or store in an airtight container.

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes

0.1

https://livingmontessorinow.com/kids-kitchen-favorite-gluten-free-sweet-spinach-muffins-aka-green-monster-muffins/

12 Months of Montessori 2019 – Practical Life

This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori 2019! Check out all the practical life posts below:

• Montessori Practical Life Ideas Step 1 {Printable} | The Natural Homeschool
• Kids’ Kitchen: Favorite Gluten-Free, Sweet Spinach Muffins {aka Green Monster Muffins} | Living Montessori Now
• Forest School and Tips for Outdoor Learning | Mama’s Happy Hive
• Simple Food Preparation and Recipe Ideas for Kids | The Pinay Homeschooler