Thaxton is now 14 months old! How time flies! He eats a variety of food, including a lot of vegetables! Our biggest eating challenge has been getting him to eat chunky foods and different textures. As a result, he still eats a lot of purees. For his non-pureed foods, I try to give him things that are as healthy as possible. One thing that he is very good at eating is breads and anything else from the grain group, so I started looking for healthy muffin recipes.
Today I’m sharing a recipe for Apple Carrot Spinach Muffins. Don’t let the spinach throw you! If you didn’t see the specks of green in the muffin, you’d never know they had spinach in them! I put spinach in Thaxton’s scrambled eggs, all of our muffins, and smoothies! It’s a great way to get some extra greens, which is something I struggle with myself!
I did take one shortcut with these muffins. I used applesauce instead of chopping up fresh apples. Thaxton enjoys applesauce, so we keep that in the fridge, and I like the idea of using what I have, rather than going out and buying more ingredients.
Apart from being very wholesome, these muffins are delicious and very moist! Hope you enjoy!
Recipe for Apple Carrot Spinach Muffins
Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 honey
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut oil (melted) or other oil of your choice
1 1/2 teapsoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1 handful spinach
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 10 wells in a standard muffin tin with nonstick spray or line with liners. In a food processor, mix together the applesauce, honey, eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla. Then add carrot and spinach to your food processor bowl and blend. Carrot shreds and spinach should get broken down, as it is mixed in. (If you do not have a food processor, then use a knife to finely chop your carrots and spinach, or try a blender.) In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Add the flour mixture to the bowl and the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Gently stir in rolled oats. Batter should be lumpy. Pour batter in to muffin tin and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Allow to cool ten minutes before serving.
Muffins are also great for freezing! When I bake a fresh batch, I just leave out whatever we’re going to eat for the week, and I freeze the rest! (Just be sure to freeze them in a container or tray, before throwing them in a freezer bag. I placed a batch in a bag at room temperature and threw them straight in the freezer, and some of them got a little deformed.)
Do you love homemade muffins? I’d love for you to share your recipes with me! Please leave a comment on this post, or share your muffin recipes at our Friday Favorites linky party!
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