My son is three and while he eats very well for a toddler, getting him to eat green vegetables is tough. In an effort to push the veggies, I decided to hide them in his favorite food: muffins.

It definitely helps that he loves the idea of a “monster” muffin, so the vibrant green hue is not off-putting to him, but rather an awesome novelty. He is genuinely disappointed when other muffins aren’t green. This recipe is vegan, nut free, gluten free and refined sugar free, so it’s on the healthy side.

If you aren’t nut free, dairy free or vegan, you can sub in almond flour, white or wheat flour, milk and eggs easily.

Green Monster Muffins

You will need a medium mixing bowl, blender, muffin tins, spatula, measuring cups and spoons. Makes 12 muffins.

Recipe

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

3 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup dairy free milk

1/2 cup oil

2 flax meal “eggs” (or 2 large eggs)

1/4 cup apple sauce

1 cup dates

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups gluten free flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup vanilla protein powder (I use Vega brand)

1 cup blueberries

Rainbow sprinkles

Preheat oven to 400° f. Grease muffin tin. In a medium sized mixing bowl, mash bananas.

In blender, blend the spinach, non-dairy milk, oil, egg replacement, vanilla, apple sauce, dates, maple syrup and cinnamon until smooth. Add to the bananas.

Stir in flour, baking powder, salt and protein powder. Once mixed, fold in the blueberries.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tins. Sprinkle liberally with rainbow sprinkles, then bake in preheated oven for 20-25 min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack, then enjoy!