Clean Green Protein Muffins
I love creating green muffins as they are a great breakfast or snack on the go packed with nutrients and protein! And I get my dose of greens all at once! On top of that, they taste incredible! Made all natural with only natural sweeteners! Bonus!
So in addition to my hubby and I loving these, now that my baby girl is 9 months old she's eating solids. If you have kids, you know it sometimes can be challenging for them to eat enough greens in a day unless I'm pureeing her food. However, I've found that creating a food that enables her to bite into and also fills her up with greens, its like the ultimate kid food! She LOVES these muffins! she eats them usually for breakfast and sometimes an afternoon snack - if not another vegetable. I try to get 4-5 servings of veggies in her at the minimum a day and shes' not exactly loving to eat raw spinach leaves - so thus my alternative!
I've also found that its easiest to add vegetables to everything rather than giving her a banana I can just add greens in the form of a smoothie or in this case, a green muffin and she loves it the same! Double bonus!
Now, with these muffins you can add the protein powder or not. I have a very simple pea protein that I use and its a little enough amount where its ok for her to have muffins with it added. I also add hemp, chia and flax. Now, you certainly do not need to add all of these, but add what you wish her and make it your own. You can use the base recipe as a guideline and add/subtract form there as you wish!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups spinach
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 1/2 cups whole grain oats
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp hemp seeds
- 2 scoops unflavored pea protein
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 2 tbsp flax meal
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp cashew butter / or almond butter
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar*
- 1 tbsp butter* or cooking spray
Directions:
- I literally throw everything into the mixer/blender and let it blend for a good 2-3 minutes. I have a Ninja and I use the food processor to mix it well and cut up the oats and spinach leaves. It works really well!
- Once that is mixed well, grease your muffin tin or use muffin liners or 9x9 glass bake ware for bars instead of muffins - whichever you prefer. I use butter to grease mine as I find it works the best.
- Cook at 350 for approx 15-20 minutes or until top is nice and golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!
Servings: Makes approx 12 medium size muffins or 8-9 medium-large muffins (Nutrition facts below reflect 9 servings)
Calories:169 /Fat: 10g / Fiber: 3g / Carbs: 18g / Sugar: 2.5g / Protein: 5g
