Double Chocolate Hidden Veggie Muffins

Photo by Jamie Plain

If your kids love chocolate muffins but side-eye anything green, these are for you. They’re rich, soft, and packed with chocolate. They also happen to include spinach, carrot, and banana blended right into the batter. No flecks, no funny texture, no detectable veggie flavor. Just a really good muffin that quietly does a little more.

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffins

›› 1 cup fresh spinach (loosely packed)

›› ½ cup milk

›› 1 ripe banana, mashed

›› ½ cup finely shredded carrot (packed)

›› ⅓ cup neutral oil (or melted coconut oil)

›› 2 large eggs

›› ½ cup granulated sugar

›› ¼ cup brown sugar

›› 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

›› ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt

›› 1 cup all-purpose flour

›› ½ cup white whole wheat flour (or additional all-purpose flour)

›› ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

›› 1 teaspoon baking soda

›› ½ teaspoon baking powder

›› ½ teaspoon salt

›› ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line or lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

Blend the vegetables.

In a blender, combine spinach, chopped or shredded carrot, and milk. Blend until completely smooth and uniform in color, with no visible pieces remaining.

Mix wet ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana and Greek yogurt. Add the blended vegetable mixture and mix until smooth.

Combine dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Make the batter.

Gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake.

Fill muffin cups ¾ full and bake 18–22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.