Spinach, Apple & Date Muffins (Toddler & Adult Approved!)
If you’re looking for a simple, nutritious muffin for your busy family look no further! These muffins are delicious and a perfect treat to whip up on the weekends and stash away for a week of crazy mornings or overbooked afternoons when you just need something nourishing to nibble on. The spinach at our farm is going OFF right now. I’m talking giant, sweet, beautiful spinach that is so tender and delicious you can eat it by the handful straight from the field. My little 2 year-old isn’t as enthusiastic about eating the spinach by the fistful like I am, but she sure does like to come out and pick it with me and then help me use it for cooking or baking. We made these muffins the other day and they turned out so good that I’m really looking forward to having them on rotation. Pepper ate 2 before I cut her off because lunch was right around the corner. But they really are a nice treat that I’m so happy she loves. They’re made with local applesauce that we canned last fall, spinach from our farm, dates from California and sprouted oat flour from Second Spring Flours. You can obviously use any oat flour you can find but I really love using sprouted oat flour as it’s easier for digestion and the sprouting process makes the nutrients more easily absorbed by your body. I order mine from Second Springs because our local grocery store doesn’t have any sprouted oat flour but I think over then next few years sprouted flours will become more mainstream as their health benefits are being recognized and celebrated.
Anyhow, these muffins are a real treat and I hope you and your family love them as much as we do. They taste great for breakfast alongside scrambled eggs for a complete, nourishing meal to set you and your little one up for a successful day! Try smearing the muffins with a healthy dollop of grass-fed butter for good measure (trust me on that one!) The muffins themselves are oil/butter free but topping the finished muffin with a good quality fat is always a good idea in my book!
Spinach, Apple & Date Muffins
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Serves: 9 muffins
- 1/2 cup Medjool dates, pitted and chopped (about 4 or 5 dates)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup whole milk yogurt
- 1/4 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach leaves (if large leaves roughly chop them)
- 1 cup oat flour (sprouted if possible)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with parchment liners (or grease your muffin tin)
- Soak the dates in a bowl of boiling water for 5 minutes to really soften them up.
- Add the soaked dates to a high speed blender or food processor along with the applesauce, yogurt, almond butter, egg and vanilla extract. Blend on high until the mixture comes together and the dates blend up a bit. Add the remainder of the ingredients and blend on high until well combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tins and bake in the oven until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin. About 20-25 minutes.
- Serve with a smear of good quality butter or drizzle the tops with more nut butter if desired.
- Store muffins in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Gently reheat in the oven or let them come to room temperature before enjoying.
Notes
*Cooking times will vary from kitchen to kitchen
Can’t wait to make these today. We only have over-wintered collards (I have never had much success with spinach) and frozen pumpkin instead of applesauce, but I’m betting they adapt well.
Let me know how they turn out! The collards might be a little stronger tasting so maybe add an extra date!! xo
They are good! Like a green smoothie in a muffin. You are right, you can probably taste the collards more than the spinach but no complaints around here.
Yay! So happy to hear!
I made these and they are delicious!
So happy to hear!!
Do you really get your flour from Ontario?
These tasted good but came out a bit flat and had a gummy texture even after baking them for longer than the suggested time and testing with a toothpick. I used a silicone muffin pan – could that have done it? Baking soda was a fresh box, so I don’t suspect that. Did I over-blend?