Delicious Whole Grain Hulk Muffins {Naturally Green!}
These whole grain, all-natural, GREEN muffins are super soft, super fluffy…and super green.
The green color comes from a whole bag of spinach. And guess what? The muffins actually taste good. Not just good, incredible!

Muffin Batter
For this recipe the dry ingredients are whisked together:
- whole wheat flour
- baking powder + baking soda + salt
And the wet ingredients are processed in a blender until smooth:
- buttermilk
- bananas
- egg
- oil
- sugar
- spinach (and lots of it!)
For the whole wheat flour, use a white wheat variety for a lighter muffin, like soft or hard white wheat, kamut or einkhorn. Hard red whole wheat might make for a denser, heavier muffin.
You Can’t Even Taste the Spinach
These fun green muffins are foolproof. They always dome perfectly and have the ideal muffin texture: soft and sturdy but also deliciously fluffy.
And it’s true, you can’t even taste the spinach. Not even a little bit.
My kids go crazy for these muffins. They are easily one of our favorite muffins ever!
Try the muffins warm with butter and a drizzle of honey. So incredibly delicious!
FAQs for Whole Grain Hulk Muffins
Yes, the baked and cooled muffins freeze great. I freeze them in gallon-size freezer ziploc bags.
It is around 2 1/2 cups of spinach (lightly packed).
Nope! Throw the leaves in there, stems and all!
Yes. Just sub the same amount of all-purpose flour for the whole wheat flour.
I’m afraid I don’t have a good suggestion for a spinach substitute – that ingredient is pretty integral to these muffins.
Whole Grain Green Hulk Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (355 g) white whole wheat flour (see note)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar (see note)
- ¾ cup buttermilk (see note)
- ¼ cup canola, vegetable, avocado, grapeseed oil or melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 ounces (170 g) baby spinach
- 2 mashed very ripe bananas, (about 227 g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray (the recipe makes between 16-18 muffins).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a blender, add the egg, sugar, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, spinach and bananas.
- Blend until pureed and smooth.
- Pour the spinach mixture into the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. A few small dry streaks and lumps here and there are ok. Don’t overmix or the muffins can be dry.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling the cups about 2/3 full. I use my #20 cookie scoop to make this process easy as can be.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes (increasing time as needed as each oven differs slightly in exact oven temperature) until the tops of the muffins spring back lightly to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let the muffins cool for a few minutes in the pan; turn them out carefully onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from two recipes online (The Green Forks and Pamela Salzman) after a reader, Erin G., sent me one of the links almost two years ago – I put my own spin on the spinach muffins (using buttermilk, adding weight amounts, changing up the method just a bit)
We loved these muffins! I completely forgot to add the sugar, and they still turned out ok, I made a glaze for the top just to give them some sweetness. But they were still eaten even without it. Next time I’ll read more carefully
Haha I did the same thing by accident!
Delicious! You can’t even taste the spinach.
It was all in the name with my boys! Hulk/superhero anything is a sure winner , plus we all loved them! I didn’t have white whole wheat flour, so I substituted 2 cups of whole wheat bread flour and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. Definitely going to make these again!
Have you tried freezing these? You and your blog are a true gift to society :)!!!
Yes! They freeze great. And thank you, sweet girl. 🙂
Made them today for a delicious – Day After St. Patrick’s Day fun. I never have my act together for this holiday either…but they were awesome and everyone loved them. A little dab of butter was perfect on them.
Made these last night for our St Patrick’s Day breakfast today. Love them! I ate a few myself. 🙂 I used more like 9oz of spinach (most of an 11 oz bag, didn’t measure) and they were fantastic! I think these with a green smoothie will become our traditional St Patrick’s Day breakfast now. Thank you!
I made these last night and they turned out great! Mine were a little darker green because I used coconut sugar which is dark. White sugar probably would have resulted in a brighter green color. The kids liked them!
Glad to hear coconut sugar worked out in the muffins, Amy!
I made these today for an after school snack and they were delicious. They are very sweet and have a nice hearty texture. Fun for Saint Patrick Day!
For those wondering about subs for allergies or health reasons, I subbed almond milk for buttermilk, a flax egg for the egg and used 1/4 c applesauce to replace the oil. They still rose beautifully and were light and fluffy. They were a fun, yummy addition to our holiday breakfast. All six kids and my husband loved them. Thanks!
Thanks for the details of your substitutions!
How do you measure the spinach? By weight? Or a measuring cup?
I use weight.
If you really want to surprise your kids, accidentally leave out the sugar… 😉
Oops!
In the oven as we speak, can’t wait to try. Have to share: mixed up the batter (added chocolate chips because why not?!), plopped the spoonfuls into the muffin tin, slid them in the oven, then took a lick of my batter covered finger. OOPS! Forgot the sugar! Thankfully was able to take them right out and [over]mix the sugar right in, but I was THIS close to having a whole batch of spinach chocolate chip biscuits! :\ bleh. Hoping I was able to save them, my kids will love the fun green!
Did they work out? Glad you were able to quickly salvage the batter. That’s some quick thinking. 🙂
I have to laugh.. my boys (and girl) check out their muscles while eating “hulk” smoothies. I had to think of a quick fun name to get them to love them. I’m glad we share the hulk tradition My mom would always make green pancakes for st patties. So that’s what I did today! I’ll have to try these. They sound yummy!!!
Thanks, Mel, for helping me redeem myself from being a St. Patrick’s Day grinch! I pulled these out of the oven an hour ago so they could be my kids’ after school snack. They taste great and look so fun in all their green glory. My kids loved them. And dinner tonight is your Shepherd’s Pie recipe (the original one, not the one with chicken and kale). So again, thanks for helping us have a little fun on this silly holiday!
Sounds like our day! 🙂 That shepherd’s pie is my kind of St. Patrick’s Day meal.
Made these for an after school snack today and everyone LOVED them! They were impressed. Thanks! Soooo good!
I made these for St. Paddy’s day today, and they turned out fantastic! I had a giant tub of spinach in my fridge that was about to go bad, so I was happy to be able to use up so much of it! I used my kitchen scale to weigh the 6oz. My boys have happily devoured them, and my daughter will get to try hers when she gets home from school very soon here. Thanks for such a fun recipe! I love that there is no food dye in them.
I made these muffins today, but they weren’t very green? They had more of a brownish/green tint. I may not have added enough spinach. I used a measuring cup to guestimmate 6 oz. Next time I’ll put them in the blender first and use that as my measuring guide. My kids still loved the taste! I appreciate you posting these fun, healthy recipes.
Hey Bridget – sounds like it might have been what you suggested: not enough spinach. Glad they were still ok!
These were a huge hit this morning. Thank you! I didn’t have spinach so I subbed baby kale, I worried it would be too strong of a flavor but you can’t tell. They were perfect!
That’s great to know! The one time I used kale, it wasn’t baby kale, and the taste was a little strong. Glad to know baby kale is the key!
We do the all green foods for dinner–green food coloring is my favorite friend today! These are perfect! No green food coloring needed…thanks!!!
When I saw the image, I figured food dye. How brilliant that they’re colored with spinach. I love this! I’m always looking for ways to sneak greens into my kids’ food. (When they were babies I used to grind chard into their peanut butter – they never even noticed.) This looks a lot more appetizing. Thanks!
Wonderfull effect ! My daughters called them shrek’s muffins, and loved them. Thank you for this gorgeous recipe.
Haha, love that name! Might have to adopt that.
These are so good! My kids and I made them this morning and they will be added to the muffin rotation around here! You never disappoint!!!!!
So fun! Baking them now. My husband has been on my back about serving more vegetables so these are going to please everyone! I discovered you about a year ago and I swear your recipes have made me a better mom and benefitted my family so much–thank you for helping the rest of us!
Thanks, Ashley!
I just made them and WOW!! So good! You win again!
So glad you loved them!
Since you mentioned the Grinch in your post, it occurred to me that he’s the same color as these muffins! (Another holiday link! Haha!)
Haha!
Haha, I didn’t catch that, but it made me smile.
What kind of oil do you usually prefer using in your muffins? And have you tried the applesauce instead of oil but kept the bananas? Haha, so many questions!
Thanks, we love all your recipes! And I’m pretty lame when it comes to St. Patty’s day…we usually just have a green smoothie and call it good. If we’re feeling really ambitious we have a key lime pie. I love an excuse to eat pie.
I just made these and subbed all the oil with applesauce instead. I kept the banana amount as listed. Turned out great!
Hey, no shame in green smoothie. That’s pretty festive! 🙂 I have tried applesauce, and I thought they were a little gummy, but you could definitely try. I usually use avocado, canola or grapeseed oil (and sometimes melted coconut oil)
These look awesome! My 5-year-old would love the Hulk idea. I want to give these a try tomorrow. Thanks Mel!
I just made these for my four little kids, and they taste like delicious banana bread! I love spinach smoothies, so the whole blending spinach and bananas was pretty natural to me. Everyone was a little nervous to try them, but totally loved them. Thanks for a fun and healthy St. Patrick’s Day recipe! I am that mom who serves a ton of green veggies and a fruit rainbow on St. Patrick’s Day instead of lots of dyed green food, so this was perfect for us!
I’m glad your family liked them, Julie!
Just made these — they are SO good. If you close your eyes, they’re pretty much just a tasty banana muffin. We increased the batch to fully use a 10-oz bag of spinach, and made some mini and some regular sized, both with and without chocolate chips. 3 of us are home right now, and all 3 of us gives these a major thumbs up. Thanks, Mel!
Makes me so happy, Alicia! I had to smile at your “if you close your eyes” comment – so funny how we really do eat with our eyes first.
These look so interesting. We all love spinach, so I know these would go over well. Your whole grain honey bran muffins (made with all honey vs. part molasses for us) are my favorite muffins. But I really love all your muffins, so excited to try these. I use the “If You Care” brand of unbleached muffin liners. I find them at Whole Foods. I absolutely love them. Never have to grease the muffin liner with any recipe. The muffins just come right off without losing any yummy muffin crumbs! And I love my King Arthur Flour muffin/scone scoop–fantastic!!! These things make me happy when I make my muffins.
Things like that make me happy, too! Thanks for the recommendation on muffin liners!
You can find the If You Care unbleached muffin liners in bulk on Amazon subscribe and save. That’s a lot of muffins! Just came here to print out this recipe to make right now for a quick breakfast for my peeps to eat over the weekend while I’m working. Didn’t quite have it all together to get ’em made this morning!
Can’t wait to try these!! Thanks for sharing! My mom went all on growing up on St Patrick’s day so I love too as well. We always invite our church’s missionaries over for a fun festive dinner and wear crazy hats, accessories while we eat (and then send pics to their parents 🙂 It’s been a fun tradition!
So fun!
I just made these! My six-year-old inhaled two for an after school snack! They are delicious, thanks!
Can’t complain about that!
I’m totally making these on Friday! They look amazing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Could I sub almond milk for the buttermilk? My daughter needs a dairy free diet.
Could certainly try, Liz – I’m guessing it would work (the recipes I used as a starting point both used regular milk and one suggested almond milk, I believe).
Do report back if you try it, my daughter is in the same situation!
They worked fine with almond milk. I did like the addition of Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips, which are dairy free! My daughter enjoyed them. However I think the green color threw off my boys who didn’t eat them as well. I would like to try again with buttermilk for them.
I used a Vanilla almond milk yogurt and made up the difference with almond milk. Turned out fine for my dairy free girl!
So good to know!
Would frozen spinach work? Because other than that I have all the ingredients on hand!
I haven’t tried frozen spinach, but it’s probably worth a try!
I just made these with my 3 year old.
She and her Dad did NOT see the secret green ingredient (it was mysteriously added by a leprechaun) – and they love them ☺
Thank you for a great easy, healthy and fun recipe!!!
Update: You really cannot taste the spinach! Daughter bought leprechaun story, dad thinks it’s food coloring. We all like spinach, only maybe not in a muffin?! They taste definitely great though!
Haha, love this!
Looks amazing! We have been on a huge spinach kick lately, so I will definitely be trying these out soon!
We’re worse than you…we do absolutely NOTHING for St. Patrick’s Day. I’m pretty sure our (out-of-town) extended family would disown us if they knew…but we all have green eyes, so we’re safe. 😉
the color is quite off-putting- don’t know if my family could get past it. There are so many more muffins that have an appetizing color. I’ll pass on this one.
Thanks for sharing ha
Delicious! I made them for lunch for 4 hungry boys. I ended up eating two of them with my lunch as well and I may be getting a third. I had spinach I needed to use anyway so this was perfect. Thanks!
Yay! So happy you made them so quick and that you loved them!
Yahoo!!! I am so glad to hear your family has enjoyed this recipe!! We still make it all the time too!
i have made the chocolate version of this, from the same blog The Green Forks. Delicious! I even considered mailing to you, too 🙂
Oooh, I will definitely try!
Could you substitute kale for the spinach?
Hey Merideth – I tried it once…and it was kind of awful. The taste was definitely more prominent than the spinach.
Could I use frozen spinach if I thawed and drained it?
Could certainly try – I’ve always used fresh so I can’t say for sure.
do you remove the stems off of the baby spinach or just leave them on?
Nope, I just throw it all in there without removing the stems.
So I’m allergic to spinach. Wondering if you think the spinach is vital to the recipe (beyond being needed to add the green color)?
For this recipe, yes, I do think the spinach is necessary (it adds moisture to the muffins and without it, I’m not sure how the texture would be).
I will definitely make these tomorrow to start our day. (way better than green eggs and ham) You were spot on with the cheesy turkey sloppy joes and earned my boys’ trust of your recipes. Have you ever tried adding chocolate chips or nuts?
Hey Sheila! Yes, I’ve popped mini chocolate chips in the batter before. Goes without saying, it was a delicious choice. 🙂 Haven’t tried nuts, though.
Since my kids love banana chocolate chip muffins, we made them today with chocolate chips and they were AMAZING! The perfect St. Patrick’s Day treat for this mom who does nothing more then wear a green shirt usually for this holiday. :o)
Wow I will DEFINITELY be making these! Although it does mean I have to go to the store to buy some spinach, I ran out yesterday… I might sub part of the flour with old fashioned oats though!
One little typo: in step #7 it says “bake for 15-18 muffins”! 🙂
Haha. That’s what I get for staying up until midnight to post a recipe. Thanks for the catch.
These could very possibly make an appearance on April 1st at our house. We have an inside family joke about fish oil muffins, these would be a great follow up.
Haha, without even knowing your inside family joke, this made me laugh.
Do you think you could use applesauce in place of bananas? Just ate the last banana for breakfast and not sure I’ll make it to the store today.
You could definitely try. I’ve experimented a lot with these muffins and always come back to close to the original – when I’ve used applesauce, they’ve turned out a little gummy in my opinion.