If your kids are anything like mine, getting them to eat vegetables is an uphill battle. I hate to fight it and I often give-in to other food options. But then I always feel guilty that they’re not eating better.
I know many of you work the same way, which is why there are books dedicated to hiding veggies and fruits inside of unsuspecting food. So I decided to experiment with my own ingredients and came up with:
I know what you’re thinking, sounds weird. But trust. They’re totally great! And super moist. In fact, direct quote from my kids (as their cheeks were stuffed with food), “I LOVE THESE Mom!”
I combined two of my favorite recipes, Coconut Lime Banana Bread (minus the coconut and lime) and Carrot Cake (minus the frosting) and put a few extra twists on it.
Here’s what’s inside:
Let’s get started!
VEGGIE MUFFINS
Yields appx 20-24 muffins
INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups All-purpose Flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 of a stick) softened butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup Prune or Apple juice
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli (frozen or fresh)
1 to 1 1/2 cups smashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup yogurt (vanilla, plain, strawberry, whatever flavor)
1/2 tsp vanilla
Start by mixing your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) in a small bowl. Set aside.
Mix the sugar, butter, and eggs in a separate bowl or mixer. Beat for a couple minutes till everything is combined.
Next, prepare your veggies. Grate the carrots, smash up the bananas,
and prepare your broccoli puree.
This is my favorite part of the recipe. You need about 1/2 cup of puree when done, which takes about 1 1/2 cups of broccoli–frozen/thawed or fresh/steamed–and 1/4 cup of juice. I used prune juice but apple or grape works too.
Combine the broccoli cuts and prune juice in the food processor and pulse till finely mixed. If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender or try to finely chop it up (but the chunks will be more visible to your kiddos).
And you should end up with this. Um, looks appetizing.
Okay, throw the broccoli puree, carrots, bananas, yogurt, and vanilla into the butter mixture and beat for a minute. Finally, add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined and wet.
I know it looks like broccoli soup, but give the batter a taste. It’s yummy!
Scoop the mixture into a prepared muffin pan (you can also use cupcake liners if you want them to feel like “cupcakes”. That word always makes my kids excited about food).
Depending on how much you fill in each cup, the recipe makes about 20-24 muffins.
Bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops are slightly brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Let them cool for a few minutes.
And….give your kids the taste test!
Verdict:
They love em! Lucy ate 2 1/2, Owen ate 3. And the rest were placed in the freezer so we could munch on them throughout the week.
And now I feel like a slightly better mom because my kids got a two servings of healthy hidden treats. Enjoy!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
These look awesome! I don’t have kids but hiding veggies from my SO is almost the same… one question, I’m allergic to broccoli, any suggestions for substitutes?
Thanks for sharing this! I had the EXACT ingredients already in the fridge and was so happy with how they turned out I made 2 batches yesterday
Have you ever frozen them? I’m tempted to try that…keep on baking!
i made these tonight and they were amazing!! i used egg whites and a splenda/sugar blend to make them 3 weight watchers points apiece. so yummy! thanks for the recipe!
Can you tell me how much of each you used? I’m not a pro at baking but I would love to make these for my son and I but your twist sounds even better since I’m diabetic!
Mmmmm…mine are in the oven right now and they smell soooo….good!
ok you Dana Made are a serious Goddess…..i clicked on for patterns for my three year old lil guy, and have been on your site for well over a hour, and i copied your journey downtown at fabric district you got the fire in me going again!!! Thank you
Bev
These look amazing – I’m always looking for ideas to get more veggies into my 20 month old son (and 30 year old husband haha)! As Micki asked above – has anyone tried freezing them? And do you think using wholewheat flour would still work ok, just to make them that extra bit healthier? I might just test it all out and see how it goes!
I have made these several times with variations. I use whole wheat pastry flour and reduce the amount of sugar or use none (they are pretty sweet if you use just the juice and bananas and a sweetened yogurt). I make mini muffins instead and freeze them every time! I take a few out and warm them up as a healthy snack for my 19 month old.
I have to make these….what a great idea even tho my babies are teens now lol butterummmm we need healthy choices in this house like asap!~I love the fact that I can freeze them Im goin to the store sometime this week hopefully & these items are definately going on the grocery list…plus Ive started using mini/normal sized cupcake pans to control my portions
Na
Delicious!
We love these! (I omit the sugar though) My 1 1/2 year old can’t get enough of them! I made them in mini muffin tins so they are just the perfect size for his little hands! We also made them into a “dessert” by adding cream cheese frosting with vanilla beans…Sooooo good! Thanks for a great healthy recipe!
I made these this morning. I did not have eggs so I used 1/3cup applesauce and 1tbs flax meal +3tbs water. They are in the oven as we speak!
Instead of using 1 cup sugar I used 1/2 cup of the new C&H Light (sugar and stevia blend).
With the exception of the flour these muffins are “zero” points for Weight Watchers!
Thank you for sharing!
Any suggestions for a substitute for the bananas? I’m allergic to them, but otherwise this recipe sounds great!
Sarah, I’m allergic to bananas too, just found this in a google search
In Muffins: with whole wheat muffins, it’s usually pretty safe to replace 1 banana with 1/2 cup of applesauce but you never want to use more than 1 cup of applesauce in an entire recipe, so you’ll need to keep that in mind. Another option is silken tofu, or a yogurt, but you might need to scale back your applesauce… Only adding as much as necessary to get the mixture to the right wetness. (Dry batter is never good).
Caution:if it’s a gluten-free recipe or you’re using white flour, you must use the banana or another kind of binder. Whole wheat has gluten, so it will bind on its own without the banana, but white flour (all purpose) doesn’t really and gluten-free flours absolutely won’t. One of the reasons I like whole wheat so much (aside from it being healthier than white flour) is I don’t have to use a binder most of the time.
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