Every toddler I have encountered loves muffins. Not every toddler loves vegetables, including, my oldest son, Ryder. When Ryder was a baby, first starting with finger foods, he loved muffins. I could give him anything in muffin form and he would gobble it up. Before he turned one, he couldn’t tolerate eggs. Insisting that my baby eat a paleo diet, I wanted to create a muffin that was sweet, tasty and full of vegetables. Ryder went to a nut free daycare at the time and I just couldn’t find many recipes that were paleo, egg free and nut free that I felt comfortable giving my baby/almost toddler. I especially had a hard time finding any paleo hidden veggie muffins.
These muffins have a sweet, but not overly sweet taste to them. They are good plain or as a base to add your own mix-ins. They are fun, green muffins, perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. I made these again tonight and let Ryder (now two years old) have one after dinner. One muffin turned into three and he still wanted more. My picky toddler, who hates anything green and vegetables in general, still finds these muffins yummy.
The recipe below is written with almond flour. That’s because I have found almond flour more easily available (I can find it at Costco sometimes!) and I like the taste a little bit better than the nut free version with tigernut flour, which, despite its name, is a root vegetable, not a nut. It has a slightly sweet taste, but can be used in savory dishes as well. Much like almond flour. I have made this recipe many times using tigernut flour. It’s how I originally wrote the recipe. Feel free to substitute the tigernut flour for nut free muffins.
Add chocolate chips to live on the edge a little (about 1/4 cup of the minis). Or add some of your favorite frosting for a little pizzazz. I love to add Chocolate Avocado buttercream frosting from Megan Gilmore’s first book, Everyday Detox. Let me know if you try these and if you used any special spin on them!
Paleo Fruit and Veggie Muffins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
Egg free, paleo, loaded veggie muffins with a nut free option. Toddler approved!
Ingredients
- 1 medium avocado
- 2 cups packed spinach
- 1 medium apple, cut into chunks
- 1 medium carrot, cut into chunks
- 1 medium ripe banana or plantain
- 1 1/2” chunk ginger, skin removed
- 2 cups blanched almond flour (see notes for nut free)
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 gelatin eggs (see notes for instruction)
- 2 tbsp – 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with baking cups.
- Add avocado, spinach, carrot, apple, banana and ginger to food processor and mix until blended smooth.
- Add almond flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, vanilla and gel egg until blended.
- Taste for desired sweetness (will depend on how ripe your banana is and your tastes) and add in the maple syrup and apple cider vinegar. Taste again for sweetness level. If all is good, scoop into muffin lined muffin tin. I use silicone baking cups.
- You don’t want to let the batter sit too long here since the baking soda and vinegar are reacting.
- Fill tins about 3/4 way full and bake for 30 minutes.
- Let muffins cool in the tin for about 20 minutes and store leftover muffins in the refrigerator. They firm up a bit more in the refrigerator.
Notes
To make a gel egg: add 3 tablespoons of warm water to 1 tablespoon of gelatin. For this recipe, add 6 tablespoons of warm water to 2 tablespoons of gelatin to make two gel eggs.
For nut free option: substitute 2 cups of tigernut flour for the almond flour.
I haven’t yet tried these with real eggs, but I bet it would work wonderfully. Just check the muffins after 15/20 minutes if you use eggs. Please let me know if you have success!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
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