As Kennedy starts eating more and more table food (who am I kidding…she never ate baby food), its’ a real struggle to get vegetables into her. All of our go-to snacks seem to be carb-based; crackers, puffs, MumMums, toast. Its pretty tough to hand a ten-month-old a leaf of lettuce, and she doesn’t seem to like steamed broccoli or any of the standard “baby” vegetables.

So that left me searching for a recipe that 1. she would eat, 2. had lots of vegetables and 3. wasn’t full of sugar. And when I couldn’t find quite what I was looking for, I created a recipe of my own. These monster muffins taste like blueberry-banana oatmeal muffins, but they come out bright green (depending on the veggies you add). By labeling them monsters, I circumvented the inevitable “ewwww” that green food usually elicits. They’re monsters… they’re SUPPOSED to be green.

Have fun with these – toss in any combination of fruits and vegetables that you like. Each mini muffin is packed full of goodness…and they taste pretty good, too!

ADVERTISEMENT
Veggie Monster Muffins
(36 mini muffins or 18 standard muffins)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup quick oats
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
2 apples
1 carrot, grated
2 bananas
1 cup blueberries
1 1/2 cups assorted vegetables (kale, spinach, zucchini, broccoli, anything)

In a food processor, blender or Magic Bullet, combine vegetables, sliced apples, and bananas. Puree until everything is blended and smooth (a few small chunks are okay, but they’ll be present in the muffins). Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs until fully incorporated. Add vanilla, sour cream, pureed vegetables, and grated carrots, and stir until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, oats, spices and baking soda. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Add blueberries and stir to mix.

Scoop batter into greased or lined mini-muffin tins. These will also bake fine in standard muffin tins, but you will need to increase the baking time. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool on a rack.

These freeze really well, so make a big batch and just take out a few each day.