Healthy Eating

Satisfying Healthy Muffins With Hidden Veggies

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Everyone loves a good muffin, be it sweet or savory, but the problem is they are not the healthiest snack or meal options. Muffins are usually loaded with sugar and calories and low in fiber because they are made with whole-grain flour.

Read on for 15 healthy muffin recipes with hidden veggies for a health boost. 

1. Zucchini Muffin

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Zucchini muffins are the best way to use the summer surplus of zucchini and eat your veggies. They are healthy and a nutritious breakfast you can enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea. They taste nothing like zucchini and kids will love them.

This muffin recipe calls for grated zucchini and whole wheat flour. The zucchini adds moisture to the muffins, while the whole wheat flour contains fiber, which is essential for gut health. You can also use olive oil instead of melted butter as it contains more healthy fats. 

2. Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

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Lemon Poppy Seed muffins are tender, moist, full of lemon flavor, and healthy, thanks to the yellow squash. These muffins are made with a cup and a half of grated summer squash to help selective eaters get their daily dose of veggies.

The squash is combined with white whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, poppy seeds, and less added sugar to make it even healthier. A splash of lemon juice and zest adds more flavor to the muffins. You can always make a vegan version by using gluten-free flour and plant-based yogurt.

3. Oatmeal Carrot Muffin

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Another healthy and veggie-loaded muffin to add to your rotation is an oatmeal carrot muffin. These muffins are hearty and pakced with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour, rolled oats, and applesauce. The rolled oats and whole wheat flour increase the fiber content,t while the applesauce reduces the need for sugar in the recipe. 

These muffins also have spices like cinnamon and ground nutmeg that pair beautifully with the carrots. You could also add hemp, chia, or ground flax seeds to make it more nutritious.

4. Beetroot Chocolate Muffin

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Beetroots are not many people’s go-to muffin ingredients because they have an earthy flavor that could overpower other ingredients. But with the right ingredients and techniques, beetroots can be incorporated into a muffin without affecting the taste and texture.

A beetroot chocolate muffin is made with pureed beets, Greek yogurt, white whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, and maple syrup. The pureed beets, when sweetened with maple syrup, lose their distinct taste and become tasty.

5. ABC Muffin

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Packed with apples, bananas, and carrots, these ABC Muffins are moist, tender, and sweet. The apples, carrots, and bananas act as natural sweeteners in the muffins. Therefore, you can skip the sugar, but if you do need to add it, go for unrefined ones like brown or coconut sugar. 

Combine shredded carrot and apple, mashed ripe banana, eggs, avocado oil, milk, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, rolled oats, and whole wheat flour. Then, spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake. 

6. Sweet Potato Muffin

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Not even vegetable haters can resist fluffy, moist, flavorful, and perfectly sweetened sweet potato muffins. Sweet potatoes have a wonderful flavor, which is evident in the muffins. Before incorporating them in the oven, bake the sweet potato in the oven. 

You can use canned sweet potato, but it has a wet consistency and makes the muffins too moist. If you want to use the canned version, reduce the amount of sweet potato and other liquids and sauces to help balance the moisture level of the muffins.

7. Sweet Kale Muffin

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Sweet kale muffins are perfect for people who hate root vegetables and want to include more leafy greens in their diet. Made with blended kale, applesauce, whole wheat flour, maple syrup, and chocolate chips, these muffins are delicious and moist.

You can customize your muffins however you like. If you hate chocolate, omit the chocolate chips and jazz them up with chopped nuts such as walnuts and pecans or dried fruit like raisins or dried cranberries.

8. Butternut Squash and Blueberry Muffin

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If you are looking for a blueberry muffin recipe with veggies, look no further than a butternut squash and blueberry muffin recipe. These muffins are delicious thanks to the beautiful pairing of tangy blueberries and subtly sweet butternut squash.

For this recipe, you need butternut squash puree, which you can buy ready-made or make at home by blending the cooked butternut. You can also omit the sugar and use natural sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, mashed bananas, or applesauce.

9. Vegan Veggie Muffin

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It is always a good idea to have a vegan muffin recipe in your repertoire because you never know when you might need it. And when you do, try a veggie vegan muffin loaded with vegetables and spice. The recipe calls for regular muffin ingredients like flour, baking soda and powder, milk, olive oil, and lemon juice. 

But to make it savory and veggie-loaded, include grated carrots and zucchinis, finely chopped spinach and bell peppers, Italian herb seasonings, and garlic powder.

10. Zucchini Banana Muffin

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Zucchini banana muffins are healthy breakfast muffins or wholesome mid-day snacks. The ingredients list might be long, but most of them are baking staples that can also be used to make zucchini bread.

Start by combining all the wet ingredients (grated zucchini, mashed banana, maple syrup, milk, egg, olive oil) in one bowl and dry ingredients (whole wheat flour, rolled oats, baking powder and soda, sea salt, and ground cinnamon) in another. Fold the dry ingredients in the wet batter, mix well and bake. 

11. Morning Glory Breakfast Muffin

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A Morning Glory breakfast muffin is nothing like what it sounds. The muffin does not have any morning glory. Instead, it is packed with carrots, apples and raisins. These three increase the fiber content of a breakfast muffin and help remove the “glory” in the bathroom.

This breakfast muffin is easy to whip up. Just combine the usual wet and dry ingredients, mix, and bake in the oven. Be careful not to overmix, as it can make the muffins dry and dense. 

12. Blueberry Avocado Muffin

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A blueberry avocado is another one of the many healthy muffin ideas that you can test out in the kitchen. Avocados are a great substitute for oil and add creamy and delicious avocado flavor to any baked good. 

Combine wet ingredients (avocado puree, vanilla extract, egg, Greek yogurt) with dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and ground cinnamon). Once combined, fold in fresh blueberries to the batter, fill muffin cups, and bake.

13. Parsnip Muffin

When you think of healthy muffin flavors with veggies, parsnips are probably the last thing that comes to mind. But you would be surprised at how well parsnips work in muffins. Grated parsnip is mixed with applesauce, eggs, oil, vanilla, and brown sugar. 

The parsnip mixture is combined with baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and rolled oats. Once everything is incorporated, spoon the batter in a muffin cup and bake till golden brown.

14. Lentil Chocolate Muffin

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The only thing healthier than a muffin loaded with veggies is one that has added protein from the lentils. These protein powerhouses are cooked and mixed in with other ingredients. They disappear beautifully when mixed with chopped spinach, pumpkin puree, and chocolate.

To make your wet batter, combine eggs, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, applesauce, cooked lentils, oil, spinach, milk, and vanilla in a food processor. Fold this batter with the dry ingredients and bake. 

15. One Bowl Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

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These one-bowl healthy pumpkin oatmeal muffins are moist and full of warm fall flavors. The best part? All the ingredients are mixed in one bowl. 

Combine pumpkin puree, applesauce, eggs, oil, vanilla extract, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, flour, and rolled oats in one bowl. You can sprinkle in chocolate chips before baking them.