Spinach & Banana Muffins, oh my ~

I know what you thinking. It doesn't sound very good, right. But actually these healthy muffins are not that bad. I'm not going to say they are my favorite. My favorite muffins require way more sugar, atleast 1000 calories and must be extremely bad for you:) I can't remember how I stumbled upon the recipe but it was perfect timing because I had a huge package of spinach I needed to use. Here is the recipe that I copied from Fun & Food Cafe website.
http://www.funandfoodcafe.com/2012/04/healthy-green-muffins.html

APRIL 16, 2012 BY MANSI

Green (Spinach & Banana) Muffins
Prep Time: 10 mins
Bake Time: 25 mins
Servings: 6


Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup white or brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 medium-sized banana
1 cup packed baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Method
Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease or line muffin tin with paper liners and keep ready. Mash the banana and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk the sugar and egg until creamy and fluffy. Stir in oil, yogurt, lemon zest and mashed banana.
In a food processor, blend the spinach leaves until very finely chopped. It will almost look like a pesto, and that’s what we need. Coarse grind the pecans in another grinder, or just pound them with a mortar-pestle; you can even just chop them lightly if you like texture.
Fold in the chopped spinach and half of the pecans into the batter, leaving some of the nuts aside to sprinkle on the top. Fill batter into prepared muffin tin, filling them upto the brim. Remember, this recipe uses whole-wheat flour, which does not have as much gluten as AP flour, so the muffins will not rise too high, so fill the tin upto the brim.
Garnish each muffin with the remaining pecans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
These muffins are best enjoyed warm. So store them in an air-tight container, and whenever you want to eat one, pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds, deck it up with a dollop of butter or whipped cream, and pop it in your mouth for one flavorful bite! The fiber and protein in this recipe will fill you up without adding on too many calories, so its a great treat even for people who count their calories.

Source: funandfoodcafe.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I modified the recipe a little bit. Here is my version.



It's almost the same except for these few changes. I didn't have whole wheat flour so I used white flour. I added about 1/8 cup of flax seed to my food processor and then added that to the recipe to give that whole wheat texture.

I didnt have a lemon for the zest but I think that could be optional anyway.



Here is how mine turned out.
Looks pretty close to original and probably taste just as good. One of these days I'll get all the right ingredients and make it like the recipe says, just to compare. If you decide to make these don't tell anyone about the spinach. It's so much fun to see their faces afterwards when you tell them what was in it. Or if you have a picky eater like I do, don't ever tell:) Good Luck!



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