I did everything right, or so I thought.

When I was pregnant I made sure to eat more vegetables, exotic vegetables even: curries, Thai food, dumplings, veggie sushi rolls, falafels.

After my daughter was born I exclusively breast fed and slowly introduced vegetables before fruits. I don’t feed her processed food and we even have a garden, but after all this, I still somehow managed to get a picky pre-schooler who can’t abide by even a speck of anything green on her plate.

As a result, I’ve turned into a veggie ninja. Since I refuse to let my child subsist on bread, pasta and rice and beans alone, or pink cupcakes as she would prefer, I’ve resorted to hiding lots of vegetables in foods I know she loves like chili, pasta sauce, scrambled eggs, quesadillas, soups and now these muffins.

These whole grain, veggie and protein filled muffins are a big hit in my household with the adults and child alike. When I created this recipe, I wanted something that packed nutrition in one delicious tasting handful so we could grab it and go, and I’m thrilled with the result.

My Veggie Muffins are the perfect quick breakfast or afternoon snack and you don’t have to have picky kids to make them.

These muffins are for everyone.

Best Ever Veggie Muffins

2 Mashed Bananas

1/2 cup pulp saved from the juicer (if you don’t juice, just skip this ingredient, but I find that this is a great way to add fiber and extra veggies to these muffins).

1 finely grated small zucchini

1 finely grated carrot

1/4 cup sweet potato or butternut squash puree

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 beaten eggs or vegan equivalent

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup organic, grass fed buttermilk or 1/2 cup cultured coconut milk (aka coconut yogurt)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

1 cup of whole wheat flour or gluten free equivalent

1 cup of rolled oats or gluten free rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease the pan well.

You will need three mixing bowls.

In the first bowl mash together the banana, pulp from the juicer, sweet potato puree, carrot and zucchini. Set aside.

In the second bowl, cream together the next seven ingredients beginning with coconut oil and ending with protein powder. This will work best if all of your ingredients have come to room temperature before mixing.

In the third bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients.

Add the mashed veggie and banana mixture to the wet ingredients. Stir just to combine. Next, add the dry ingredients, mixing as little as possible and only until the batter is combined and no dry flour remains.

Spoon batter into the muffin tin and bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes until the muffin tops are springy and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Ovens vary so check at 20 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Muffins are good with butter, jam, cream cheese, sprinkles if you are my daughter, or simply plain as I prefer.

They are elevated to the sublime alongside a mug of hot tea or strong coffee.

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Editor: Bryonie Wise

Photo: elephant archives