Spinach Cupcakes

Easy healthy cupcakes recipe made with just a few simple ingredients – applesauce, fresh spinach, yellow cake mix and topped white frosting and sprinkles. Yes, you read that right! Spinach Cupcakes make for a sneaky way to include vegetables in your kids’ diet. These are perfect for a birthday party!

These Spinach Cupcakes have changed my life. They’re shockingly good and your entire family is going to love them. You’ll never see spinach the same way after baking these!

They’re so good that my 2 year old stole one of the cupcakes from the kitchen counter before I could even photograph them all together! How’s that for a rave review?

Spinach Cupcakes Recipe 

These cupcakes bake up green because they are full of fresh spinach. They make such a great alternative to making green cupcakes with food coloring. And with one bite, even your picky kids will gobble these up (like mine!)! I promise you can’t even taste the spinach in them!

Not only are these healthy cupcakes and use applesauce instead of oil or butter, they only require three ingredients. Make that four ingredients if you are adding frosting and sprinkles to the tops. 

How Do You Make Healthy Cupcakes?

This recipe starts with applesauce and spinach. Add both to the bowl of a food processor.

Blend until the mixture becomes pureed.

Add the cake mix to a mixing bowl with the spinach puree.

Beat with a hand mixer until completely combined.

Fill baking cups in cupcake pan with the batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes and until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool completely and then decorate them with frosting and sprinkles.   These are my favorite sprinkles to use on birthday cakes and cupcakes!

Are These Cupcakes Healthy?

While these pretty green cupcakes are still technically cake and do contain sugar from the cake mix, they are definitely healthier than your average cupcake.

I used fresh spinach straight from my garden! Don’t worry if you don’t have a garden, just be sure to use fresh spinach and not frozen spinach. Spinach contains lots of nutrients and vitamins.

According to my google research, spinach is a great source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C and folate as well as being a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2. Vitamin K is essential for maintaining bone health and there aren’t many other vegetables richer in vitamin K than spinach.

Swapping out the oil or butter that is found in most cupcakes for applesauce is another tweak to make these spinach cupcakes more nutritious.

The applesauce gives these cupcakes the most perfect moistness and also lowers the calories in each cupcake. 

Unsweetened applesauce is a great addition to your diet. It’s naturally low in calories, fat-free, and is packed with Vitamin C and fiber. So, not only do these cupcakes taste delicious, they are satisfying too! 

These healthy cupcakes are honestly awesome for any day of the week, but how fun would these green cupcakes be for St. Patrick’s Day?! 

These would also be a great treat to serve at a Christmas party – think Christmas tree cupcakes or Grinch cupcakes. They’d also be awesome served for a Hulk or Ninja Turtle themed birthday party. So many amazing ideas!

Feel free to use any favorite frosting for the tops. You can change out the sprinkles to accommodate whatever season or holiday might be coming up. If it’s St. Patrick’s Day, use rainbow or green sprinkles. If it’s Easter, use spring colored sprinkles. You get the idea!

I hope you enjoy these cupcakes!
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