Fruit & Veggie Muffin Bites Recipe

Fruit & Veggie Muffin Bites Recipe

These fruit and veggie muffin bites pack in all the nutrition your family needs without compromising deliciousness. Here's what we love:
Bite-sized muffins mean less mess – muffins in bite-sized pieces don't need breaking apart, so no crumbs!
No white flour, only ground oats and whole wheat.
Apple and banana provide lots of natural sweetness, so we've cut down on the amount of added sugars these have (only 1/2 cup of honey/maple syrup/sugar in a batch of 50!).
Sneak a veggie in there – zucchini (kind of like banana-apple-zucchini bread).
Lots of fiber for good digestion from the oats, whole wheat, apple, banana, and zucchini.
Also a good source of vitamin C, which is important for growth, immunity, and healing.
Just a bit of fat to help with vitamin absorption (2 tablespoons of coconut oil or butter – both work!).

1. First, preheat your oven to 375* F. Grab a mini muffin tin and a food processor (or pretty decent blender).
2. Food processor 1: Blend up 1 cup of rolled oats for a few minutes, scraping the sides when needed. You want an almost flour-like consistency, but it won’t be quite that fine. Pour the oat flour into a large mixing bowl.
   Note: If you don't have oats or don’t want to use them, you’re welcome to use more whole wheat flour in its place.
3. Add 1 cup of chopped zucchini, 1 cup of chopped apple, and 1 banana (very ripe!). Blend well. Now add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 3/4 cup of milk. Blend again. Leave this mixture for a minute.
   Note: If you have a small food processor like me, you may need to just puree a few things at a time, and that’s fine.
4. To bowl with the oat flour, add 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Stir together.
   
5. Now add the blended fruit and veggie mixture to the large mixing bowl with the flour. Also add 1/4 cup of melted butter or coconut oil, as well as 1/2 a cup of honey, maple syrup, or sugar. Mix everything together until thoroughly combined.
6. Spray your mini muffin tin with cooking spray, then fill each muffin spot almost to the top. Bake for 10 minutes and remove right away to a cooling rack. Repeat until batter is gone.
7. Once cooled, store muffin bites in plastic bags for 3-4 days, or freeze leftovers. This recipe makes about 50 muffin bites.